triggers

Since this is targeted for people just starting out, the emphasis will be on cost, so I will be focusing on the CTR-301p, which is the lowest cost, off camera flash trigger that I can speak about and highly recommend. There are many many different trigger systems, including the RF-602s, I can say I have put my CTR-301p through it's paces and for the price, if they stopped working tomorrow, I would have gotten my money's worth.

The CTR-301p is very simple and easy to use. A set of one transmitter and two receiver can be had on ebay for about $42 shipped to USA location. I have bought from hkyongnuophotoequipment a few times and they have been very reliable.

I have two sets actually. The older CTR-301 and the newer CTR-301p. So, I basically have a backup transmitter and 4 total receivers. Since I generally only will use up to 3 lights, one can be considered a backup receiver as well.


They work on just about any camera that has a standard hot shoe and most flash that I have seen. I've even triggered my flash with my $26 Holga! :) Now that I have a year under my belt, if I was looking for a new set of triggers, I would probably get the RF-602s. The only reason is because of the RF remote trigger for my D700. The Nikon remote by itself cost as much or more than the RF-602 I think...anyway...I've had the CTR-301p for a year and shot thousands of pics with it and it's been very very reliable for me.

Here's a pic with them on the camera and flash.


By the way, the pics above were shot with my two used ebay sunpaks with the CTR-301p trigger system. Here's the basic set up for the shots above. Note, this was super quick, two or three shots and done.

Two foam boards on a chair, then drape a white bed sheet over it. One light is sitting behind the home made diffusion panel. I'll get into DIY light modifiers in a near future blog.


Again, very simple setup. There is a second light, behind the camera when I took the product shots above. It is pointing at the white wall behind me and bouncing back at the product on the chair.


A few things to point out from my use of the CTR-301p.

* it uses non-conventional batteries, instead of AA or AAA. I have not changed out any of the batteries since I got them except for one CR2 in one of the receiver. I think I left the receiver on for a few days, which did not help I sure.

* The optical slave does not work well, or at all, in bright light. I don't mean under direct sun, I mean, even bright light coming in through the window. But for me, I never need to use the optical. I just use the RF to trigger.

* They have very very good range. This was from about 120 feet away:


* Since they are RF, you don't need line of sight. This was shot with the light outside in the patio, with a wall between me and the flash. I am not sure if I could have triggered my SB-900 from where I took the shot.


So, that pretty much wraps it up for triggers. I think I will get into some basic DIY stuff for the flash and using them off camera next.