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Hi guys,

First of all, don't hate me, as what i am going to post under are some test shots from the new toys i got for my canon. Unfortunately, those pocket wizard TTL remotes aren't available for the nikon yet, so i also did some testing with the orbis ring flash adptor(which are available for all nikon speedlites, including sb900) so here you go if you fancy some new gear for your nikon.

Right, some of you already know i converted to canon a few weeks back, and after close to 5000 shutters of busy shooting within the past 2 weeks, i can say i am definitely happy with what i converted to. However this post is not to discuss which system is better, as i believe that depends on personal preferences. Here are some quick pics from last weekends photoshoot with the 5dii, 2 580exii, and pocket wizard TTL. all setup were on AV mode, and off camera lighting through TTL, i have to say i am totally in love with the new pocket wizard remotes. off camera high speed sync in broad daylight with ETTL II, i just couldn't ask for more.




below tests were shot with canon 5dmii, 24-70 f2.8, 1 x 580exii, pocket wizard TT1 on camera hotshoe and pocket wizard TT5 on 580exii.

The flash was off camera during the whole test, when using the orbis ring flash, the 580exii was supported by the orbis arm (which was nice to use and easy enough to setup, however it's an $88 optional extra on top of the ring). Camera was on tripod with 2 sec shutter delay. ambient light was remained pretty constant during the whole testing.

here is the first shot:

M mode, 1/15, F2.8, ISO100, no flash
as you can easily see, the soft toy (jack) was a little underexposed around the face, hand, etc, and overall not much highlight to make it look good.

so, lets turn the flash on:

AV mode, 1/30, F2.8, ISO100, full ETTL with orbis ring flash
not bad from my opinion, the light was soft and didn't cast any shadows to the back wall. however, the orbis ring flash clearly reduced the flash output a little resulting in an underexposed picture, so next i will change the Flash exposure compensation a bit.


AV mode, 1/30, F2.8, ISO100, FEC +2/3


AV mode, 1/30, F2.8, ISO100, FEC +1


FEC +1 2/3 (left), FEC +2 (right)
FEC +2 is definitely bit much, as you can see the picture is dominated by highlights while the midtone and shadows are washed out. i stayed with +1 for the rest of testing.

now, i have flash output, and the rest all setup, time for a bit of play:

M mode, f/2.8, 1/50, ISO100, no flash fired.
so this is what the pic looks like with -2 EV, in ambient light only.
I chose this shutter speed to start with because this is the common setting for an indoors environment.

---

M mode, f/2.8, 1/50, ISO100, flash fired, +1 FEC
pretty good, but you can faintly see a shadow on the background now, this is because by using a shutter speed of 1/50 the ambient light is reduced so the flash becomes more prodominant.

Now we will try the high speed sync, all the following shots are taken with M mode, f/2.8, ISO250, flash fired, +1 FEC, the only variable being the shutter speed.


1/80


1/125


1/200


1/320


1/400


1/640


1/800


1/1600


1/2000

---

1/2500

As you can see as the shutter speed is increased, the flash output also increased until its reached the maximum, at which point the picture starts to become underexposed with further shutter speed increases.

With the next series of pictures I increased the ISO speed so the sensor is more sensitive to both ambient light and flash. By doing this you conserve the battery in your flash as it doesn't have to output as much power to get the same result.


1/2500, ISO640
As you can see compared to the picture above shot at ISO250 with the same shutter speed, the background isn't as underexposed.

The following series of pictures are all shot with M mode, f/2.8, ISO640, flash fired, +1 FEC. Only variable being shutter speed.


1/3200


1/4000


1/5000


1/8000

The above proves that the PocketWizard is capable of high speed sync up to a shutter speed of 1/8000s. Pretty impressive!?


M mode, f/6.3, 1/13, ISO400, flash fired, +1 FEC
This will be my choice as the best picture as there are no shadows in the background and Jack is properly exposed with both highlights and midtones clearly visible.


M mode, f/8, 1/8, ISO400, flash fired, +1 FEC
For your reference, this picture was shot with no orbis ring flash adaptor. The flash is a lot more concentrated and a strong shadow is cast onto the background.

So in my opinion, $250 for the orbis ring flash adaptor is money well spent.

thanks for the review!

Has all the bugs and problems with the pocketwizard TT1/TT5 being fixed now? my friend told me he has quite a few problems with his like RF noise problem with 580EXII and other that i can't remember.

oh and nice wedding portraits!

Thanks for the reviews!

i have a ring flash adaptor which i got from oversea .. it's great for close range portrait shots.
If i have the choice again, i definitely would get the Orbis instead!

Stunning wedding pics!
Wow.

LIke the wedding pics. #2 wedding pic is very nice.