RadioPoppers & The Future Of Wireless TTL Flash
^ RadioPoppers enable full TTL flash control for Canon and Nikon strobes. Unlike traditional wireless TTL, which relies upon a finicky line-of-sight connection between the Master and the Remote - RadioPoppers can transmit this TTL control through walls, in bright sunlight and over extended distances.
Off-Camera + TTL = Better Flash Photography
The number one opportunity to improve your flash photography is to unbolt your Speedlite from the top of your camera and move it… anywhere. If you rely on your camera to calculate the proper flash exposure or if you want to dial the flash exposure up/down independently of the ambient exposure from your camera, you have to shoot TTL (“Through-The-Lens”) flash. So, how to you combine getting your Speedlite off your camera and still maintain a communication link for TTL-flash? That’s the journey that led me to discover the incredible RadioPoppers.
The Basics of Wireless TTL Flash
Corded, Off-Camera TTL Flash
There are a couple of ways to get your flash off your camera and maintain TTL communications. The simplest is to use a special cord. Both Canon and Nikon make them. The cords are rather expensive ($65 to $75) and a bit short (2′ to 3′ coiled). They come in very handy when I’m moving quickly and want just an arm’s length of space between my camera and flash. I carry two with my Speedlites. (You can get amazing mods to off-camera cords here — but warm up your wallet beforehand).
Wireless, Off-Camera TTL Flash
The wireless approach to TTL-flash is based on having a direct (aka: “line-of-sight”) path between your camera and flash(es). You need a Master flash or flash-less Commander unit on your camera or you’ll need one of the Nikon bodies with a pop-up flash that can operate as a Commander. The sensor on the Remote unit (which everyone else calls a “Slave”) has to be able to see the signal sent out from the camera-mounted Master/Commander. When you venture off into the land of Wireless-TTL flash, you’ll quickly discover what I mean by “Speedlite Yoga” as you twist the head of your flash into obscure positions so that it’s pointing at your subject while the sensor is pointing at your camera. As you’ll read below, the line-of-sight issue is the Achilles Heal for Wireless-TTL Flash and the reason that so many pros loath it. It’s also the reason that RadioPoppers were invented.
Three other quick points about Wireless TTL Flash: 1 – Most of the time, I set my Master flash to that it communicates to the Remotes but does not actually fire during the exposure. 2 – There are 3rd-party flashes that claim to work with Canon or Nikon systems. I advocate that you should have the same brand of camera and flash. 3 – When Canonites say “e-TTL” and Nikonians say “i-TTL” – both are talking about their brand of wireless communication between camera and flash.
Off-Camera, Non-TTL Flash
There are a number of other techniques that enable you to fire your flash when it’s not parked on top of your camera. All of these break the TTL communication link and require you to set the power level on your flash manually (not bad, just different). Radio triggers, like PocketWizards and Skyports, are fantastic and expensive. Optical triggers and really long PC-cords are low-tech and less expensive options. As today’s focus is RadioPoppers and the future of wireless TTL-flash, I promise that I’ll write about off-camera, non-TTL flash soon. In the meantime, head over to Strobist to fill your head with great ideas on this topic.
Wireless TTL Flash Is Finicky
I admit it. Wireless-TTL Flash can be problematic to absolutely infuriating. It’s not that the concepts are faulty. It’s the gear. Wireless TTL is relatively easy IF the Master and Remote units can see each other and IF there’s not too little or too much distance between them and IF the sun is not too bright or at the wrong angle. That’s a lot of IFs.
Here are situations where traditional Wireless TTL Flash falls apart:
- I’m moving around the subject and not giving any thought to the need for the Master to be pointing directly at the Remote.
- The Remote is being moved around by an assistant who is not paying attention to the Master-Remote connection.
- I’m switching the camera from vertical to horizontal to vertical – which means that my Master is, then isn’t, then is pointing at the Remote.
- I want the Remote to be parked around a corner or directly behind the subject.
- I stuff the Remote unit into a softbox or hide it behind a shoot-through umbrella.
- I wander more than 30′ or so from the Remote.
- As seen by the Remote, sun is coming right over my shoulder – effectively blinding the poor guy.
RadioPoppers To The Rescue
RadioPoppers are the brilliant idea overlooked by industry giants and invented by a regular guy in Arizona. Rather than rely upon a visual connection between the Master and Remote, the RadioPopper system captures the electronic pulses being emitted by the Master and converts them to radio waves. The receiving unit then decodes the radio signal and delivers the TTL-flash message to the sensor on the Remote via a fiber optic cable.
