[ Review ] Cactus V5 wireless triggers

I’m gonna start out by saying if you want the best wireless triggers on the market then Pocket Wizards are the way to go (the manual ones, anyway… implementation of their TTL triggers has been a little rocky). The Pocket Wizard Plus II units are extremely solid and used heavily by professionals all over the world.

The only downside I’ve ever found with the PWs is price. Although the price has recently been slashed with the announcement of the new Plus III triggers, a single Plus II will still set you back about 180 USD. Bearing in mind that you need one for the camera and one for each light you want to fire, that cost adds up quickly.

Last year I had banned myself from buying any new gear unless it was completely necessary. My method of triggering flash (even when shooting them manually) was to use Canon’s proprietary infrared wireless setup. Indoors this works OK, but outdoors it’s pretty much useless. There were a few shoots where I would have loved to get more creative with my lights but the limitations of the IR system simply wouldn’t allow it, even with a bunch of ‘workarounds’. So, radio triggers were required.

Pocket wizard investment for the number of lights I have would have set me back about €800, which was a pretty steep bill considering the self-imposed gear ban. So, after a little research, I decided to try out a couple of sets of Cactus V5’s from www.gadgetinfinity.com

The total cost including delivery, taxes and some extra sync cables was under €150. For such a significant saving you’d expect equally significant drawbacks, but I’ve yet to find them.

Pros

• Units are ‘transceivers’, so they can be set to transmit or receive the wireless signal
• Hotshoe mount built in, so you can place a speedlite right into the trigger without using any sync cables
• Units can be used as a wireless cable release for the camera (requires an additional €4 cable)
• Wireless range is far longer than I’ve ever needed to go. The system does not rely on ‘line-of-sight’ to fire, so lights can be placed outside, in different rooms/buildings and still fire reliably 
• Units run on standard AAA batteries. They’re pretty easy on the batteries too, I use mine a lot and they only require charging every couple of months
• 9 wireless channels to choose from 
• Did I mention they’re cheap??

Cons

• The location of the battery compartment is poorly placed, and tends to open when you place the triggers in a hotshoe
• The build quality (obviously) isn’t as nice as a pocket wizard product
• They’re not compatible with other cactus triggers. On the other hand all Pocket Wizards are compatible with one another 

The bottom line here is that in roughly a year’s use these little puppies have never failed me. Ever. Not so much as 1 non-firing frame!

Highly Recommended if on a budget!

More coming soon…

The Food Dilemma

When every instinct tells me to grab a spoon and commence shoveling I genuinely find it difficult to take the time to photograph my food ‘properly’… and by that I mean a little more than a quick iPhone shot. Tonight I made a bit of a compromise.

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Boxty

I’ve been curious about boxty since first hearing of it from a friend of Co. Cavan descent some years back. Inspired by a recent blog post over on The Daily Spud I decided to give it a go this evening, making traditional Irish Bacon & Cabbage with a twist from some leftover ham…

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The Value of a 50

In the run-up to the next kick-start course (details here), I’ve been in contact with lots of photographers seeking to exploit the potential of their DSLR cameras.

To those that don’t already have one, I’ll always suggest getting a fast prime lens (such as a 50mm f/1.8). I’ve just taken a quick shot from my desk that demonstrates the value of such a lens, in this case a Canon 50mm f/1.4

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The President's Photographer

(flash player required)

I think this is an excellent documentary, even worth a look for those with little interest in photography. I made some observations while watching that reiterated a number of the things I’ve learned over the years since submerging myself in this craft:

• Make lots of pictures. There are two conflicting quotes in the video, but I’ll go with the more conservative figures of 20000 - 80000 images taken by the photography staff per month. That’s a lot, and you can be sure that many of them are never going to see the light of day… but taking lots of shots increases the chances of capturing what you want/need. With a little discipline, you can also learn from the images that don’t make the grade… figure out what you don’t like about them and work to avoid the same thing in future 
• Good Workflow is Essential. Self-explanatory really, but with up to 80000 images a month to process, a streamlined and consistent workflow is critical
• Get it Right In-Camera. Documentary photographers are subject to very strict limits on what ‘enhancement’ can be made to an image once it’s shot. It wouldn’t surprise me if the staff in this video were shooting JPEG instead of RAW, either way it places emphasis on getting the image right in camera so little or nothing needs to be done in post-production. White Balance, Sharpness, Exposure and crop all need to be spot-on
• Shit Happens. You’ll make mistakes, fumble and gear will fail. This is a given. What matters is how well you recover when it happens
• Be Discreet. Many people are uncomfortable in front of a camera. By becoming invisible a photographer can capture natural gesture and moments far more easily
• Carry Less Gear. The more gear you carry the less images you’re likely to capture. In this video the photographer carries two camera bodies and two lenses. Simple, and with them he can move quickly and quietly
• Invest In Good Glass. The photographers in this video were using excellent lenses (list of the ones I spotted below), but they weren’t using top-of-the-range camera bodies. The lesson here is that good lenses are the best place to spend your money, as they will outlast camera bodies. Megapixels are fairly irrelevant, as are lots of the bells and whistles on modern camera bodies, which can make them a poor investment sometimes.
  
  Camera Bodies & Accessories
   - Either Canon 7D or 5D models… neither of which cost more than €2500
   - Canon 580ExII flash on-camera
   - Lexar Compact Flash memory cards
  
  Lenses
   - Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye (I think)
   - Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM
   - Canon EF 27-70mm f/2.8 L USM
   - Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM
   - Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L USM
   - Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS L USM
  
  Some observations on the lenses: Most of them are from the Canon ‘L’ range, which indicates high quality lens elements, fast autofocus and excellent build quality (dust and moisture resistant). They all have very wide apertures. With the exception of one they’re all fairly compact, thus less intimidating to those being photographed. 
  
  
• Details Tell The Story. The large sweeping images may cause the most impact, but it’s the smaller details that help convey a story and develop a larger body of cohesive work
• Print Pictures Regularly (and share them). The process of printing correctly takes time, but I find it so much more gratifying to print my favourite images rather than viewing them on screen. It evolves the image from a digital file, ones and zeros, into something real that you can touch and feel
  
  …and most importantly of all…
  
  
• Your Best Images are Still Ahead of You. Every single thing you’ve ever learned about making an image goes into making your next shot. Food for thought, eh?

More coming soon…

Focus!

There are certain key decisions that go into making an image that must be controlled by the photographer rather than leaving it up to the camera. The focal point is one of those decisions. In this post manually selecting focus points is discussed along with a simple set of images to illustrate why it’s important, plus a few tips on focus and composition.

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