My Sunpak 544

I love my Sunpak strobes. This one (right) is my original Sunpak 544 that I've had for over 30 years; 30 years and still going strong.  It has been mounted on my old Olympus OM-1, then my OM-2n, and now on my Nikon D80 DSLR.  It's a dinosaur but its not extinct yet.  About 5 years ago I found it so useful I located and purchased two more of them.  They can often be found on Ebay or Craigslist for as little as $60.  Note that there are a couple more powerful units available but I chose the 544s because I already had one and I wanted identical units.

When buying these strobes, make sure that it comes with the battery holder.  They can be hard to come by.  And don't forget a sync cord.  If yours doesn't have one, its not a big deal.  Cords can be purchased from places like B&H.  Note that Sunpak uses its own plug size and style so you aren't going to make one with a quick trip to Radio Shack. 

So what makes me love them so much?

One is the grip configuration. It just feels good when I'm using it on camera. The bracket, not shown in these photos also buts the light above and to the left of the lens. As soon as you start getting the flash away from the lens. you notice your lighting gets better.  Granted its not THAT much farther away but at least its not right above the lens.  Want to get your light source even farther away?  No problem.  The handle has a quick release from the camera bracket.  Sunpak handle-mount strobes are great because the bottom of the grip is fitted with a 1/4-20 socket, enabling it to be attached to a standard tripod and most light stands, or even umbrella brackets that include the 14/20 tip or spigot.

At full power, it has a guide number of 140, stronger than some of the cheap entry level monolights. That power level is adjustable from full all the way down to 1/64. It's battery powered (6 AA cells) so they can be used in the field. Power supplies can be found, but oddly enough, a fresh set of batteries recycles them faster than the AC adapter.  When I'm photographing events, I usually keep it set to 1/2 to 1/4 power.  It conserves batteries, shortens the recycle time, and is not quite so blinding for your subjects.  The flash head is adjustable on both the vertical and horizontal axises for complete bouncability.


The addition of a wireless trigger makes it a versatile studio strobe.  I use the Cactus V4.  See my blog post below for a review of the triggers.  As an on camera flash, they are rather heavy; that's why they have the grip design.  But compared to monolights, they are pretty light.  Using standard monolights in the field would require a very heavy battery pack.  If weight is a criteria, the old Sunpaks are a great solution.  My three Sunpaks allow me to set up a studio in the woods should I choose to do so.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the output voltage of old strobe units such as this one runs very high. Make sure your trigger unit can handle it. That's one of the reasons why I chose the Cactus V4.  The same goes for your camera. Modern digital cameras weren't designed to handle that voltage. A Wein Safe-Sync will protect your camera.  Read and follow ALL directions when using old strobes with ANY digital camera.

Also note the high tech means (as seen on left) of attaching the Cactus to the Sunpak.  I used to use rubber bands, but a black elastic hair scrunchy, courtesy of my wonderful and very patient wife, looks much better. 

While this strobe does have two automatic modes, its better to use it on "manual."  That may be a deal breaker for some, but if that's the case, you may be relying too much on auto modes.  Go manual and use your knowledge and skills to light your scene as YOU see fit. I'm big on shooting manual, and you will see more evidence of that in future posts.

That's it for now.  I've got another blast from the past strobe coming up, and a couple of DIY projects coming soon.


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Review of Poverty Wizards: Cactus V4

I finally took the plunge into wireless triggers for my strobes.  Pocket Wizards were out of the question due to their price.  I liked the fact that they would handle the higher voltages of old strobes, of which I own many, including 3 Sunpak 544s, but I digress (I promise to talk more about the many uses of the classic Sunpaks in a later blog.)  What I didn’t need was the ability to trigger a strobe from a football field away.  Yes, Pocket Wizards have great range, but how often to we need to be more than 20 or 30 feet away?

In the early days, any trigger that wasn't a Pocket Wizard was considered "cheap Chinese Ebay junk;" and it was.  But the Chinese have learned they can no longer sell complete junk and still hope to compete in the global marketplace.  Their strobes still have a way to go but their triggers are great.  Enter the Cactus V4.  At the time of my purchase, and this writing, Cactus is up to V5.  But I have found that you can very often get the features you want, and pay a lot less, by staying one step behind technology.

Another reason for choosing the Cactus brand was the fact that I could by them from a US distributor: Midwest Camera.  That meant I didn’t have to give my credit card number to someone in China.  Not that I have anything against China in particular; I really don’t care to conduct transactions with businesses in ANY foreign country.  IF there are any shenanigans with my card, I want it to be in the US where I have more legal recourse.

So far the Catcus triggers have worked quite well.  Prior to their purchase, I had to rely on the built in optical slaves that often required me to set up in a manner that would make them all fire, rather than in the optimal locations for the best lighting.  Plus my 3 Sunpaks which I use in my location work don’t have optical slaves, and I found that the Peanut Slaves are a bit iffy.

For the most part, I have used them either in a studio situation where everything was in a 10 foot radius, or at events where I used them to trigger an off-camera Sunpak mounted on a monopod for overhead lighting of my subjects.