With RadioPoppers, I don’t worry about much — other than staying creative with my camera and lights. I maintain full TTL control – including high-speed sync and flash exposure compensation – without getting shutdown because there’s not an absolutely perfect, line-of-sight path between the Master and Remotes. With RadioPoppers, I’m free to stick my Remotes into awkward locations. I’m free to wander a good distance from the Remotes. I’m free to strap a wide range of light modifiers to my Remotes and not worry about blocking the sensors. I get all these options without giving up the ability to dial my flash up and down from my camera.
RadioPoppers Are Not Perfect… Yet.
As of mid-November, 2008, RadioPoppers are still a first-generation product. Is this new technology rather expensive – yes. Is this new technology a bit buggy – sometimes yes. Is this new technology able to do something that no other gadget can do – YES! That’s why I remain a huge (and patient) fan of the Poppers.
^ Early in my career as a Poppaholic: rubber bands and black gaffer tape. Look really close... you'll see that I didn't get the white ball on the fiber optic taped down properly on the Remote's sensor. So, this flash would not fire.
If you’ve tried Poppers and not been satisfied, implement the following and give them another go:
- You have to have a roll of Black Gaffer Tape (“BGT”) to make Poppers work reliably.
- The clear plastic sleeve that holds the ball to the end of the fiber optic needs to be permanently attached to the fiber optic with thin strip of BGT.
- The placement of the fiber optic probe onto the Remote sensor is critical – especially with smaller units like the Canon 430EX. If your flash is not firing, it’s probably because the little white ball is not exactly on the sweet spot. Study the Popper manual for the details. Move the ball around until you find the sweet spot.
- Once you find the sweet spot, use the BGT to securely tape the white ball in place. Don’t use a tiny piece of BGT for this. Use a big piece of BGT, because you also need to…
- Black out the entire sensor with BGT. Take no chances with a bit of sneaky sunlight getting in.
- Make sure the other end of fiber optic has not pulled out of the receiver – even just a bit. A small strip of BGT can help with this.
- Make sure you have fresh batteries and make sure the Poppers are turned on… seriously.
There are a number of RadioPopper mods discussed on the web. Many will void your RadioPopper warranty. My suggestion is that you break out the BGT in the near term and keep an eye on the RadioPopper blog for news about the introduction of second-generation models.
Poppin’ Reno With RadioPoppers
Last summer, shortly after I received my RadioPoppers (a transmitter and three receivers), I did what any normal shooter would do – I headed to Reno. Land of the free and home of the strange (at least just before and after Burning Man). Actually, Reno is a great place to shoot. Brilliant, high desert sun. Forests and peaks nearby. The Truckee River and Lake Tahoe. Weathered and abandoned buildings out in the desert. Colorful people. My good friend, MD Welch, who I met through a Joe McNally workshop, lives in Reno and set up a number of shoots with… colorful people. [That's MD in the white shirt serving as my stunt double for the demo shots.]
Shoot #1 // Truckee River Woman – Shooting Beyond The Range of Traditional Wireless TTL Flash
^ Truckee River Woman - Of course my first Popper test would be to jump in a river.
^ Just off the bank of a river is not exactly the place you'd want to use larger strobes (Quantums, Rangers...). Here's a perfect situation for Speedlites and e-TTL.
When you’re shooting an avid kayaker who likes to wear large sequins, it makes sense for everyone and everything to be in the water at the same time. Right? Here’s where I got my first taste of RadioPopper joy. The two Remotes were winged out on stands as shown above. Without e-TTL, I would have had to change the settings manually as the sunlight continued to fall. Without e-TTL, I also would have had to make more trips across the slimy and treacherous river bed. One wet slip was enough for me. Without the Poppers I would have had to stay within 30′ or so of the remotes. So, thanks to the Poppers, I was able to back up a considerable distance with my 70-200mm to shoot long and create a narrow angle-of-view while still controling my Speedlites remotely.
Shoot #2 // True Love – Forget About Where The Remote Is
^ The position of the Remote created the dramatic falloff in this mid-afternoon portrait on a brightly lit porch.
^ With RadioPoppers, you don't have to change the position of the Master when you suddenly decide to move in close or switch the camera from vertical to horizontal.
