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Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 Transceiver For Canon TTL Flashes and Digital SLR Cameras | 
| Brand: Pocket Wizard
Category: Photography
List Price: $229.00
Buy New: $220.00
as of 7/31/2010 23:36 CDT details
You Save: $9.00 (4%)
New (14) Used (1) from $209.99
Seller: kidfolio
Rating:  62 reviews
Media: Electronics
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 1.4 x 3.6 x 2.8
MPN: FlexTT5 For Canon
Model: FlexTT5 For Canon
UPC: 893577001545
EAN: 0893577001545
ASIN: B001TANZ0W
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Full ETTL II /iTTL Autoflash and Ratio flash and exposure tracking | | • | FP/High speed flash synch up to 1/800th sec. | | • | Autoflash sequences up to 8 frames per second | | • | Triggers flash or cameras | | • | Works with all Pocket Wizard 32 channels and zones |
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Product Description
The dedicated FlexTT5TM Transceiver, with its built in hot-shoe and ControlTLTM firmware, is the perfect addition to Canon E-TTL II flash systems. The FlexTT5 takes the existing benefits of Canon wireless systems beyond the boundaries of infrared technology. When paired with the Mini TT1TM Transmitter or another FlexTT5 Transceiver, a whole new world of wireless flash freedom opens up. The FlexTT5 is also the perfect Transceiver for your manual triggering needs and works with all MultiMAX channels and many of the MultiMAX advanced functions.
The FlexTT5's simple design comes to life through its hot-shoe connection with a camera or flash. Mount a flash or command unit on the FlexTT5 to use the same zone controls and ratio commands as you would normally. The system tracks your changes in ISO, shutter speed and aperture and reacts accordingly to make sure exposures stay right on target. Use the flash compensation dial on your camera or flash just as you would normally and the changes pass seamlessly through the system.
The FlexTT5 has two channel configuration settings; C1 and C2. Each can be programmed as needed with up to 20 ControlTL channels for TTL photography, or 32 standard channels for manual flash photography. The FlexTT5 Transceiver also has a three-zone selector switch for ease of use with Canon zones and ratios.
With PocketWizard HyperSyncTM Technology, the FlexTT5 can precisely advance the timing of your flash trigger so that increased flash sync speeds, up to 1/500th of a second is achievable with many strobes.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
 C2 did not work with the first pair but replacement units did July 16, 2010
Nelson (Colorado)
Bought a MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 pair. Out of the box, the C1 setting worked but the C2 did not. Both units are at the latest 5.00 firmware level. I tried following trouble shooting steps but none helped.
1. Refreshed the firmware to 5.00 using the latest PocketWizard Utility 1.18.9.
2. Changed the C2 transmit and receive control TL channels on TT5 and transmit on TT1 to match TT5.
3. Reset the units by holding the test button for 10 seconds until the status light blinked green four times.
Called the PocketWizard support. They thought I did everything I could and the unit should work with the steps I did.
Created a RMA. Amazon promptly shipped replacement units. When using each of the replacement unit with the old pair, the problem still exists. However, the two replacement units worked together like they should!
It is still puzzling why such problem exists. But in the end, Amazon sent me the working units and that is all that matters!
 ...after using these for a while July 15, 2010
Robert S. Tobias (Arlington, VA USA)
My experiences and the resulting review are the result of working with the transmitter (MiniTT1) and transceiver (FlexTT5) for a little while. Others have already posted copious reviews including massive amounts of useful details and chronicles of their pains in getting the units working.
Here is the bottom line: You need to load the firmware upgrades if your units don't come with them already installed. Once loaded you will have a rock solid wireless connection between your camera and your flash.
The competition: There are other "tiers" of wireless flash controllers available and different pricing levels. Cowboy studios and others have them for about 10% the cost and they work most of the time at distances of ten's to maybe 100 feet. There is tremendous variability because the actual manufacturer can change from one week to the next and quality control can be problematic. There is also no on-camera flash control. However, if you are, for example, shooting portraits in a studio setup these may not be a bad alternative. Alien Bee has wireless controllers for for about half the cost. A bit more if you want at-camera flash control and less if you don't. They are reliable and well built but the "at-camera" control unit is cumbersome and not well integrated to the camera.
The MiniTT1/FlexTT5 combo provide a wireless connection that acts as if your flash was attached to your camera. Beyond that, the MiniTT1 (transmitter) is very low profile. That's important if you're moving around a lot such as at a wedding. It's like working with nothing stuck to your camera (as opposed to the original pocketwizard that seemed to get caught on everything).
Here's the real bottom line: If you make money with a camera then any of the bottom tier units is just wrong. The Alien Bee can work well but the additional features features provided by this generation of PocketWizards probably make them your best choice.
PW Mini Rocks! July 10, 2010
W. Manipol (SUNLAND, CA, US)
Great product to compliment the Flex TT5. There was a 15% coupon offered by Amazon which brought the price down. No brainer purchase for an awesome product!
