Which brings me to gloves.

Just about every photographer I know has their preferences. One uses ski glove liners, another has rather nice tactical gloves (though, they do hold up better than softer fabric gloves when it comes to moving stuff). For the longest time used a crappy pair of knit things that didn’t work for crap. However after last years unusually cold winter, I thought it was time to do something about keeping my poor fingers warm.

When looking for gloves I had a few objectives in mind. First, they had to be reasonably warm, but not super hot. Like I said, it doesn’t get that cold down here and the last thing I want is to have to keep taking them off and putting them on.

Second, is that they need to have some grip. My 1D’s portrait grip is mostly covered by a Really Right Stuff L plate, which means most of the grip is smooth anodized aluminum not grippy rubber.

Finally, I really wanted something that didn’t require removing the whole glove to use my iPhone or iPad in the field. This means either “removable mitten” covers, or removable finger tips.

Which brings us to Target, and the Champion C9 gloves they carry. The gloves come in a number of styles, including both removable finger tip versions and finger-tip-less mitten cover versions. Some have grippy rubber coatings, others don’t and this is something I’ll be coming back to.

Style 1: Grippy is Good

I’ll call this style 1 for this purpose, the SKU on the label inside is 044000084 if that helps, I can’t currently find them on Target’s website, but that’s where I got them.

These are your basic light weight gloves. Other than the rubberized palms, they don’t have any fancy features or frills. That said, the rubberized grip holds quite well. Moreover, compared to the second style of gloves, they are slightly warmer.

In fact, the only real problem I have with these gloves is that to use my phone (any touch screen phone or tablet actually) I have to take them off.

Though they’re considerably better than the plain knit gloves I use to use; however, they’re not perfect. That said, if I didn’t have a touch screen phone, I don’t think complain at all.

Style 2: Removable Finger Tips

The second style I found is Target product #061-07-0830. These are listed online (see the link) and have a couple of features I kind of like over the first style.

First, they have removable finger tips on the thumb and index finger. You can work a touch screen phone or tablet without removing the glove, you just have to pop the finger tip off and have at it.

The second selling point for me was the long wrists. They’re long enough that they tuck under a jacket well which is ever so slightly warmer for when I’m pushing the edges of what I consider comfortable temperatures.

The only real problem with these is the complete lack of grip on the palms. However, this is a problem that can be readily solved.

Fixing the Grip Issue

The one problem with these gloves is that they lack any grip, fortunately it’s relatively easy to add grip to fabric. There are a number of guides that suggest buying a product called Plasti Dip, made by Performix, and using a syringe and a toothpick add dots in a regular pattern over the surface you wish to add grip to. This certainly works. However, maybe I’m just way to lazy to bother to grid out by hand 2 palms worth of grip dots on 1/4″ centers, and hope it didn’t look horrible.

The solution I came across is another product made by Performix called Super Grip. It’s a clear spray on rubber coating that’s designed to be used on fabric, moreover it’s flexible and washing machine safe. Their stated application is making rugs and bath mats non-slip, on smooth floors.

Prep for the application was simple enough, make sure the gloves were clean, mask off the area not to be covered with blue painters tape, insert a cardboard “hand” cutout in the glove to hold it’s shape, and spray.

With the Super Grip applied, the style 2 gloves aren’t quite as grippy as the first pair, but they’re more than grippy enough to hold my 1D and a 24-70/2.8 by the portrait grip (with the a fore mentioned L-plate) without worrying about it slipping out of my hand. Plus with the finger tips removable I can actually work my cell phone while I’m in the field, which is a huge plus for me.

Conclusions on the Gloves

I’ve ditched my old gloves for the the second style with the a fore mentioned fix of spraying the palms with Super Grip. That said, I don’t think either pair are the end all be all of light weight gloves for photography, especially since they have to be modified to work well.

Are they the end all be all solution to lightweight gloves? Not really. They’re considerably better IMO than basic knit ski gloves/ski glove liners, but they aren’t really top shelf material either. Moreover, I have no idea how durable they’ll ultimately end up being.

Unfortunately, they seem to be a Target specific product so sourcing them may be difficult if you don’t have a Target stores in your area.

Some people would argue that in the brave world of digital, filters are obsolete nonsense that should be left in the garbage along with film. Though it’s true that some filters certainly can be dumped, there are many that are still useful, most notably among these are neutral- and graduated-neutral density filters, and to do that right, you need some kind of filter holder.

Rectangular Filtes

Why use rectangular filters instead of screw in ones?

Rather simply this allows the graduation in graduated ND filters to be positioned where the composition requires it instead of forcing the composition to a fixed position. Since the only filters that are really needed anymore, aside from circular polarizers, are graduated ND filters, the ability to position them based on where the scene demands it is fundamental.

To me there’s no question as to whether you should use rectangular filters or not; the only question is what size do you need?

Rectangular filters come in a verity of sizes, Cokin brands these as A, P, Z and X, in order from smallest to largest.

The A series filters are largely aimed at compact and point and shoot cameras. They will work acceptably with small lenses that aren’t especially wide angle on something like the 4/3rds platform or most P&S that can take filters.

The P series are by far the most commonly used for SLR class cameras. Though popular, the P series filters, have limitations on how wide the lens can be before they start causing problems. For example, I find that anything wider than about 24mm (15mm on a crop camera) will see significant vignetting from the filter holder in the images.

The X-Pro series are aimed at especially large format and extremely wide-angle situations (8×10 film, broadcast cameras).

Z-Pro Series (4 in. Filters)

Slotting in between the P series and X-Pro series is what Cokin calls Z-Pro. The filters are 4” wide, which is actually a more standard photographic and cinematographic size than the more widely known P filters.

4 inch filters can be had from a number of companies (Cokin, Hitech/Formatt, Lee, and Signh-Ray to name a few). For the most part the filters are interchangeable between 4” systems, the only real exceptions are for polarizers. This was no small part to my decision to go to the slightly more expensive 4” Z-Pro system.

The other benefit of the larger 4 in. Z-Pro filters is that they vignette less on ultra-wide angle lenses. This was actually the primary motivation for not going with a cheaper P sized system. When using my Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, P sized filters had to be held in front of the lens at most focal lengths simply to avoid vignetting from the filter holder. With the Z-Pro system, the problem is reduced dramatically, though not completely eliminated.

The Z-Pro Filter Holder

Cokin’s Z-Pro filter holder is an amazing simply concept. It’s made from a combination of 3 different basic pieces held together by brass screws to form a very flexible solution. Show below is a completely disassembled Z-Pro Holder.

Components of the Cokin Z-Pro holder.

In the normal configuration, there are 3 filter slots on the front, 2 for normal thickness filters, and one for Cokin’s thicker circular polarizer. The springy plastic bits that hold the filter in place provide enough pressure that the wider first slot doesn’t have to have the spacer removed for normal filters either.

The back side, is a single slot. In “normal” use the single slot on the back is fitted over the adapter ring that you screw into your lens’s filter threads.

However, for very wide angle lenses, the whole situation can be reversed in the field. Making the 1-slot side the “front” and the 3-slot side the “back”. So long as 1 filter is all you need, there’s no need to tear down the filter holder in the field to use it on an ultra-wide angle lens.

Moreover, a little creativity can get you 2 filter slots for an wide-angle lens. Simply put the adapter ring in the rear most slot of the 3-slot side, and screw the whole assembly onto your lens.

In contrast, many of the other 4” filter holders, have less flexibility in the way the holder can be mounted, and as a result have to be taken apart to adapt to ultra-wide lenses where vignetting from the holder is a problem.

However, in the end, this flexibility ultimately ended up being the biggest problem I have with the holder.

When using high-power ND filters, like a 10 stop (ND3), it’s critically important to have a good light seal between the ND filter and the lens. In short, this means the filter has to be in the rear most position and this is where the problem comes.

The Cokin Z-Pro holder with a 10 stop ND filter in the rear most slot. You can see how the core has to be reversed to stop the bottom two pins (covered by the filter) from interfearing with the filter.

The Z-Pro holder center’s itself on the lens by way of 3 plastic pins; 2 in the bottom and 1 in the top. The arrangement of the pins means that to completely cover the lens ring, the core part of the filter holder has to be used backwards, not that this poses a significant problem in and of itself. However, the required arrangement to get that seal also means you can’t do the whole reverse the holder on a wider lens and still use the filters.

