Lighting

After several false starts, the good folks at Pocket Wizard sent me a package of tricky new goodies to poke, prod, and measure to find out if they will work with our various Slipper products. The good news is that you can use the new FlexTT5 transceiver but not directly under the Speedlite as the manufacturers have intended. If you have done any reading on the performance of the FlexTT5 then you already know that these units suffer from excessive RF noise emitted from most Canon speedlites. The 430EX II is your best choice for use with the Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 because it is the “cleanest” Canon speedlite in terms of RF noise production. The best current solution is to separate the speedlite head as far as possible from the FlexTT5. This fact suggests to me that the use of the Canon Off-Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3 might offer some welcome separation of the two components. As it turns out, the addition of this cord allows an easy fitment to all of our Slipper variants.

My Newest Lighting Tutorial Disk is Now Available!

Tag along as I design, light, and photograph a multi-page fashion editorial. After each set-up is captured, join me in Studio B where I explain the technique and technology behind the creativity. This in-depth video fully-illustrates how we exploit the HD and still-capture capabilities of the new Canon 5D Mark II by using street-smarts and a variety of continuous light sources. These include tungsten, daylight fluorescent, and LED panels and all manner of light modifiers. Studio strobes make a significant appearance as well. If you ever wanted to tag along on one of our location shoots, this is as close as you're likely to get.

Click here to learn more.

... Are now available in our online store: The Triple Threat | The Double Header

 The Triple Threat will allow you to use 3 Canon Speedlites with a Shoot-Thru or Traditional Umbrella on a light stand. The Double Header will allow you to use 2 Canon Speedlites with a Shoot-Thru or Traditional Umbrella on a light stand. Both are compatible with our Magic Wand, and use 1/4-20 mounting points. This also makes them compatible with most light stand swivels, such as the Photoflex Heavy Duty Swivel + Stud. Click through to check out some pics.

Two new triggering mechanisms were announced at the WPPI convention and they look really useful. Of particular interest is the new Flex TT5 Transceiver. This ETTL compatible triggering device is designed to communicate directly through the hotshoe of the Canon Speedlites. The new architecture will elevate the flash by 1.41” and raises many fitment questions. This change will affect the flash-head placement when used with our various Slipper products but details are sketchy. The folks at PocketWizard recognize our customers’ avid interest and will be sending me a test module to measure and evaluate next week. I will experiment with the new Flex TT5 Transceiver in conjunction with our various Slipper products over the next couple of weeks and report my findings as soon as possible.

Note: It is my understanding that there is some RF interference produced by certain Canon speedlite models when used with the Flex TT5. This RF issue is most pronounced with the 580EX and 580EX II and almost non-existent in the 430EX II.

My goal is to design a mounting position that addresses and corrects this phenomenon for dedicated users of our various iDC Speedlite products.

Stay tuned!

-Bruce

I have been asked to contribute to very cool website called ProPhotoCoalition. I'll be a regular contributor in a blog column entitled "Bruce Dorn's Studio B."  Pop over and bookmark my page for future reference if you like keeping up with the latest thoughts and opinions from B. Rex....

www.prophotocoalition.com

Now back to the latest news! A few weeks ago I had another brief session with a pre-production 5D mark II.  Once again, only one battery accompanied the camera but this time I was ready with back-up in the form of my 1D and 1Ds Mark IIIs.  I dedicated the 5D Mark II to HD capture…

On this occasion our goal was to produce both stills and video during an editorial fashion shoot.  Since I was capturing both stills and High Definition video I came equipped to shoot most of the job with continuous lighting sources.  We used a mix of tungsten and LED sources and had a fine time.  The final project was edited “Fusion Style” in Final Cut Express 4.

My gang shot a lot of “behind the scenes” video and we’ll offer a two-part tutorial very soon.  Here’s a little teaser for both the Capture and Post Production segments…

Sorta sounds like a weird children’s book but it isn’t.  It’s really two new tools that I have developed for my own gadget bag.  The Buddy Bar is a black-anodized aluminum bar that is just right for ganging up small lighting instruments.  The Magic Ring is a piece I designed to allow easy softbox rotation with any plate in the iDC Slipper line.  The Magic Ring is available as part of several kits but also "a la carte. "   iDC is the only site that offers the Magic Ring as an addition  for existing owners of our handy Slipper line-up.  The Magic Ring is fully backward compatible!