It’s not everyday that I meet a young woman who has “Mommy” tattooed beneath a heart on the inside of her arm. Sunlight was blasting in from everywhere during this mid-afternoon shoot. In order to settle the viewer’s focus on the truly interesting part, I had to create some dramatic falloff by moving the flash in real close. As shown above, the Speedlite was “fishpoled” in over the top. Here’s another example where e-TTL shines. I could dial the intensity of the flash up and down without touching the Speedlite or breaking up the flow of the shoot. Thanks to the RadioPoppers, I could also jump from horizontal to vertical and move in and out without having to stop and point my Master back at the Remote with each switch.
Shoot #3 // Battle Born Derby Demons – 2nd-Curtain Sync, Popper-style
^ Catching the essence of the Battle Born Derby Demons. With 2nd-curtain sync, the flash fires just before the end of a slow exposure.
^ The RadioPopper Remote-On-A-Stick trick enabled me to focus on capturing the Derby Demons at just the right spot on the track.
Catching the essence of the Battle Born Derby Demons (Reno’s flat-track roller derby team) proved to be another great test of the RadioPopper system. Imagine mixing a cocktail of Olympic speed skating, mud wrestling and a rock concert in a downtown park. You’ll get close to the feeling of a Derby Demon bout.
Two things quickly became evident as I tried to create photographs that portrayed the experience: 1 – a static (think “sharp”) image would not do and 2 – I had to catch the skaters as they passed through my slice of light light rather than try to chase them with it. As for for #1, it was evident that 2nd-curtain sync and a slow shutter speed were perfect. As for #2, my solution was to hoist a Speedlite and Popper atop a tall stand and zoom the head out to the max of 105mm. Thanks to the Popper, I could dial the intensity of the flash up and down until I found the right combination of slow-shutter and strobe — which continually changed as twilight merged into night. The Popper also allowed me to wander along the track and shoot my lit zone from a variety of angles without any concern about the Remote being able to see the Master.
Other Random Thoughts About RadioPoppers
Canon or Nikon should have invented this technology a long time ago. If you take out the AA battery, the electronic workings of a Popper aren’t that big. I hope that one of the big guys licenses this technology and builds it right into their Speedlites / Speedlights. The enthusiasm about e-TTL / i-TTL would explode.
RadioPoppers do things that Pocket Wizards, Skyports and other “dumb” triggers can’t do and vice versa. As you’ve already read, Poppers can do something that no other device can — namely deliver TTL flash control beyond the boundaries of normal e-TTL or i-TTL. What Poppers cannot do is control a wide range of devices like studio strobes or trigger remote cameras. Even if you get Popper-fever, you’ll still want/need another form of wireless triggers to use with other types of flash. $orry.
I’ve no doubt that RadioPoppers will continue to evolve and that many of the current quirks will go away. As much as I love BGT, I believe that it won’t always be necessary to have a roll handy when shooting with Poppers.
Have You Popped?
If you’ve used the Poppers, for better or for worse, add a comment with your experiences, insights and feature requests. I’ll make sure that the guys at Popperland see them.
Nice popper writeup! I’ve been using mine for a few months now, and love ‘em Even when used in manual, they are great simply for the ability to adjust flash power remotely (580exII on camera with RP transmitter allows you to adjust the manual power of your slave groups remotely. (supercool)
I came up with what I think is a pretty good method of attaching the poppers (to Canon strobes at least, wont work for Nikons b/c of the placement of the sensor) that give a nice secure fit, and ensures the bead is placed properly every time. Pretty easy, it’s just some craft foam and velcro wrap, I did a write up here.
Best part is it doesn’t require drilling/opening your poppers or doing anything that would void the warranty (like some mods). -Ed Z
I just got my first pair of PW’s and am pretty excited. I get that RP’s are a 1st gen system, but really, for an amateur and for someone who doesn’t always get the “ratios” when it comes to lighting, getting some TTL love wirelessly and not using the built in system (it’s failed me time and time again) IS DEFINITELY something I would put money into in the future. Good work RP’s – maybe you’ll get me next time.
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thanks for the post! finally someone shows the shot, and how they got it! I use pocket wizards, but they aren’t TTL!! Remote camera functionality is awesome though, so I won’t switch yet.
Thanks PixSylated for your excellent review and commentary about RadioPoppers. I am a big fan and supporter of RP and I want to first tip my hat to Kevin, the guy with a big vision who invented the technology, and my friend Bernard who provides impressive tech support and customer service.