The Z-Pro holder (note the core part is reversed) mounted to a camera via the threaded ring. All of the mounting pins are fully depressed to the rear.

It seems clear to me, that Cokin was hoping to make the holder work in a way that was quickly reversible without having to completely disassemble it, the arrangement causes some issues. Moreover, I think a few mm of thickness could have been shaved off with a single-single direction core piece that required disassemble to shorten.

The second complaint is that if the plastic “springy” tabs are kept compressed for any length of time, they deform. In fact, the pair of “springy tabs” that are on the mount side of my holder has become less “stiff” simply because I kept a filter ring in them for a couple of days. Now consider, that while that may sound like a bad idea, the slots are 2.75mm thick, the adapter ring is 2mm thick, as are most filters.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Cheaper than the Lee Holders
• Reconfigurable for various lenses
• Holds up to 3 filters out of the box

Cons

• Mounting system makes using high powered ND filters harder than it needs to be
• The “springs” that hold the filters can deform and become less secure with age

Conclusions

Even now in the digital age, some filters are still useful tools and the rectangular filters and their requisite holders are still the most flexible way to deal with neutral density filters.

To me the only real question is what size holder you should get. Though it would be easy to simply jump on the more inexpensive “Cokin P” sized filters, the 4” (i.e. Cokin Z-Pro) filters are considerably more flexible and are produced by a number of companies.

As for Cokin’s Z-Pro holder? It works, and there’s not much else that needs to be said. It may not be as easily flexible as it seems like it should be, but at least it’s not any worse than anyone else’s is.

Arca-Swiss is perhaps best known for the for the dovetail quick release system they developed, which has since become the de facto standard for high-end photographic quick release systems throughout the industry. However, they’re no newcomer to the industry, having been a large format view camera manufacturer since the 1950s, and more importantly manufacturing ball-heads for those cameras since the introduction since 1964. The Monoball Z1 is the latest descendent of that line of tripod heads.

Without a good tripod head, there’s little point to using a tripod at all, especially the more expensive carbon fiber ones. Pair a wobbly low-end head with an expensive carbon fiber tripod, and you may as well have saved your money on the tripod; your camera will vibrate just as much as if you had a weak tripod.

The natural question then is, “what makes a good tripod head?”

Capacity

I would argue that stability or rigidity is the paramount requirement. All the fancy control schemes in the world don’t amount for a hill of beans if the head can’t keep your camera pointed where you pointed it and do so without undue vibration.

So how do you measure the strength of a tripod head? Well short of buying them and testing them until they break, you’re at the mercy of the manufacturers and their “load capacity” ratings. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, there’s no standard for what it measures exactly, how it’s measured, or what it represents. Suffice to say, for what we have, it’s not very good. I tend to take load capacity with a grain of salt and aim for something with a liberal amount of overkill just to be sure.

That said, while I have no idea how conservative Arca-Swiss is in their load capacity rating, they have the overkill in droves. The Z1 is rated for 132-lbs (60Kg). That said, the Z1 is derived from ball-head’s intended for large format view cameras so there’s probably some truth to it. The table below compares the Z1’s rated weight capacity with those of other similar ball-heads.

In practice, a better way of looking at it might be the amount of torque the head can resist. This is considerably harder information to find published, in fact, only Markins publishes a torque rating. That said, due to a change in manufacturing around the time I bought my Z1, Wimberley was testing and selling Z1s to insure they wouldn’t fail when used with their Sidekick head. According to their testing, my Z1 was tested in excess of 200 inch-pounds (~4.9Nm) of torque. That matches Markin’s ratings for their Q20, which is in the same “load” class as well.

Build and Weight

For as much as the Z1 can hold, it doesn’t weigh a lot. Tipping the scales at 1.5 lbs (680g) with a QR clamp, it shaves almost 100 grams off its B1 predecessor. Fit and finish is very good as well, majority of the ballhead is matte finished metal, excepting the pan lock lever, tension scale, and the rubber grip on the Multifunction Knob.

All told, the build quality is every bit of what you’d demand from a $400 piece of equipment. More importantly, it’s sturdy enough that the head can take some pounding without breaking, even if Arca-Swiss says you should treat it like your cameras.

Range of Motion

The Z1 has independent control over the pan base and the ball’s orientation and the base can freely rotate though 360°. Additionally the ball can yaw though 360°. Pitch and roll motions are limited to ±45° from center, except when the neck aligns with the “portrait notch” where the ball can be rolled/pitched over 90° and rotated around it’s now horizontal axis.

In Use

Ball-heads pose a unique issue in their use and every manufacturer deals with it differently. What I’m talking about is the increase in torque applied to the ball as the load is moved off center, such as when tilting or rolling the camera. The increase in torque as a result of an off-centered load increases the amount of tension necessary to hold the ball in position, which can mean you have to continually adjust the tension setting when you’re using the head.

Arca-Swiss has attempted to get around this by using an aspherical ball. Instead of a perfectly round ball, the ball in the Z1 is more egg shaped (though it’s not visibly obvious). This has the effect of increasing the amount of tension in the clamping mechanism inside the ball-head as the ball leans over. As a result, the tension can be set once and the ball-head will hold the camera in position regardless of the orientation used. The aspherical ball does its job well enough too.

This may sound like a purely theoretical issue,  however, the ideal way to work with a ball-head is to adjust the tension once, so that the camera stays still when you let go, but can be moved around without having to release and reset the tension.

Controls

The Z1 has three controls, the Multifunction Knob, pan lock, and Friction Thumbscrew. Under normal use only two of these controls are ever used, the pan lock and Multifunction Knob. All of the controls are located on the left side of the tripod head, if you have the portrait notch facing towards you.

The Multifunction Knob is approximately 1” in diameter, and controls the “tension” on the ball head. Turning the knob clockwise (when facing the knob) increases the tension on the ball; turning it counter-clockwise reduces the tension. Adjustments are smooth and a whole turn gives quite a lot of control over the tension the ball is set to. Additionally, a user adjustable 13-position (0-12) scale can be set to your specific minimum tension range not that it’s useful in my experience but it’s a nice touch.

On the side of the Multifunction Knob is the Fiction Thumbscrew. The thumbscrew controls the minimum tension the Multifunction Knob can set. The friction thumbscrew, effectively sets the 0-tension point.

Arca-Swiss describes setting the friction thumbscrew as follows:

With the head tightened, mount the lightest combination of camera and lens you will regularly use.  Turn the small thumbscrew (located on the multifunction knob) by rotating it counter clockwise till it stops. Now turn the multifunction knob counter clockwise until you reach the desired minimum degree of friction. This can range from completely free or  to as little or as much drag as you desire.

The Friction Thumbscrew does contribute to one of the major problems some people experience with the Z1 and its predecessors, ball lockup. The ball isn’t actually frozen, though it appears that way. What’s actually happened is that the friction thumbscrew has tightened itself to the point that the Multifunction Knob can’t be turned and the tension decreased. The solution is simple enough, tighten the Multifunction Knob slightly, and then back the friction thumbscrew out. In an attempt to avoid this happening, I keep a piece of gaffer tape over the friction thumbscrew so it can’t be accidentally tightened or loosened.

The final control is the pan-lock. The current generation of the Z1 uses a small lever instead of a small knob. The pan-lock controls the fully independent panning motion of the head, and it doesn’t take much to set (pointed up) or release it (about a quarter turn). In fact I find this setup works very well on a tripod with a large base-plate, like the Gitzo’s Systematic series, where it would have been difficult to turn a knob and the plate is large enough that the lever can’t turn more than ~120°.

Though not an active control per-say, the base of the tripod has a rotation gauge built into it, along with 3 alignment points (white dots 120° apart on the non-rotating base). The major marks are in 15° increments, and minor marks are in 5° increments.

Camera Attachment

When it comes to attaching a camera there are a number of variations available with the Z1. There is a version with no quick release clamp, just a 1/4-20 threaded stud. That also happens to be the lightest version available at 635g.

Arca-Swiss offers both lever action and screw type clamps using their double-dovetail quick release system. This is the same QR system that Really Right Stuff, Wimberley, Markins, Kirk, etc. used as a base for their quick release clamps, and they are all generally speaking compatible with the Arca-Swiss clamps; both lever action and scew.

