So you want to trigger your flash, but don’t know what equipment to get?

There are many different ways of triggering your flashes, and the number of options can be overwhelming. What’s more, some triggers are better than others in certain situations, and some are just plain rubbish, but you can’t tell this from the price alone!

With the rate of new products being released, web pages which were once a good reference are now out of date. This guide aims to be up to date in comparing the merits of each triggering system. For an in-depth guide to using different types of triggers, have a look at this article by DPanswers. For German speakers there is an excellent Strobist Hardware FAQ here.

Electrical

On the hotshoe

The easiest and most obvious way of triggering a flash is by putting it on the hotshoe of your camera. However, while this provides much more power than your camera’s built-in flash (if it has one), the light is still harsh, direct and can cause red-eye in your pictures.

By tilting and swivelling the flashgun you can bounce the light off walls and ceilings around you to get better results. An exemplar of this technique is Niel van Niekerk. Nonetheless, when using bounce flash, the number of “looks” you can achieve is limited by the environment.

To begin learning about off-camera flash, we recommend David Hobby’s Lighting 101 on Strobist.com.

The test button

Ken Brown: Photographing Cars (video)

While not one of the most versatile of triggering methods, it is certainly one of the cheapest. Simply press the “Test” button (also called “Pilot” or “Flash”) on your flash while your camera is capturing the image. With a tripod and a long exposure, you can move away from your camera, around your subject and flash it multiple times from different positions. This can give the effect of several lights or one big light source.

This method is useful for light painting at night or in a studio environment, as shown by automotive photographer Ken Brown in his video (right) and related Flickr discussion.

PC sync cable

A Prontor/Compur (PC) jack is a 2-contact connection historically used to connect flash units to cameras via wires. It is also now used to connect some wireless triggers with flash units.

TTL cord

A TTL cord is an extension of your camera’s hotshoe, allowing you to use its proprietary features and Through-The-Lens metering system off-camera. Some cables allow you to connect multiple flashes at once.

Optical

Optical slave

An optical slave cell triggers a flash unit in response to a burst of visible or infrared light given off by another flash.

Advanced wireless system

Major DSLR manufacturers have proprietary systems whereby an on-camera “master” (or “Commander”) flash can control and adjust compatible “slave” flash units via a series of complex pre-flashes. The Commander flash can be an external on-camera flash or the camera’s built-in/pop-up flash (if it has one) – however not all cameras/flashes have the facility to act as Commander.

Like simple optical slaves, these signals are based on visible/infrared light, but they are capable of remote power adjustment, TTL metering and more. Some manufacturers’ systems have more features than others. Many of the features of optical slaves also apply to proprietary lighting systems, so there will be some repetition below.

Also known as: Nikon – Advanced Wireless Lighting (AWL); Canon – Wireless Speedlite System; Olympus – wireless flash control.

“Stealing” someone else’s flash

Stealing flash at a wedding

This is an experimental and unpredictable technique, which is good fun at weddings and other social events. The aim of the exercise is, by lucky timing, to take a picture at exactly the same time as somebody else who is using a flash. Then their flash will be included in your exposure. Since the other person will probably not know you are doing this, and are likely using the automatic flash on a point-and-shoot camera, your timing and exposure must be guessed.

Radio

About eBay triggers

The first generation

Broken PT-04TM triggers

Back when Strobist.com‘s Lighting 101 guide to triggering was written, the choice was clear. You could splash out on PocketWizards for excellent range and reliability and be done with it, or you could economise on “eBay triggers” (also known as “poverty wizards”) and get not much range, reliability or economy. These 1st generation eBay triggers are called [InsertBrandHere] V1, V2, V2s, PT-04, PT-04TM, RD-604 and so on. Even if you get a decent, working and reasonably reliable set first time, their poor design (tall, sitting on a rotating L-bracket) combined with heavy usage will eventually see their undoing: see the picture above!

The second generation

At the end of 2008, enter Yongnuo Photo Equipment, with their CTR-301 series. They did away with the top-heavy design and created a much more stable, lower profile trigger receiver. Additional features of the Yongnuo CTR-301 include an optical slave mode, and the ability to sync with old high voltage flashes. Other manufacturers followed suit and put their radio receivers into lower, stronger casings, including Cactus V4 and [InsertBrandHere] PT-04 CN et al.

(Which trigger is better, Cactus V4 or Yongnuo CTR-301? Join the debate.)

The third generation

Yongnuo CTR-301 and RF-602 receivers

In 2009, Yongnuo came out with another triggering innovation, the RF-602*. These use a 2.4 GHz signal (versus 433MHz) which seems to be 100% reliable, long-ranged and free of interference (even in proximity to wireless routers, which use the same frequency). Another benefit is that they will wake up flashes from sleep mode, and you can use them as a camera shutter release. Up to now the RF-602s have been the unrivalled champion of eBay triggers (though they cannot trigger HV flashes as the CTR-301 can), and have narrowed the gap between eBay triggers and high-end triggers such as PocketWizards.

The future

Manufacturer Phottix is also expected to release a 2.4GHz trigger, the Strato in the near future, and has already unveiled the PocketWizard-compatible Phottix Atlas. Pixel Enterprise have the 2.4GHz TF-36X-series, also known as the iShoot PT-04 D, though at the time of writing reviews are scarce.
* In Thailand the Yongnuo RF-602 is branded “Fokon MR R-16″

TTL triggers

Radio triggering featuring TTL exposure is still an emerging industry, currently only undertaken by a few third party manufacturers. Solutions include relaying infrared systems over a radio link (Radiopopper) or using a “wireless TTL cord” (Pixel). Each of these systems has its own advantages and disadvantages. For more details, read this excellent article on DP TnT.

Radio trigger comparison

So that you don’t waste your money buying dodgy cheap triggers, or underwhelming overpriced ones, we have made a comparison table with all the important details. If you think anything is missing or inaccurate, contact us and we’ll put it right. Use the drop-down menu to show more triggers.

Unreleased triggers

These triggers are coming soon-ish, with all details subject to change.