If you use a speed light on your camera, chances are that at some point you will move that flash off your camera and, when you do, a whole new world opens up before your eyes. You’ll start to have dreams of umbrellas, softboxes, reflectors, light stands, beauty dishes, and other light modifiers that can turn a boring snapshot of a person into a well-lit portrait. And when you do move that flash off camera (and you will), you’ll need some way to trigger it.
Most people start off with a PC sync cord to tell the flash when to fire, but the PC port is, unfortunately, a flawed design and the connection tends to be finicky. There are myriad cheap flash triggers out there, some better than others, but for years the industry standard has been the PocketWizard brand of triggers.
In the past, PocketWizards were used by pros and came with a pro price tag, but 2013 saw the release of the PlusX transceiver—an affordable, reliable combination flash transmitter and receiver. Of course, you’ll need two of them to fire one flash, one for the camera and one for the flash, but you’ll sleep easy at night knowing that they’ll fire when you need them to fire, unlike some other triggers I’ve bought at online auctions.
The PlusX is a simple transceiver, with only a channel selector and a test button, but that’s really all most people need. If you’re doing complicated shoots with various groups of lighting, you’ll likely want to get the Plus III, but the good news is that all PocketWizards work with each other, so if you buy different models down the road, they’ll all work together.
With great features like 10 different channels, an internal antenna, hot-shoe connectivity, and a 1,600' range—yes, you read that right—the PlusX (under the right conditions) will trigger a flash from almost 1/3 of a mile away! Most importantly though, with its simple functionality and consistent and reliable performance, the PlusX lets you concentrate on what matters most: taking photos.
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