Canon wireless flash has often been my secret weapon for quick, down and dirty, creative off-camera TTL flash. But more than a few times I have cursed the lack of reliability and have been embarrassed as I struggled with the gear on assignment. I’m curious if the Nikon CLS system works better. Joe McNally seems to get it to work well. As soon as the Poppers were available I grabbed my charge card and asked for rush shipping. I currently use three receivers and one transmitter. So far my experience with RP has been great and I’m hooked. Not perfect, but impressive indeed.
Poppers give photographers so many helpful options and one of the biggest is wireless auto TTL high-speed sync. Allowing well-lit pictures to be made with big apertures and high shutter speeds wireless in nasty high-noon kinda light. Wow !One of my favorite features that separates RP from the popular Pocket Wizards is the ability to shoot wide-open apertures with strobes very close to your subject. Canon and Nikon strobes put out a lot of light even when dialed down to 1/128 power when placed close to your subject. With auto ETTL and iTTL and Poppers you can shoot wide open with strobes in close. That to me is a big plus.Using an STE-2 transmitter you can use A + B ratio groups. Adding an RP transmitter to a Canon flash as a master will give you the option of A,B and C ratio groups. The C slave seems to meter differently and I’m still trying to understand it so I’m open to advise on the best way to use it.
Poppers are not perfect but I caution you that exposure and flash metering problems you may encounter are likely short comings of (in my case) Canon TTL flash metering. A cool and helpful option is to use your flash in a wireless manual mode and choose individual power settings from your camera position for A,B and possibly C groups.The biggest weakness of Poppers in my opinion is that they go through their AA batteries surprisingly fast and changing them is not convenient. Bernard sez that is about to change when new models are introduced. Often I find my first shot won’t activate the Popper receivers but the second one on works great as long as batteries are fresh. The units have a sleep or rest mode that they switch to and its something you should read about in the manual so you will understand it.RadioPoppers are the most exciting new product I’ve added to my kit in the last ten years and I hope Kevin and Bernard will include me in the first shipment of the new models.
Rex
My guess as to why Canon and Nikon haven’t done this, and this is purely a guess, is that getting the various RF certifications and operating frequencies in so many different international markets may be a huge headache and greatly increase the cost of implementation.
Hi Syl,
Thanks for this. Have tried the RP’s with high speed sync as well?
I had eyeballed these when they came out but was concerned about their durability. The fiber optic cable looks like something that could easily be sheered off. What’s your impression so far?
Hi Syl,
Thank-you for the great write-up and pics. I have a couple RPs and was always advised you can’t do 2nd curtain sync wirelessly. I’m an outdoor adventure photographer and have a great need for this. Can you advise on how you managed to get 2nd curtain sync.
Thank-you,
Ted
High-speed sync and 2nd curtain flash work fine with RP. Set your flash the same way you do without RP. Refer to manual.
For my 550’s and 580’s it’s easy.
Rex
Great idea – absolutely what I’ve been looking for. Does make me wish Nikon would come up with some kind of radio system though!
Any ideas as to wether you could hook a transmitter up to the pop up flash on a d200 etc?
Cheers
Mike
Ted – Second-curtain sync is set up on my Canon 5D via one of the user options. There’s no setting needed on the strobes. Check out your camera manual.
Alan – I chatted with Kevin King, inventor of the Poppers, about this. That’s exactly the issue with multi-country electronics. Interesting, though, that a guy working out of his house, could figure out a modular approach when the big guys haven’t done anything (that I know of).
Mike – Check out the pix at the bottom of this post. This might be a solution for using RadioPoppers with a pop-up flash.
I’m interested in your product and have several questions. Do you have have a telephone number so that I may call?
Wayne
Wayne – You should contact the guys at RadioPopper directly. Here’s the link to their contact info. Ciao!
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How do the new pocket wizards compare?
NaturaLight.us
Hi, does anyone have any experience using the Radiopopper PX and JRX triggers in Europe or elsewhere internationally? I’m currently living in Moscow, but hope to move back to the States eventually. I really want to get the Poppers, but am concerned about the frequency issue. And yes, I know that they’ve said that they plan on releasing international versions, but given their history of long delays, I’m not holding my breath about that one.