Arca-Swiss has gotten around the dimensional variations with a width adjustment mechanism in their lever-action clamp, and that will need to be adjusted for your brand of quick release plates prior to use.

Additionally, Arca-Swiss offers a double pan model that places a second pan block on top of the ball. This is especially useful for stitching panoramas where, the tripod can’t be leveled, or you don’t have a leveling base to level the head itself. Instead, the ball is used to level the top panning plate. The double pan versions can also be had in both lever-action and screw-type quick release clamps.

Additionally, the quick release clamps are secured with an M6 screw, and can be replaced with clamps like those made by Wimberley (as mine was), Really Right Stuff, or any other QR clamp that allows a screw to be driven down though it into the stem.

TL;DR: Verdict

The Arca-Swiss Z1 may not be the pinnacle of bullheads, but I think it’s darn close. In terms of strength versus weight, it’s hard to find something that exceeds it, with only the Markins Q20 coming close—at least based on published specs. Moreover, I’ve found the Z1 to be very low maintenance and highly reliable; it doesn’t require lubrication and only minimal cleaning, wipe down with a damp cloth.

All told, the Z1 is strong, precise, and smooth in its actions and movements. It’s a quality ball-head that will last for a lifetime.

When it comes to making sharp images with medium- to long- shutter speeds, there are 4 fundamental things that are necessary; a sturdy tripod, a good tripod head, a camera with mirror lockup, and a cable release. The RS-80N3 is Canon’s cable release for their mid- and high-end cameras including the X0D, 7D, 5D, and 1D lines.

What is a cable release? Fundamentally, a cable release is a button on the end of a cord that connects to the camera’s shutter release so that vibrations aren’t transited to the camera when pressing the shutter release. In the early days, with manual camera’s this was accomplished with a Bowden cable that connected an external push button directly to the the camera’s shutter release. Modern camera’s with electronic release systems use an electrical cable release instead.

The Canon RS-80N3 is an electronic cable release that provides the same functionality as the electronic shutter built into the camera. That is, half pressing the shutter button on the cable release is equivalent to half pressing the shutter release on the camera—both the autofocus and image stabilization systems will be engaged if enabled. Fully depressing the shutter release on the cable releases the shutter mechanism.

Additionally the RS-80N3 provides a mechanical lock to hold the shutter release fully depressed. This can be used in conjunction with a camera’s bulb exposure setting to produce extremely long exposures or keep the camera firing when set in continuous drive without being operated directly.

The RS-80N3’s release functionality is completely passive and requires no battery power to operate.

The cable on the RS-80N3 is flexible, though doesn’t feel easy to break or wear out. Additionally, the proprietary N3 connector provides a positive lock when attached so the release won’t accidentally fall out that’s released when the housing is pulled on to remove the connector. Fortunately, the N3’s locking mechanism isn’t nearly as cumbersome as Nikon’s 10-pin screw in connector is.

Canon makes and sells two versions of their cable releases using their proprietary N3 connector, the RS-80N3 is just a basic cable release with no advanced features, and its bigger brother the TS-80N3, which provides intervalometer functionality in addition to being a basic cable release. The decision between the RS-80N3 and the TC-80N3 ultimately comes down to whether there’s a foreseeable need to have intervalometer functionality. Personally, I have and use both depending on the situation, though if I’m only going to carry one, I take the TC-80N3 just in case.

What is the TC-80N3? Simply put it’s part cable release and part intervalometer. Ultimately it’s Canon’s solution for long- and repeated- exposure needs.

The TC-80N3 is compatible with most of Canon’s mid and top end EOS bodies that support a remote release socket. The exception is the entry level (Rebel) line, which uses a 2.5mm TRS connector instead of the proprietary N3 connector—though they do have a cable release of their own.

The 33-inch long (0.85m) cable on the TC-80N3 is easily flexible though not so much that it feels weak or fragile. Moreover, the proprietary N3 connector provides a positive lock when connected to prevent accidental disconnection. Intentionally disconnecting the cable is easily accomplished by pulling on the gray sheath on the connector. All told, the N3 connector is both secure when attached and easy to remove when needed. Finally, the N3 connector used is a right-angle connector that directs the wire for the release forward; this has the added benefit of reducing the profile of the connection.

Cable Release

When it comes to making sharp exposures at shutter speeds of 1/30^th and slower, the list of required tools is short, a sturdy tripod, a good tripod head, mirror lock-up, and a cable release.

Why use a cable release instead of the built in timer mode? Control.

While the timer release mode can be used to reduce mirror slap induced vibration, it has nowhere near the level of control. What to start the frame exactly when the wave crashes ashore, click the mirror up and wait for the wave, then click the shutter open.

Canon’s cable releases—both the TC-80N3 and the RC-60N3—provide the same shutter release functionality as the on-camera shutter release. Half pressing the button on the cable release activates the image stabilization and autofocus systems, and a full press of the cable release trips the shutter.

Additionally the cable release has a manual lock that will hold the shutter release in the fully depressed for long exposures. This lock can be used with the bulb exposure mode to keep the shutter open for very long exposures or combined with the continuous release drive mode and faster shutter speeds to fire a burst without having to interact with the camera—though buffer limits still apply.

While the intervalometer functionality requires a battery to function, the cable release functionality is completely passive and works all the time.

Intervalometer

The second function of the TC-80N3 is the intervalometer. The intervalometer enables the remote to programmatically trigger the camera in a rather large number of ways. The intervalometer functions of the TC-80N3 requires a CR2032 battery and one is provided in the box. That said, the power requirements for the TC-80N3 is vanishingly small, even without a way to turn it off, it will run for years on a single battery, even with regular use.

The display on the TC-80N3 is a segmented LCD panel similar to what you’d find on a digital watch, it even has a watch like blue-green backlight for programming or checking the settings in the dark.

The intervalometer offers 4 programmable settings, self, int, long and frames. All the timing modes (self, int and long) can be set up to 99 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds, the frame setting can be set between 0 and 99 exposures.

Self-Timer (self): The self-timer setting controls the amount of time the intervalometer waits before taking the first frame.

Interval Timer (int): The interval setting controls how long the intervalometer waits between successive frames.

Long Exposure (long):  The long exposure setting controls how long the TC-80N3 will hold the shutter release closed.

Exposure Count (Frames): The frames setting controls the number of exposures that will be made before the intervalometer automatically stops running.

Programming the TC-80N3 is done by stepping though the 4 modes by pressing the mode button and using the click/scroll jog wheel on the side to step though and set the various timers. Each timer is broken into 3 steps, seconds, minutes, and hours, to facilitate easier programming.

The real tricky part of dealing with the TC-80N3 starts when you start combining multiple settings to get more control and varied results. One of the best resources I’ve found for the TC-80N3 is Canon’s own Digital Learning Center download on it.

Two additional things worth pointing out, first, the TC-80N3′s intervalometer will “half press” the shutter release several seconds before the image is captured. There’s more than enough time for an IS system to settle, focus to be achieved, and metering to be done. Secondly, the only time the manual release on the TC-80N3 doesn’t work is when the intervalometer is holding the shutter closed (i.e. during a long exposure), at any other time when the intervalometer is running, the shutter release on it (or the camera) can be pressed to expose a frame, though doing so doesn’t reset the timer.

Sample Settings

Below are the two most used setups I use with my intervalometer.

Time-lapse (int)

Time-lapse photography is probably the easiest to setup, only the INT setting needs to be specified. The minimum interval is 1s, for many things I find 5-10 seconds works very nicely. Though obviously the more frames you have the smoother the composited video will be.

Remote Event Capture (self + long)

I’ve used this on occasion to free my hands to run another camera; moreover, I’ve known other photographers to use this setup to shoot events that will occur at a known specific time in the future. This is done by pairing the self-timer and long-exposure timer with a camera set to continuous release. The self-timer is set so the camera starts shooting shortly before it’s necessary and the long exposure time insures the camera will continue firing for however long it’s set to.

Conclusions

The Canon TC-80N3 is not the most used item in my bag, but when it’s needed, there’s really nothing else that can take its place. If you’re sure you won’t need the intervalometer functionality, the Canon RS-80N3 remote switch is a cheaper alternative for just having a cable release, the RS-80N3 is also slightly smaller.