 Watch out! Don't use a 580 EX II with this! May 26, 2010
Travis Gagnon (Austin, TX)
If you've got Canon 580 EX II flashes I would recommend not buying this. It killed the 580 EX II that we tried on it on a shoot after about 30 minutes. After thirty minutes the strobe would only do a pre flash full power and then not a flash that actually synced with the camera for exposure. Sent it into Canon which is still covering it under warranty but only because I haven't explained what killed it. The flash would not work on the camera anymore as well and didn't even work in manual mode either.
Now something that they give very little information about is the black executioner hood that you have to put on the 580 EX II and the special adapter. It is their solution for some sort of EM or RF disturbance that the 580 EX II produces that disrupts the Flex TT5. I'm assuming this contributed to the execution of my 580 EX II because if that radiation is being emitted it's not meant to be caged in a bag to be be reabsorbed by the flash. I'm not an RF engineer but I have an electrical engineer and an RF engineer in the back of my studio who would probably corroborate my theory if I asked really nice.
The hood also prevents you from accessing the controls easily on the back of the strobe.
Oddly, the Flex TT5 seem to work perfectly with the 550 EX II syncing at anywhere we tried it up to and above 1/2000 of a second. It also seems to work perfectly with the 430 EX flash.
After this experience we've read numerous reviews about these pocket wizards doing the same thing to other people's 580 EX II flashes. Pocket Wizard normally produces excellent devices that work perfectly every time so this transceiver not working as they expected is a shock to every one probably including Pocket Wizard.
Also their sales information is very sketchy about what they do and do not support which is very frustrating. There doesn't seem to be a definitive source of what is supported and how much of it is supported. So I'm here to tell you it is not very well supported for the Canon 580 EX II flash and it might kill it.
Works great, but you should read the manual May 23, 2010
P. MSakamoto (Saratoga, California USA)
Brief Summary
The PW mini and Flex setup for Canon TTL has worked flawlessly for me after I read the instructions. If you use the latest version of the product, it seems the issues noted by early reviewers have been removed and if you have some modest technical expertise, these are the best way to trigger the Canon flash system off camera.
Details:
I used two different setups:
1. I have been using a Canon 40d body with 17-55mm f2.8, Vivitar removable flash bracket. OCE3 flash sync cord. 580exII speedlight. GaryFong "Whaletail" diffuser. This rig allows me to roam around an event and take candid or impromptu shots using either direct or off axis flash lighting. However, I have this OCE3 curly cord to manage when I try to pull the flash off axis to provide a bit more modeling. One of my hopes was to make it easier and less risky to my flash (the OCE3 has quite a spring quotient when stretched).
a. My hope was to eliminate the OCE3 and substitute the Mini and a Flex to provide full flexibility in flash placement and general ease of use. Wow. Works like a charm! No training, no issues. HS mode works fine. i didn't try to "train" the system to use faster shutter speeds because I didn't have the need for the faster shutter speed at the events I work with this rig (e.g. indoor reception).
2. Canon 40d body with 17-55mm f2.8, 580exII, 430ex, two light stands, umbrellas, Mini TTL, 2 x Flex TTL. In the past, I had used an STE2 infrared in place of the PW units.
a. My hope was that this would be just like having the STE2 except with reliable outdoors triggering and no need for line of sight IR beaming between the various elements. This is not quite what the PW does. I didn't read the instructions before my first test, given the great out of box experience I had with my walk around rig. It turns out that there are differences between having the flashes controlled by the OCE3 to the 580exII as master, using the STE2 to control the 580exII and the PW units.
b. I experienced difficulty putting ratios between the two flashes and other setups beyond blind automatic mode.
c. It turns out that after reading the manual it all worked out. Rather that go through al the details, let's suffice to say you need to spend about an hour or two with these before taking them out to a job. This is what I did, fortunately, so the manual reading didn't hurt any real job.
d. The short way to get this to go is to put the flashes into manual (M) mode and set everything on flash to accomplish ratios, etc.
e. The not too flattering looking way to light the scene is to put both flashes into TTL mode and do not attempt to do anything fancy at all. This tends to result in a "too evenly" lit scene, but it does just work. Perhaps this is OK for some applications or situations where the alternative was even worse (dimming light, no time and a potentially muddy pic).
f. A bit of manual reading and fiddling around conquers this issue nicely - just do it early before you need it.
Notes
I did NOT add the included (in my unuts) interference or noise shields. These are supposed to address electrical noise issues that caused a lot of triggering problems with the early PW units. I have spread out the flashes to do daylight fill outdoors for a 40 person group and did not have any problem.
One issue I did have is that if you power cycle the camera, flash and trigger on or off and out of sequence, the flash can become unsynchronized from the shutter in HS mode. To fix this, just turn the flex that the flash is attached to off and then on. The camera and the flash can be left on the whole time. Somehow, this fixes it all.
Conclusion
I do not use most of the capability of this wonderful system. So far, my meat and potatoes needs have been met reliably and I would recommend these to others. The only reason I give it just four stars is that I wish it were a bit more like having a 580exII control the remotes. Once again, not a killer issue because you can work around it, but there is a learning curve.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
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