One of the more common complaints I’ve heard is that they don’t fire reliably.  I have not found this to be the case.  The only time they have failed to fire is when I forgot to turn on the receiver.  Another complaint I have heard is that the battery drains if you forget to turn OFF the receiver.  I have not found that to be the case either, as I often (usually) forget to turn them off, and have yet to drain a battery.  And if I do, they are cheap and readily available.

All in all, it was a good purchase.  The price, with shipping, from Midwest Camera for the starter kit of 1 transmitter and 1 receiver was right around $50.

THEIR Write Up
The much anticipated, all-new Cactus Wireless Flash Trigger System V4 is here! This new flash trigger system is a significant upgrade from all current and previous Cactus wireless flash trigger versions. The new version gives photographers even greater creative control over lighting in their images.

With the new Cactus Wireless Flash Trigger System V4, you can place multiple flashes at various angles and distances from your subject. This is particularly useful for portrait and product photography. Each receiver works with one flash. You can use as many receivers as you wish, all receiving their signal from one transmitter. Simply attach the hot shoe of the external flash to that of the receiver, or use the flash connection cable. Most importantly, without the need to connect the flash to your camera by hot shoe or cable, you can move the flash to anywhere that produces the best lighting on your subject. With the flexibility the new Cactus V4 triggers provide, the possibilities are endless!

The innovative standing design allows all the common portable flash units to sit securely on it without a separate light stand. When shutter is released, the receiver picks up on the signal emitted from the transmitter on your camera and will trigger the external flash connected to it. The fastest response time is 1/1000s (actual sync speed varies from 1/125s to 1/600s depending on the sync speed limit of the camera system).

The Cactus V4 offers many improved features over the V2 version. These improvements include a new antenna design that increases the reliability and effective distance to 30 meters(about 100 feet) and a new power source: AAA batteries. The 16 selectable channels and advanced anti-interference feature will allow the device to work within the effective area without interference from other devices. This new Cactus version offers a high degree of compatibility. With the provided connection cables, photographers can use the receiver with a range of lighting sources including low trigger voltage portable flashes, high trigger voltage portable flashes and studio strobes.


A complimentary copy of the photo album, "When Light Dances" is included in the package. Wonderful pictures taken by photographers using the new and improved Cactus V4 radio trigger system, as well as setup details are shown for your reference.


Compatible With:
Cactus V4 does not work with V2s or V2;
Cactus V4 does not transmit TTL information.
Some dedicated flashes (e.g. Nissin Di-622 and Di-466, Sunpak PZ42x and PZ30, Sigma EF-530/500 DG ST for Canon, etc.) are triggered via system-specific pins instead of the central contact of the hot shoe. Cactus V4 does not work with these flash models. To check whether your dedicated flash units are compatible with Cactus V4, try attaching them to a camera of other brand (e.g.attaching a Nikon TTL flash to a Canon DSLR camera). If the flash can be triggered, it will work with Cactus V4.


Tested with the following flash models:
Cactus KF36;
Canon SpeedLite 580EX II, 580EX, 540EZ, 520EZ, 430EX II, 430EX, 430EZ, 420EX,420EZ, 380EX;
Nikon SpeedLite SB-900, SB-800, SB-600, SB-28, SB-27, SB-26, SB-
25, SB-24;
Olympus FL-50R, FL-50, FL-36R, FL-36;
Pentax AF-540 FGZ, AF-360 FGZ, AF-400 FT, AF-240 FT;
Sigma EF-530 DG Super, EF-530 DG ST (for Nikon only), EF-500 DG Super, EF-500 DG ST (for Nikon only), EF-430;
Sunpak Auto 2000DZ, 622 Pro, 433AF, 433D, 383, 355AF, 344D,333D;
Vivitar 285HV, 285, 283, DF-400MZ, DF-340MZ


Specifications
Working radio frequency
433Mz
16 channels selectable
Responding time
1/500 - 1/1000 second
Support sync speed
up to 1/500 second (depending on sync speed limitation of the flash unit)
Maximum effective area
30 meters / 98 feet (open area without interference)
Operating temperature
above -10°C (14°F) and below 45°C (113°F)


TRANSMITTER SPECIFICATIONS

•  Transmitter’s Camera voltage handling
• Up to 6 volts
• Compatibility
• Compatibility to all cameras with standard ISO hot shoe or PC sync output
• Connection port
• 3.5 mm (1/8 inches) mono mini-phone
• Dimensions
• 60 x 46 x 27 mm
• Length of antenna
• 45 mm
• Weight (including battery)
• 33 grams
• Power input
• one (1) L1028 / 23A 12V battery

RECIEVER SPECIFICATIONS

•  Innovative standing design
• supports major portable flash units
• Flash voltage handling
• up to 300 volts
• Compatibility
• Compatible to portable flashes and studio strobes
• Connection port
• 3.5 mm (1/8 inches) mono mini-phone
• Dimensions
• 74 x 45 x 28 mm
• Weight (including battery)
• 55 grams
• Power input
• Two (2) AAA size 1.5V (IEC: R03) batteries