I first found these while reading the 2011 Really Right Stuff catalog, and immediately they struck me as something that really made sense. The parts reviewed here, the FA-QR-B base and FA-QR1 adapter, are part of Really Right Stuff’s larger flash mounting system. The system includes

Two Parts: The Plate and Clamp

The 3 parts included in teh FA-QR set, base, plate and camera cord attachment screw (not shown allen key for tightening the screw).

The FA-QR package consists of two parts, the FA-QR-B base and FA-QR1 plate. Both of these can be had separately, the plates run $15 the bases $39, or together for $49 in the FA-QR set.

One of the advantages of the Flash QR system is that Really Right Stuff has endeavored to make the clamps and plates small enough to not get in the way, but still secure enough to hold a flash and keep everything in alignment.

Together the FA-QR1 and FA-QR-B measure only 1.3” x 0.8” x 1” over the locking tab. The FA-QR-B clamp on its own measures 1.3” x 0.56” x 1” over the thumb tab, and the FA-QR1 plate measures 1.3” x 0.41” x 0.75”.

The FA-QR set with ruler to give a sense of scale.

The system uses a triangularly tapered dovetailed to securely align and lock the plate to the clamp. As a result, the plates and clamps can only be attached one way making them directional.

The thumb release is tapper in such a way that plates can be slid into the clap without holding the lock down. Releasing the plate is a matter of holding down the release lever and sliding the plate back out of the clamp.

A word of caution though, make sure the plate is fully clamped before letting go. While the system is well designed, sometimes the locking lever can snag on the bolt in the plate, making it feel like the plate is clamped when it’s not.

There is a small amount of play in the clamp but it’s not enough visibly change the alignment of the pieces, let alone affect your flash alignment or the security of the mount itself.

Like almost everything from Really Right Stuff, everything is made from black anodized machined aluminum, including the thumb tab for the locking mechanism. Moreover, the locking mechanism is hinged and spring, so it doesn’t rely on something bending which can easily wear out and loosen. The overall build quality, even the quality of the lettering is, is top notch.

Mounting

A Canon OC-E3 off camera shoe cord mounted on the Really Right Stuff FA-QR quick release adapter. Note the silver washer required when mounted on the Manfrotto 3/8-16 to 1/4-20 reducer to allow the lock to release.

The system is designed to have an off camera shoe cord mounted to the plate, and the plate is “notched” or profiled to support securely holding that in place. The off camera cord is secured with a hex-head 1/4-20 screw that recesses into the plate to keep the profile as small as possible. The mounting screw is 0.5” overall, with 0.2” exposed to thread into the base of the off camera cord.

Test mounting a Canon OC-E3 off camera cord, to the plate was very solid and well aligned. The plastic foot on the cord fits snugly in the notch in the plate. Further the mounting screw aligns everything and none of the off camera cord’s shoe protrudes over the edges.

The base has a 1/4-20 threaded mount as well, though this time there’s a caveat. The mounting hole is drilled clear though the bottom of the clamp directly below the locking mechanism. As a result, if the mounting bolt is too long it will stop the lock from being able to completely open. I’ve found this to be the case when mounting to the stud that comes with a Manfrotto umbrella bracket, but not the studs from the cheaper plastic ones. Using a washer as a spacer will fix the problem.

In Use

I can’t really speak to how well the QR system works when paired with Really Right Stuff’s flash brackets, since I don’t use them. My interest in the QR system is for simplifying mounting Flex TT5 PocketWizards and strobes on light stands quickly and securely. I’ve already dropped one of my flashes and PocketWizards a couple of times trying to quickly get it secured to the stand without removing the stud. The RRS QR system seemed like the perfect solution, and it almost is.

In my intended use is to have the clamps always mounted to my umbrella brackets, and the plates to the bottom of my Flex TT5s.

As of April 2011, I’ve been using the FA-QR adapters on my FlexTT5 Pocket Wizards and light stands regularly for some months now. Setup and tear down are so much easier and continent that I really couldn’t imagine not using the QR adapters. Moreover, I’m much more comfortable when I’m tearing down a setup that I won’t drop a flash or Pocket Wizard, for me that alone is a pretty big win. It’s also reliatvely simple to mount or remove the PocketWizard/flash package to a stand one handed.

Complaints

Ultimately, I have two complaints with the FA-QR system as a whole. Though they really only arise as an artifact of my intended use and not so much as a defect of the system.

First, there is no dedicated “PocketWizard Flex TT5” plate, or a basic flat plate for that matter. The FA-QR1’s grooves make it impossible to fit it flush with the bottom of the pocket wizard and the bolt is almost too short to use that way anyway. The same can be said about the FA-QR29—the plate intended to be paired with the Nikon SC-29 cord.

My solution, was to break out the angle grinder and cut away the material that was in the way.

Secondly the plat intrudes into the hotshoe area on the Flex TT5. The intent, or at least hope, was that I could keep the FA-QR1 plate on the PocketWizard even if I had to mount it on a camera. That proved to me a mixed proposition. On the first plate I cut down, I removed a little more than 1mm from the side that faced the hotshoe, it served well enough to clear the hotshoe on an OC-E3 cord, and even worked when mounted to a Canon 40D. However, the actual dove-tail part that locks into the base, hit the viewfinder housing on a 1D Mark 3 preventing the TT5 from being attached to the camera.

While making it easier to setup and tear down PocketWizard installations likely isn’t the first thought that ran though Really Right Stuff’s mind; it was the first thing that ran though mine. Personally, I’d really like to see RRS come out with a plate fitted to the PocketWizard FlexTT5 specifically that insured alignment and didn’t interfere with allowed the FlexTT5 being mounted to a camera’s hot shoe. Even better would be if it moved the mounting position in front of the bottom hot shoe, so the flash was centered over the stand.

The second thing that would be nice, would be a base clamp that had a 5/8″ stud machined in place instead of having to mount it to one. That would allow a more solid mount on a flash bracket than having to worry about the base loosening n the stud.

Conclusions

Even though, I’m only starting to use the FA-QR system, I’m already finding the system gives me a small but noticeable amount of comfort and speed in setting up or tearing my off camera flash setups. The biggest advantage for me is that the plates can stay on my PocketWizards even when I’m storing them, something that I can’t do when using the 5/8ths studs.

Though not flawless, at least for me, the system does make life a bit easier for setup and tear down of off camera flash setups.

That said, if you’re looking to use the FA-QR parts with PocketWizard FlexTT5 components and flash brackets, I’d strongly urge you to express that to Really Right Stuff. The system is nice and with a lot of promise outside of just Really Right Stuff’s flash brackets, but having to cut down parts to make them fit properly on FlexTT5s is less than desirable.

Pros:

• Quick secure mounting of flashes (or really anything with a 1/4-20 threaded mount) to light stands or umbrella brackets (or anything that has a 1/4-20 screw)
• Positively maintains device alignment (as long as the base doesn’t loosen)
• Compatible with all of Really Right Stuff’s Flash brackets
• Custom plates for various flashes and off camera cables

Cons:

• Some what expensive for what it appears to be
• No good solution for FlexTT5 PocketWizards that doesn’t involve cutting or grinding yet
• Sometimes a bit tricky to get to lock together without looking
• Your thumb can get in the way of the plate when holding down the release lever

To be honest, I think LPA Design’s Control TL Pocket Wizard system is the best thing since sliced bread, or maybe even better than that, I’m not sure.

When I first started doing off camera flash work I went through a number of wireless triggers from the cheap radio triggers sold on eBay, to Canon’s own optical system, and finally to LPA Design’s PocketWizard Plus IIs. Each of those systems had their pros and cons. I had no end to reliability problems with the cheap radio triggers, the Canon system required an extra expensive and heavy flash for full functionality, and the Plus IIs were manual only. Of all those cons, having to do things manually was the least annoying of the lot.

That was until early 2009 when LPA Design announced they were going to enter the radio TTL flash control market with a new set of PocketWizards. Until then the only options for wireless TTL control was either Canon or Nikon’s optical system, or using Radio Popper’s which basically piggy-backed on  Canon or Nikon’s optical system. While the Radio Poppers were a step up in range and reliability over the native optical systems, they still had the same drawbacks, namely requiring an expensive flash or dedicated control module to be able to do anything.

