By now most readers of Lighting Rumours should know what a trigger is. For those who are unsure, a quick recap.
“It’s a device connected to a camera or a flash which is triggered by another device connected to a camera or a flash which may or may not be connected to another device connected to some kind of triggering mechanism to start off the triggering event.”
Or, words to that effect.
Basically, you can use wireless means to trigger your camera or off-camera flash.
So I was invited to try my hand at some phood fotography at a local craft beer pub. What better way to put the Aputure Trigmaster Plus II 2.4G through its paces? Having never done this style of photography before, I assumed that it would be like other times I have lit up inanimate objects, just these are warmer and tastier.
Now if that doesn’t make you hungry, here’s more information about the Trigmaster Plus II.
For the triggers connected to flashes you have to flick the switch on the side of the Trigmaster to RX, making sure that the one on top of your camera is set to TX/RX otherwise nothing will fire. The Trigmasters can be set onto 6 channels and 4 groups which can all be easily selected around the centre of the front of the trigger.
With a couple of button presses I can turn groups off and on to see how the entire piece is building.
Now a bit about usage and handling, for those looking for a little more distance when wanting to use their equipment, you can throw a trigger up to 500m away, set them to the “Super” setting and then your camera/flash another 500m away from that and you have yourself a relay system.
A couple of nice additions to the unit: a foldable antenna that folds in on itself so the dimensions stay the same and the antenna is protected; also the tripod mount doubles as a hot shoe mount, giving you more options on how you want to place your lighting rigs.
The flash-test button and the camera trigger, if set up for remote camera triggering, are two separate entities so you can test both functions individually. If you hold the test button down for a fraction of a second longer, then you will be presented with a battery test to let you know when you should be replacing those batteries inside.
If you own sync cables, you will either have to get adapters for your current cables, or use the mini-plug sync cables that come with the units.
The Aputure Trigmaster Plus IIs sync up to your cameras maximum sync speed, trigger a variety of cameras and lights with a simple-to-use interface. If you are looking for a trigger that does just that, without having to mess around with things like E-TTL/i-TTL and HyperSync, then having these in your kit bag would certainly help you out.
Where to buy
Available online now, the Trigmaster Plus II 2.4G costs $59 per transceiver. UKphotodistro sells them for £54.99.
David Monteith-Hodge is an Edinburgh-based photographer. View his work at photographise.com and follow David on Twitter @photographise