I received my 3 pocketwizards two days before the mafia shoot. I had time enough to test them to check whether they were working and that was it.
First off if you are using older flashes you will need to purchase a hotshoe adapter with pc sync cord to jack plug to get them working. I have a 580EX and a 430EX with a Canon 60D. Both of the pocketwizard units had to connect to the flashes with the mentioned adapters as they don’t have the PC Sync plug built into them. I used Hama adapters. They fit extremely tight onto the flashes and you need to take care to fit them properly. Getting them off is whole other story, but I would rather have them fitting tightly than otherwise. I suppose a little use will loosen them up a bit
After connecting the units on site for the shoot I did a few test shots and was soooo impressed. They worked flawlessly. What I will be doing is adding a velcro hack similiar to what Zack Arias uses to keep the pocketwizards stuck to the flashes instead of letting them hang from the lanyard(also supplied standard with the PW’s. I just found this would be better as the one unit on the 580EX became unplugged on the pc sync side with the moving around of the light stand and led to some miss fires. No fault of the manufacturer though.
I didn’t have time to test firing distance but I suppose that would be just as impressive and similar to what Pocketwizard claims. All in all they are superb units, sturdy, effective and work well. I can honestly say that I don’t regret the buy and recommend them highly. For a basic wireless radio trigger they may be expensive at around $99 ( ZAR 1050.00) each but you get all the knowledge and know how of Pocketwizard built into those little units.
The plastic lock ring worked well and was easy to turn. If you are venturing into strobist territory these units are well worth the money and backwards compatible with existing pocketwizards you may already have.
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