What LPA Design showed when they announced their Control TL PocketWizards, was a product that would do away with needing a flash on camera all the time—and with the now released AC-3 Zone Controller, a flash on camera at all.

It’s not hard to see the advantages for this, especially for a Canon user. To fully utilize all of Canon’s wireless control you need to mount a 580Ex on camera, and have 1 or more 430Ex or better flashes off camera. An extra 580Ex adds just over a pound to your bag and camera and costs around $450. Alternatively, you could save $100 and 12 oz. by using a ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter. However doing this removes control over the third channel and the ability to use stroboscopic modes from the 580.

As of early December 2010, LPA Design has expanded the base Control TL PocketWizard system to support Nikon camera’s and flashes. While I won’t be reviewing the Nikon system specifically in the foreseeable future, the design and function is largely the same as the Canon units.

System Overview

The neatest thing about the Control TL PocketWizards are that they’re a system not just a set of radio triggers. The PocketWizard Control TL system is built on pair of radio modules, the Mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5, and a series of expansion modules that allow the Control TL ‘Wizards to interface with a verity of other gear.

The Mini-TT1 is a transmitter only, though it makes up for its lack of receiver/trigger capabilities by it’s diminutive size. Measuring in at 1-7/8” by 2-5/8” by 1-1/4”, it’s the smallest PocketWizard transmitter available to date.

The Flex-TT5 is the transceiver counterpart to the Mini-TT1. The Flex-TT5 trades the Mini-TT1’s size for receiver functionality.

LPA Design offers a verity of expansions that add onto the Control TL system, specifically the AC-3 Zone Controller, AC-9 AlienBees Adapter, and PowerST4 for Elinchrome studio strobes.

In addition, the Mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5 still transmit on the standard PocketWizard channels, so you can trigger Plus II, MultiMax, and PocketWizard compatible receivers (like the ones built into Profoto strobes) from your Mini-TT1 or Flex-TT5 transmitters, though obviously without TTL or power control.

The Mini-TT1

The Mini-TT1 is arguably the core transmitter for the Control TL PocketWizards system. Its diminutive size makes it an unobtrusive while sitting in the hot shoe.

The Mini-TT1 has a limited number of external controls. In fact, there are two, the combination setting/power switch, and a test button. The limited controls, however, belie the complete range of functionality.

The power/setting select switch picks from 2 setups. Each setup is capable of configuring the radio to use one of the 20 Control TL and 32 basic channels. As well as the settings for each of the new

The Mini-TT1 can transmit on all 20 of the new Control TL channels as well as all 32 basic channels that the MultiMax uses. However, it cannot transmit on MultiMAX custom ID frequencies. In addition, all of the advanced Control TL settings can be customized on a per-mode basis.

The Mini-TT1 is powered by a CR2450 battery, which LPA Design claims will last for 100s of hours or 1000s of triggers, and that seems to be on par with my experience. I’ve just replaced my first Mini-TT1 battery after almost a year of use.

The Flex-TT5

The Flex-TT5 trades the diminutive size of the Mini-TT1 for receiver capabilities, a bigger antenna, as well as a more flexible way to interface with strobes or cameras. In terms of controls, in addition to the configuration/power switch and test button, the Flex-TT5 has an additional zone selector switch.

When it comes to outputs, the Flex-TT5 has 3. First there’s the TTL compatible hot shoe, second there’s a 1/8” stereo/TRS mini-phone camera/P1 port, and a 1/8” mono mini-phone flash/P2 port.

Unlike the Plus II, the P1 and P2 ports are not interchangeable. The P1/Camera port is designed for use with PocketWizards’ 2-stage camera trigger cables and is not intended for triggering strobes. The P2/flash port with its 200V 250-milliamp continuous rating, however, should be capable of being used with almost any kind of strobe. In addition to handling TTL flashes, the hot shoe can safely trigger any shoe-mount flash with a sync voltage less than 50V and with less than 250 milliamps of current, which should cover all modern and most pre-digital shoe mount flashes.

Power for the FlexTT5 is delivered in the from of 2 AA batteries. LPA Design recommends using alkaline batteries. However my experience is that NiMH rechargeable work just as well and given the short, roughly 60 hour, run time you’ll save a lot going the rechargeable route.

Features

The thing that really impressed me about the Control TL PocketWizards are the number of features and improvements they offer over either Canon or Nikon’s flash system or any of the other radio systems that simply piggyback on the manufacturer systems.

HyperSync and High Speed Sync

HyperSync is one of those features that make the Control TL system unique. HyperSync uses a calculated pretrigger offset to allow faster than X-sync speed shooting but without having to use FP/High Speed sync mode. Since the flash is only being fired once—as it normally would—instead of being pulsed—like it does in high speed sync/FP mode—the flash can deliver more power to the scene.

Additionally the Control TL system will automatically transition remote Speedlites to either HSS/FP mode when the shutter speed reaches 1/640^th or the manually defined HSS point. The Nikon versions appear to have a hard limit of 1/400^th or 1/500^th instead of the higher 1/640^th.

Additionally HyperSync triggering works with the MultiMax and Plus II, so it can be used to trigger manual flashes attached to those triggers.

On my EOS 1D Mark 3, HyperSync works very effectively producing no dark shutter curtain bars, using auto camera detection and the default timing settings.

High Speed Sync Efficiency Gain

Since the Control TL system intercepts control signals directly from the camera and communicates with the flashes as if it was a cameras, it has far better control over the firing the flashes than an piggybacked radio system would have. Moreover, LPA Design has spent considerable effort optimizing the control timings not just to insure that things are correct but also to improve the efficiency.

One of the side effects of HyperSync and those timing tweaks is a major boost in useable flash power. For some cameras, that gain can be 1.6 stops or more at shutter speeds all the way up to 1/8000^th of a second. Of course, the flip side of more power, is that at lower powers that power is used more efficiently, which means shorter recycle times and more flashes per battery charge.

Unfortunately due apparently to the way Nikon’s TTL protocol works, Nikon users will only see a decrease in recycle times, and not an increase in flash power.

In fact, the efficiency gain is a big enough deal that I actually use a pair of PocketWizards instead of an off camera cable when using a telephoto flash bracket.

Auto Rear Curtain Sync

Rear curtain sync is handy when there’s potential for motion blur in an image that’s balancing ambient and flash sources with a long shutter speed where there’s the capability of producing a motion blur. With rear curtain sync, instead of the blur seeming to originate from the subject, it appears to end with the subject, which is generally more pleasing.

Canon’s native system doesn’t even allow for rear curtain sync when using the optical wireless system. Adding the Control TL PocketWizards’ to the mix, however, not only adds rear curtain sync functionality, but the system can switch from front to rear curtain sync automatically at a user set shutter speed.

The only real downside to the rear curtain mode is that the PocketWizards will only hold the rear curtain flash for 8 seconds.

Low Power Test Mode

When used on or off camera, the standard test mode, as you’d receive if you pushed the glowing red pilot light, results in a comparatively high-powered flash. Depending on the settings, it can be anything from 1/32 of the rated flash power, to the actual flash power (in manual mode). The result of all of this is that testing to see if your flashes are firing, especially in a dimly lit room, can be quite attention getting.

However, when pressing the Control TL PocketWizard test button (when seated in a Control TL PocketWizard, the pilot light/test button is disabled), the remote flashes produce a much fainter burst. In fact, it’s faint enough, that unless you’re looking directly at the light, the odds are you’re not going to notice it.

Pre-flash Boost

Pre-flash boost is another feature that exists outside of either the OEM optical solutions or the piggybacking radio solutions. In some situations, when the flash head is pointed away from the scene it’s lighting, a situation you’d commonly experience when doing bounce fill, the TTL pre-flash can be too under powered for the camera to accurately determine the proper exposure. Pre-flash boost mode is a potential remedy for these occasions. When pre-flash boost is enabled, the Control TL ‘Wizards will boost the flash power for the pre-flash and automatically compensate for the boosted, and this metered, difference when firing the actual flash.

Cross Brand Compatibility

With the late 2010 launch of the Nikon compatible PocketWizards, LPA Design has introduced corss system compatibility. As it stands the initial release will have only support manual power and triggering up to the x-sync speed. However, LPA Design hopes to expand this functionality in 2011.