I asked Radiopopper directly about if they are usable in Europe, and they told me I could expect some interference. However, I’m not a pro so I’m ok with accepting a certain amount of reduced performance in exchange for getting TTL and being able to adjust manual levels from the camera, so I asked them to be more specific, but all I got was: “Unfortunately, there is no real estimate we have for the functionality of a U.S PX system for international use.”
Has anyone actually used these in Russia, or Europe, or anywhere else with a similar frequency set-up, and give me some idea if they are worth me getting, keeping in mind that I’m going to be moving back to the States eventually? For example, do they work at 90% of their effectiveness in the States? 50%? Thanks in advance!
Think twice. I wouldn’t dare to use them in Switzerland if you don’t want to get arrested for example. They are illegal over here as long as they don’t launch an official european CE version of the Radio Poppers. E.g. the US PocketWizards use a frequency that is reserved for the army over here in Switzerland. And they don’t make fun about that. They log every single trigger on their ground and locate you faster than you can run… I prefer to stay away from this trouble and wait. As hard as it is.
I just got my RPs a month back and here in Malaysia, GSM is on 900, 1800 and 2100Mhz. According to the Multimedia Commission, 900Mhz is also allowed to low-powered ISM devices. Generally however, the newer 3G mobiles are mostly 1800 and 2100 over here. That’s all theory… so here’s the real info:
I’ve used them up to 400 feet without any problems – rural setting though but in an urban environment here there’s a lot of mobiles (potentially high interference on the 900Mhz band), I’ve tested it to about 120 feet. Could it have gone further? Maybe, I don’t know because I didn’t have the space to use it. Have used them with two flash units with e-TTL without issue. I’ll be having another two receivers shipped in in Jan so hope to try with more flash units.
Daniel brings up a good point.
RadioPoppers are on the 902-928mhz ISM band though and I think it’s good to check with spectrum allocations in each particular country. Generally if you’re in Europe or most of Asia, we’re talking about GSM countries which means the 902-928 band is allocated for Mobile communications. The Malaysian spectrum licensing/allocation for 902-928Mhz reads like :
-FIXED
-MOBILE except aeronautical mobile 5.317A
-BROADCASTING 5.322
-Radiolocation
However, considering that RPs transmission is fairly weak comparing to a cell phone, it ought to be fine — Then again, YMMV
Daniel, thanks very much for your input. Hmmm… it sounds like it’s safe to say that Russia is a lot more… relaxed… about rules than the Swiss are, so trouble with the law isn’t my main concern in this instance. Still, your experience leads me to think I should investigate further before going for it.
Eugene, thanks for sharing your experience. I’m most concerned about the success rate up to about 100 feet with flashes around corners and behind objects, so that’s good news. Anything more than that is even better, but not essential. When you have used the poppers in urban environments (I’ll definitely be in urban settings most of the time), do you find that within this range you have an acceptable misfire rate? If I can get at least what I’m getting now with Cybersyncs (about 75% success rate or better) it will be worth it to me, assuming my additional research leads me to believe I’m not likely to end up in a Russian prison.
Rob, I used them in Church at that time. 120 feet from altar to entrance door. We had wireless mics, radio remotes, Wi-Fi and about 300 people. The mobile take-up rate in Malaysia is 93%. If we assume 80%, that’s about 240 900/1800/2100Mhz phones. I had four mis-fires out of 80 frames. Three of the misfires easily explained — speedlight did not recycle fast enough as they were from a group of seven shots a second or so apart and I got speedlight A or speedlight B firing alternatively for the last 3 frames. I’ve tested it behind my house, shooting from about 70 feet with both speedlights around the corner of the house – no problems there. Also 5 out of 5 frames when the speedlights were handheld above a stairwell opening outside. No line-of-sight. Hope this helps!
Eugene-
That definitely helps–Thanks so much for taking the time to share that! Cheers.
[...] First off, a little back story just in case you've never heard of Radio Poppers. They are wireless triggers for your speedlights. I started using Radio Poppers a few months ago for outdoor shoots. Why use a radio trigger over the already wireless Nikon CLS system? Well… the Nikon CLS system is infrared based (like your TV remote). If there is a tree or wall blocking your speedlight… you wont be able to trigger it (much like your TV remote). The CLS system also is limited in distance, especially in broad daylight. If you'd like to read more about wireless off-camera flash, here is a very informative blog post from PixSylated about wireless off-camera TTL flash. [...]