Pocket Wizard

[scottmtz]

Hi, I am a owner of an S2 and am having a problem with my PC connector. The connector is will only fire every once in a while. I went to the camera store and we determined it was the camera and not any cables or flash. I still have a month of warranty left. I am wondering if I should send it in for repair or just spent $20 on a hot shoe adapter. I almost hate to have the camera opened up when the rest of it functions well. The other thing is does anyone have any experience with the pocket wizard? Does it get flash sync from the hot-shoe or the PC connector? I really want to get one of these down the road to avoid cables and slave modes.

Thanks,
Scott

[Tom V]

My PC Terminal failed after a few months of ownership. I know the cause too: When I unscrewed the PC Terminal Cap, the Terminal unscrewed as well. I screwed the Terminal back in, but if failed soon thereafter.

For a while, I used a Nikon AS-15 hot shoe to PC adapter (had some anyway for other film cameras), but I still got tired of tangling with the sync cords.

Then I bought a PocketWizard Plus Digital Transmitter (for the camera) and the Reciever (for the flash).

Ahhhhhhhhhh, is it nice!

The transmitter works in the hot shoe, and I plug a small cable from the reciever into my Speedotron power pack. I think I had to buy the cable separately, as there are several different kinds of flashes you might be plugging into. You can also use a PC cable from the camera to the transmitter, and/or plug a local flash into the transmitter.

There is no worry about blowing up the camera with a over-voltage sync spike.

I think the set is expensive, and I almost felt guilty about getting something like this when a sync cord can get the job done. I saved the boxes so I could return it if it felt too extravagent. After using it a few times in my little studio, there is no way I am returning it.

The warranty expired on my S2, and I never did get the PC Terminal fixed.

[scottmtz]

Yeah, I might just send the camera in and also mention the banding I see every once in a while in ISO 100 images. I better wait a week or so to see how much my D1 is going to cost to get fixed before I spring for the Pocket Wizard.

Thanks,
Scott

http://www.scottmartinezphotography.com/images/moon.jpg