When cross brand compatibility is fully functional with TTL support, this will be a very nice feature for ControlTL PocketWizard users in a number of ways. One, Canon users will be able to sidestep interference issues with Canon’s noisy flashes, by using less RF noisy Nikon flashes. Second, it makes it possible for small groups of shooters, or camera clubs, that want to pool resources while still having full functionality in the field. So long as everyone has the lastest firmware and is using ControlTL Pocket Wizards, it won’t matter whether the model is lit with SB-900s or 580ExIIs they’ll just work.

Setting up to Shoot

Setting up the Control TL Wizards couldn’t be simpler, but there is a required order for things to work right. In the default configuration, the transmitter detects what kind of camera it’s mounted on, in order to use the correct HyperSync settings, for this to work the transmitter has to be on before the camera is turned on. Proper camera setup is to attach the Mini-TT1 or Flex-TT5 to the camera while both are off, then turn the Mini or Flex on followed by the camera.

For flashes, both should be powered off when they are being connected. Power the flash and receiver up and if everything is working right, the flash will display will ETTL on the LCD.

Software

The TTL PocketWizards make one other major departure from the previous PocketWizard products; all of the configuration is now done via PocketWizard Utility from either a PC or Mac computer. In addition to configuration, the utility also manages firmware upgrades, and a PocketWizard inventory.

There are two things that I’d like to see improved with the software, first is the documentation. While LPA Design does a reasonable job keeping the documentation up to date when firmware updates add features, there still places where the help file doesn’t cover anything about the software. One example is the Modeling tab, which is conspicuously absent from the help file in the utility, though the tab appears there. It’s only in the notes in Addendum 5.0 for the manual that it mentions the following.

Now considering that LPA Design can show a different picture based on the device connected (and even whether there’s an add-on attached to it) it doesn’t seem unreasonable expect them to hide things that don’t apply to the device connected. Moreover, it’s not documented in the help files, so if you missed it in the manual addendum, you’re left wondering what is going on, or at least I was.

The second feature that’s missing is the ability to save configurations to your computer. Now it’s not as if changing PocketWizard configurations is something you do an awful lot, but there are times when it would help. One of those times is when updating the device firmware, as the update process requires performing a factory reset on the device. LPA Design’s solutions is to remind you before you reset your device to write down the settings so you can change them back manually and reprogram the device.

To me, this isn’t a solution at all. Moreover, it’s resulted in me using the default settings (including the channels). I’m willing to bet there are an awful lot of these new PocketWizards running on channels 1 and 2 for their two configurations simply because there’s no real good way to persist changes between firmwares and devices.

That said, as of version 1.18.9 LPA Design has added a replicate settings function, that syncs the configuration between all devices of the same type—so all FlexTT5s they own—however, you still have to input the settings manually.

A Canon 580Ex II on a FlexTT5

There’s one other downside to having to change all the configuration settings in software, and that’s that it requires you to have a computer to do it. Now, I’m not entirely versed in the capabilities smart phones, like the ever-popular iPhone, but it would be nice to see a mobile phone version of the PocketWizard Utility, assuming it could communicate to the devices via the phones USB port.

Range

The Control TL PocketWizards weren’t without their sticking points and growing pains. For example, Canon flashes tend to leak a lot of radio noise in the same area of the spectrum as that LPA Design uses for their the system. Because of this interference is that at longer ranges the Control TL PocketWizards may not trigger your strobes.

Fortunately, the triggering range without taking steps to isolate the strobes isn’t horrible either. In my testing, using one of Canon’s noisiest flashes—the 580Ex II—I could reliably trigger the flash out to about 100 feet without doing anything. In a studio environment, the odds are you’ll never need to go more than 20 or 30 feet.

Fortunately, LPA Design has produced a number of solutions to the noise issue with Canon flashes. The first is to use the included AC-5 soft shield (reviewed here), that comes with all new Flex-TT5 transceivers. The AC-5 uses a flexible metallic fabric and filtering hot shoe to block RF noise from the flash. Using an AC-5, my tests show the range increasing 3-fold; Rob Galbraith gets an even better 5-fold improvement in range in his tests.

A second solution is the AC-7 hard shield. The AC-7 blocks RF even better than the AC-5, according to Rob Galbraith’s testing, adding an unmodified 580Ex II in an AC-7 will stretch your range out to almost 550 feet. Moreover, the AC-7 tips the flash on axis placing it in the ideal position when used with an umbrella.

MiniTT1 on Camera

The third solution is to have your flash modified by one of 3 companies that PocketWizard certifies to properly shield your flash. I’m not sure what the extent of the modification is, but it likely involves the installation of filtering electronics in between the hot shoe and the flash’s electronics. The modification promises to be the cleanest solution, though it only appears to extend the range on the same level as the AC-5.

When it comes to range, the biggest question is does it pose a problem. In my experience the answer is no. Working in a studio or inside a normal sized building, and the 100-foot range is more than adequate for most needs. If you need to get the flash farther away from the camera, then the AC-5 that comes with the Flex-TT5 should be good enough to get you some 300-500 feet. However, after about 100 feet, it’s likely you’ll start running into other problems, like the ETTL II metering not being able to meter the flash properly.

It’s also important to note, that these range issues are only when triggering some remote flashes, most notably Canon’s 580Ex, 580Ex II, and 430Ex. The Mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5 should get their rated 800-1200 foot range when triggering other flashes and cameras.

Conclusions

When I started looking for a TTL wireless flash control system to replace doing everything manually with PocketWizard Plus IIs, I started with the only available option at the time, the Radio Popper system. It didn’t take long after LPA Designed announced they were going to build a TTL PocketWizard system to put my Radio Popper plans on hold, since the Radio Poppers never really offered anything but longer range over Canon’s optical system.

When 6 months after their release, LPA Design announced the AC-3 Zone Controller to go with the TTL PocketWizards, I was completely sold on the system. In fact, when I was considering switching from Canon to Nikon, the lack of Nikon compatible Control TL ‘Wizards was a contributing factor to the “do not” list.

FlexTT5 on Camera

Right now, the only other competitor in the wireless TTL market is Radio Popper. From everything I’ve seen, their PX products are solid but they do piggyback on the manufacture optical systems so you have to have a wireless capable trigger on camera (either using the built in flash, a commander capable hot shoe flash, or a dedicated wireless commander unit). As a result, there’s no gain in efficiency or power, or features over what the platform natively provides. Additionally at $250 a piece with dedicated transmitters and receivers, they aren’t any more cost effective either.

At the time of this writing, a basic 3 light setup with Radio Popper PX system will run $1000 before adding flashes. If you need an on-camera controller—most Canon users and all pro camera users—you can add between $300 and $500 for either an ST-E2/SU-800 or 580ExII/SB-900. The same 3 light setup using Control TL Wizards’ consisting of a Mini-TT1 and 3 Flex-TT5s will run around $900. Adding complete 3-chanel control to the system requires a $70 AC-3 zone controller.

If you’re serious about your photography and are looking for reliable TTL radio triggers, or want a level of control over your flashes that’s unprecedented for Canon users, I don’t see any choice other than the Control TL PocketWizards.

As I sit here finishing off this this review, I realized, I’ve written more than 3000 words on the TTL PocketWizards, and I still don’t think I’ve done the system justice or conveyed how awesome I think they are.

Updates, Errata, and Further Comments

Since I wrote this review, it’s become clear to me that even though I tend to cover PocketWizard related news else ware some issues warrant being added and discussed in the review itself. For the time being, instead of adding new content in the middle of the review, I’m going to add it here at the bottom with the date it was posted.

November 30, 2010: Nikon Wizards are Shipping

LPA Design has started shipping the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 PocketWizards for Nikon cameras in Europe with US availability following shortly. While this review is was done using the Canon version of these triggers, the Nikon versions are similar in function and I’ve added notes where applicable. I won’t, however, for the foreseeable future, be testing the Nikon system specifically.

February 17, 2011: Potential for Problems with Canon’s 580Ex II

There has been a growing number of discussions on the internet—I’ve received a few emails regarding that discussion and as noted there’s a comment at the bottom of this article regarding it—regarding the Control TL PocketWizards damaging Canon (and potentially other brand) flashes. LPA Design, has released (at least Canon Rumors has posted) the results of their investigation into this issue. The document is a 19-page long highly technical article, however, I’ve tried to distill the key points in my own post on the matter.

In short, it appears that the design of the Canon 580Ex II flash, allows a spark to jump between the flash tube and the metal reflector behind it, which in turn eventually causes a part on the flash’s control board to be fried. The problem appears to become more of an issue the more the flash is triggered, with high-speed sync’s multiple rapid triggers in a single exposure being a major accelerator. Reliable, and more powerful, high speed sync being one of the major selling points of using Control TL PocketWizards. As a result, a problem that may have rarely reared it’s head under normal use, became more apparent.

What’s clear is that there is a small chance for flashes to die. What’s not clear is whether using the Control TL PocketWizards makes this appreciably more likely.

If it’s any reassurance, I’m still using my Mini and Flex TTL PocketWizard’s and Canon’s 580Ex II flashes and I still recommend the system. As far as I can tell, the issues only affect a small number of users. Though those that are affected, however, have my sympathy as I wouldn’t want to kill my expensive flashes either.

More importantly, this issues does not appear to affect Nikon users at all or for that matter Canon’s 430Ex II flashes.

In the broad strokes, all filters work the same way, they alter the balance of light in an image by absorbing, or reflecting some of the light from the scene before it reaches the film or sensor. Some filters, notably color correction filters, have diminished in importance with the advent of digital capture; after all why futz with filters when you can adjust the color balance after the fact in software. That said, some filters do things that can’t be done or undone in post processing, and a polarizing filter is one of those filters.

Polarizing filters—like polarizing sunglasses—block reflections based on the orientation, or polarization, or the reflected light.

In photography, polarizing filters are used to take the “shine” off objects, like the surface of water, or darken the sky and enhance the appearance of clouds. Polarizers can also increase the contrast in some scenes by reducing the amount of unwanted reflected light from the subject or reducing some haze.

It’s important to keep in mind there are some limitations when using polarizing filters. For example, when using a polarizing filter to darken the sky, their strength varies with their angle to the sun. Pointing towards or away from the sun has the least affect, pointing at a right angle to the sun the most. Since the amount of polarization varies with the direction relative to the sun problems can occur when using a wide-angle lens. The following two images illustrate both the effect and some of the problems that can happen.

This image was shot with the circular polarizer aligned for maximum effect, notice that the sky is bluer and the clouds stand out much better. However, also notice that when paired with the wide angle lens, the intensity of the sky lightens towards the right side of the frame.

Lacking a polarizer, the sky appears flat and the clouds indistinct.

What is a Käesemann polarizer?

Käesemann polarizers aren’t a type of polarizer so much as a brand. In 1989, Schneider Optics purchased the Käesemann/Oberaudorf Company, a company that specialized in the manufacture of glass and plastic polarizing materials. Schnieder optics claims that Käesemann’s materials provide, among other things, superior color neutrality.

In terms of what it buys you over B+Ws other polarizing filters…well I’ll be honest, other than the claimed color neutrality, I can’t really find anything else documented that rates the Käesemann polarizers superior. That said, at the time of this writing the difference in cost at many online retailers is about $15.

Multi-Resistant Coating

Multi-resistant Coatings (MRC) is B+W latest coating lens coating system, so what is it? According to Schneider Optics, MRC is an 8 layer coating process that reduces reflections (1/4 wave coating), produces a water resistant (hydrophobic coating) layer and provides a scratch resistant coating.

What this means for photographers, is 3-fold: First, the anti-reflective coatings increase contrast, and decrease flare and ghosting. Second, the hydrophobic coating helps prevent water from “sticking” to the filter, which in turn helps keep dust from sticking to the filter. Finally, the scratch resistant coating helps protect your investment when you don’t have the tools to clean it properly in the field.

That said, other than a single cheap Canon UV filter, I’ve only used B+W filters so I don’t really have anything to compare to. That said, in practice, I’ve never seen any more flare or ghosting from a MRC coated B+W filter than the lens alone without the filter attached.

Circular versus Linear Polarizers

Without getting too technical, the difference between a circular and linear polarizer is in the direction of the light they block. From a photographic standpoint, the results in the image from the two types are the same. However, due to the way that modern TTL cameras meter and focus, a circular polarizer is necessary for that functionality to work.

In short, a circular polarizer can be used instead of a linear polarizer, but the opposite is not the case. Because of that, there’s little to no reason to buy a linear polarizer.

Performance

The B+W Kaesemann circular polarizers are rated with a filter factor of 2.3 to 2.8 or stopping between 1.2 and 1.4 stops. This is right in line with most quality modern circular polarizers and better than the 2 stop (filter factor of 4) loss of lower quality circular polarizers. In practice, the actual effect on the exposure is going to depend on how much of the scene is polarized light, and how much of that is being blocked.

That said; if you’re just using the polarizer to eat light, don’t expect more than about 1-1/3 stops out of these polarizers.

The hydrophobic part of the MRC coating lives up to its promise as well. When sprayed with a fine mist of water, only tiny droplets formed, as they grew past a certain size, they would simply sheet off.

MRC Coated B+W Filter sprayed with fine mist.

Non-MRC coated filter sprayed with fine mist.

Similarly, when water was dripped onto the surface from an eye-dropper, the water simply ran off the front surface of the MRC coated filter.

MRC coated filter, water test 2: Water simply sheets off the filter itself.

Non-MRC coated filter, water test 2: Water forms droplets on the filter's surface.

The MRC coating does a good job at reducing reflections as well.

MRC Filter reflected light.

Non-MRC filter reflected light.

Conclusions

If you’re a serious photographer that shoots outdoors, you should really own and use a polarizer. That said when it comes to filters, you get what you pay for, and with polarizers, and this is even more the case. Because of their construction—usually a polarizing foil laminated between two sheets of optical glass—the potential for problems increases. Cheaper filters are more likely to have glass that’s not flat or out of parallel, use less precise coatings, and glues that are more inexpensive. The results of this can be disastrous to your image quality.

One final note, when buying a polarizer it’s more inexpensive in the long run to buy one that’s as big as you’re largest lens’s filter threads, and use a step up ring when you want to use it on a lens with smaller filter threads.

When I started looking for a backpack to replace the two I already had, I had a simple objective; find a backpack that can carry lots of gear in the most compact, especially narrow, bag available. My experience has taught me, the biggest factor to making a bag compact is largely depth. In the end this search brought me to ThinkTank Photo’s StreetWalker Pro backpack. In fact, the StreetWalker Pro has become my go to daily use bag.

The StreetWalker Pro is a well thought out package, though it has its faults. However, it’s well made and integrates well with ThinkTank’s other bags and accessories which is a huge plus. The key feature for me, however, is that the StreetWalker Pro is deep enough to carry serious gear in a backpack form without being very wide which keeps me cool.

Why use a backpack instead of some other bag?

I find the backpacks have a huge advantage when it comes to comfort. I can put almost as much in my StreetWalker Pro as I can in a Domke F2. For me, that works out to something like 30 plus pounds. However, unlike the F2, the StreetWalker Pro lets that weight to be carried by both shoulders and hips rather than just one shoulder. Sure there are tradeoffs in terms of access, but this is where circumstance and the StreetWalker Pro’s solid integration with ThinkTank’s belt system factors in.

Lots of gear in a smallish backpack, how can that be?

Looking inside the street walker pro's main compartment show jsut how deep this bag is relative to it's width. A 150 or 200mm prime will stand on end in the lens slots along the left side.

The key to the StreetWalker Pro is depth. The StreetWalker Pro is almost as deep as most good shoulder bags. More importantly, it is significantly deeper than most similarly sized “small” photo backpacks.

More depth, however, isn’t always better. Make the bag too deep and it becomes cumbersome, impractical and wastes space. Get the depth just right, as the StreetWalker Pro does, and you end up with a lot of capacity in a compact package. In practice, I’ve found the ideal depth is around 7-8 inches. The StreetWalker Pro’s interior space is 7” deep. Less than that and many lenses and accessories have to be laid on their sides and smaller lenses can’t be stacked, both wastes of valuable space. More than about 8 inches, and the bag is too deep to fully utilize.

Thanks to nailing an almost ideal depth, the StreetWalker pro is able to be narrower without compromising carrying capacity.

That brings us to my second major criteria, width. Width controls not only how much the bag can hold, but also how cool it is when worn. A narrower backpack means a cooler backpack, because more fresh “cool” air can reach your back. In warm weather climates, like South Florida, I find this to be absolutely critical.

So it’s deep and it’s narrow, and you say it holds a lot, so what can it hold?

ThinkTank says the StreetWalker pro can hold a pro-sized SLR with a 70-200 f/2.8 with the hood in place and several lenses, or a pro-sized SLR with a 400/2.8 and the hood reversed. Though not officially listed, it’s big enough for a 500 f/4 with the hood reversed and no camera attached as well.

Sounds good, but how does it work out in practice?

I frequently stuff a 1D with my 100-400 attached and the hood reversed in the main camera spot. Below that, under a padded divider, a 40D with no lens attached. Along the left side of the bag; an EF 24-70 f/2.8L, an EF-S 10-22 f/3.5-4.5, and a pair of 580Ex II flashes fit nicely. In addition, there’s a smaller divider near that top that makes a spot with enough room for an EF 1.4x II teleconverter and a PocketWizard MiniTT1 trigger.

The StreetWalker Pro loaded almost to capacity, a 70-200 f/2.8 on one body, a second body,4 lenses and a teleconverter in the area above the first body.

That’s all in the main compartment. There’s still room in the lid and exterior pockets for a spare battery or two, a pair of PocketWizard FlexTT5s, a cable release, the lens hood for the ultra-wide, a better beamer, flashcard holder, a circular polarizer, and more.

On the flip side, if one shoots primes and doesn’t carry a 70-200 f/2.8, there are 2 dividers include for the right side of the bag so you can divide that down into useable storage. Further, the depth means that you can usually stack two smaller primes in any of the lens slots.

You said it integrates with other ThinkTank products, which and how well?

The StreetWalker Pro's shoulder harness, with Camera Support Strap points (top), D-rings (middle) and cellphone/card wallet pockets bottom.

Let’s start with waist belts. This is a twofold solution. First, the StreetWalker pro comes with a removable waist belt. Personally, I think this is one of the poorer features; it’s too flexible and tends to slip so it doesn’t take up much of the load. In fact, the first thing I did was remove it and toss it in a drawer.

The solution is to look at ThinkTank’s belt system. This is a twofold advantage. First the Pro Speed Belt, which snaps into a Velcro secured flap, provides a much more comfortable belt than the stock one. It’s padded, stiff enough, and has a much better adjustable buckle that it works much better than the included belt.

Second, ThinkTank’s belt system, a completely modular camera carrying solution that’s worth a look on its own, alleviates many of the access problems that come with backpacks. On top alleviating some of the access problems backpacks have, the belt system adds some extra capacity when the backpack just isn’t enough.

Release the tab from the large Velcro patch and the Pro Speed Belt secures behind the pad at the bottom of the bag.

Other major integration point is ThinkTank’s camera strap system. We all know that carrying a heavy SLR can make one’s neck sore quite quickly. The typical solution is to get a wider padded strap. However, these straps tend not to be as flexible as their thinner counterparts and get in the way when you’re working. ThinkTank’s solution is different, they’ve kept the thin “photojournalist” profile straps but added metal rings to them. Those rings allow the Camera Support Straps to clip in. The Camera Support Straps in turn attach to your backpack shoulder straps.

The StreetWalker Pro’s shoulder straps are designed with this use in mind and have 3 positions where the Camera Support Straps can be attached. In the end with the ThinkTank strap and Camera Support Straps, the weight of your camera is carried by your shoulders though the padded shoulder straps.

Faults everything has them, what are they?

First is the color, the StreetWalker Pro only comes in Photographer Black, the one true color for all photography gear. Black is good for some things, as it keeps those things from showing up in reflections. What it it’s not is a great color for when you’re out in the bright sunny world. In fact, if I spend a lot of time in the sun, the bag gets very hot and so does everything inside of it. I’ve pulled lenses and flashes out of the StreetWalker Pro that are as hot as if they’d been lying out in the sun all day. I’d really like to see a version of the StreetWalker Pro in a lighter color. In fact, if they released a StreetWalker Pro in tan or “foliage” I’d probably replace mine immediately.

Second is the tripod mount. Sure it’s nice to have one. In fact as far as tripod mounts go, this one is one of the better ones. The best part is you can remove the straps so they don’t get caught on anything. The problem is it’s on the back. With a fully loaded bag the tripod puts a lot of pressure on the contents. On top of that, with the depth of the bag, a tripod sticks out behind you. A side mounted tripod system may have worked much better.

The only other fault I have with the bag is that the shoulder straps could have a bit more material at the top so that the pouches and what not are more useable for me.

Summing it up.

The StreetWalker Pro is just about everything I look for in a camera bag. It’s small enough that I can toss a camera and lens, even a big one, in it and go on a hot day and not end up wishing I brought something smaller. It’s also big enough that I can carry enough gear to shoot just about anything on vacation or assignment. Moreover, the way it integrates with ThinkTank’s belt packs when I need added storage or faster access than a backpack can provide.

It didn’t take long after the release of PocketWizards ControlTL remotes for the world for photographers and LPA design to realize one of the major issue was the amount of electromagnetic noise produced by many of Canon’s Flashes.

Their first solution was the PocketWizard AC5 soft shield. Currently the AC5 soft shields ship with Mini TT5 transceivers. Unfortunately, if you didn’t get one with your TT5 and haven’t already ordered yours, you may have missed the boat; PocketWizard ended the free AC5 program on April 30, 2010. Mine were ordered as part of that AC5 program, and they took their sweet time getting to me (I enrolled on March 27; I received them on June 15, more than 11 weeks).

The AC5 hotshoe filter and the sleeve's metallic inner material.

The AC5 appears on the outside to be a simple black fabric sock and a small hot-shoe base plate. In fact, it’s not quite so simple. The sock is made from 2 layers of material; the outer layer appears to be normal black fabric. The inner layer, however, is a metallic fabric that contains the EM noise produced by the flash.

The sock/shield seems to be well put together; I can’t find any glaring defects in manufacturing or shoddy craftsmanship at least.

Assembly, if you can call it that is simple. Seat the flash in the hot-shoe filter. Secure the filter to your TT5. Make sure the bungee around the filter is such that the inner fabric contacts the copper plate on the bottom of the filter piece, then tighten the strap around the top of the flash head. If you don’t seat the flash/filter on the TT5 before closing up the bungeed fabric, it becomes difficult to operate the screw-type clamp. Further, the rough edges of the screw-clamp will wear against the metallic fabric.

AC5 assembled but not closed with 580Ex II and FlexTT5 pocketwizard.

If you need to maximize the range, reverse the flash head 180° and raise the antenna. LPA Design makes several suggestions on how to improve reception on their website.

The biggest downside to the AC5 is that you can no longer access the controls (well you can push the buttons but can’t see what the settings are since you can’t see the LCD.

With the AC5 in place, the trigger distance was extended to about 300 feet (90 m) for about a 3-fold improvement.

I started my tests firing a single Canon Speedlite 580Ex II into a small palm tree from a MiniTT1 on a EOS 1D Mark 3. With the antenna on the FlexTT5 down, I could reliably trigger the flash out to about 90 feet (28m) on ControlTL channel 1.

PocketWizard suggests that using channels centered around 345 and 347 MHz will improve range somewhat. Since I had the Speedlite setup, I figured I’d give that a shot too. Unfortunately, using channel 2 (345MHz) the trigger distance decreased, though this could certainly be an artifact of other noise sources in environment I was testing in.

With the AC 5 in place, again with the antenna on the receiver down, the trigger distance increased to about 300 feet (90 m) for about a 3-fold improvement. Not quite what Rob Galbraith got, however, I didn’t have the antenna raised which would have further improved reception.

The PocketWizard AC5 sleve and hot-shoe filter and complete setup with 580Ex II Speedlite and MiniTT5 transceiver.

The AC5 definitely improves the range of when noisy Canon flashes are used with ControlTL PocketWizards. However, for me 90 feet of reliable TTL control is almost more than enough for anything I’ve shot so far or see shooting any time soon. However, the AC5 being mostly fabric is tiny, it doesn’t take long to setup and works well enough that I’ll likely be keeping mine in my bag just in case I need them.