I just received a set of Flash Waves II Digital Radio Slaves recently and to be honest, I haven’t played around with it too much yet as I’m a relatively new when it comes to using off-camera flash, especially with radio triggers.
This is a brief review of the Korean-made Flash Waves II trigger manufactured by S.M Development Co. (SMDV), and I got my unit through Aperture Trading in Manila, Philippines c/o a good friend of mine, Ronald and brought back to Singapore by another friend, Mike (thanks guys!).
For those who aren’t aware, traditionally, a flash (or studio strobe) can only be triggered, or activated, through a sync cord. There is a physical wire, often at least 2-5 meters in length, that connects between the camera’s sync port or hotshoe and the flash unit itself. It’s a very simple and reliable way to fire a flash that’s not mounted on the camera and it has worked really well ever since it was introduced.
Unfortunately, having wires would also mean that your flash-to-camera distance is limited by the length of your wire. In addition, the longer the wire, the larger the odds that somebody will trip over the wire and knock both your flash and camera gear to the ground.
Later on, optical triggers were invented. These little triggers are usually tiny peanut-sized sensors that are very sensitive to sudden bursts of light. The way it works is a small flash (usually the mounted or built-into the camera) will fire a weak flash and the optical sensor mounted to the remote flash will then trigger. Since the remote flash is usually set to a much higher power than the on-camera flash, the on-camera flash’s exposure will barely register onto the image.
Now that eliminated the need for wires, however, optical triggers require line-of-sight, and that pretty much takes out a lot of different angles where you can place your flash, especially if you want to place your flash behind the subject.
Infra-red triggering systems are usually proprietary. While these usually retain most, if not all, of the OEM flash’s functions such as TTL metering, AF assist lamp, etc, they still require line-of-sight and are limited to a certain brand’s equipment.
Radio triggers, on the other hand, uses radio waves and are not affected by line-of-sight. You can place the remote flash behind walls and subjects, place them several yards away, and they’ll fire when you need it. No wires, no mess. Down side is, you’ll lose any automation in metering and flash control with most radio triggers, just like the Flash Waves.
Newer radio triggers (Pocket Wizard TT series and Radio Poppers) can even retain OEM functions mentioned, such as auto-focus assist, TTL metering, and so forth.
Back to the review.
First thing you’ll notice is the box. While it doesn’t scream “high-end”, it won’t shout “cheap” either. The packaging is well labeled and the items inside are well protected and isolated. The instructions are typical Chinese/Korean translated English, though.
Inside the box, you’ll find:
- FlashWaves Tx – The transmitter unit with pre-installed 23A battery
- FlashWaves Rx – The receiver unit
- A mini table-top tripod
- Two stick-on cold-shoe adapters (to mount the receiver to a flash unit’s body)
- One 3.5-3.5 mini sync cable
- One 3.5-3.5 sync jack
- One 3.5-6.3 sync adapter
- One set of Ansmann AAA batteries for the receiver
- Extra 23A battery for the transmitter
- One carrying pouch
- and One extra tightening knob.
One unique aspect of the Flash Waves Rx (receiver) is the availability of a built-in hotshoe. This is a very handy feature for Canon users as most Canon flashes prior to the current 580EX II Speedlight don’t come with a PC-sync port. With this built-in hotshoe, I can mount the flash straight onto the receiver and mount the receiver onto a flash bracket or even a tripod, as the Flash Waves Rx comes with a tripod socket as well.
The FlashWaves Tx transmitter is very sleek and light. Unlike other brands where the receiver protrudes like a mini flashgun, the Flash Waves Tx is roughly the size of a standard matchbox. The difference between the older Flash Waves transmitter would be that the current version includes an aerial which extends the range of the signal quite considerably. Not Pocket Wizards territory, but definitely more than a full length soccer pitch.
As mentioned, the package includes a table-top tripod, which is very handy if you’ve already lost your flash’s OEM plastic stand. I suggest you buy yourself a gorilla-pod for more flexibility, but the supplied tripod is quite decent in quality.
The build is very good for all the components. The seams are nice and tight, with no visible loose plastic edges. The buttons and knobs all operate with a very good tactile feel, the LEDs are very easy to read, as are the printed markings on both the Rx and Tx.
When attaching the flash onto the receiver, the rails on the receiver’s hotshoe has a 2-tier sliding mount, which makes the flash mount very securely onto the receiver even before the flash’s locking mechanism is tightened. Another benefit of the hotshoe is you can really have no wires in your set-up, no sync cords between the flash and the receiver at all.
When you’re using the receiver’s hotshoe, one thing you’ll notice that the power switch will most likely be blocked by the flash itself. So remember to turn the receiver on before mounting the flash. However, even if the flash is already attached, it doesn’t really take too much effort to insert a key or toothpick to slide the power button. No biggies here.
The Flash Waves II come with 10-channels of user-selectable frequencies to work with. While this is flexible, I doubt that anyone would really use more than a couple of channels anyway.
Using radio triggers is pretty straight-forward. You attach the transmitter to your camera’s hotshoe or through your camera’s PC ports (using the supplied sync cables), while attaching the flash to the receiver either through the hotshoe or using the sync ports, as well.
You can use multiple Flash Waves receivers as long as they’re on the same frequency, or if you don’t want to shell out another Php4,500 (SGD 140/USD 90) for an extra receiver, the Rx receiver sports a sync port that allow you to daisy-chain multiple flashes via traditional sync cables.
Bottom-line, these are very good alternatives to the cheap, but rather unreliable eBay China triggers (aka Cactus, or PT-04), or to the expensive (but longer range) Pocket Wizards. It seems that the main comparison for the Korean made Flash Waves II would be the Elinchrom Skyport system, which is not only more expensive, but also requires a proprietary battery and doesn’t sport a hotshoe on the receiver, necessitating more wires in your set-up.
Anyway, here are some preliminary images for you.
I highly recommend the Flash Waves II system.
Technorati Tags: Flash Waves II, Digital Radio Slaves, off-camera flash, radio triggers
May 20th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Great find, David!
I've had a couple of wireless flash triggers and transmitters in the past from eBay – cheap and cheerful, but they always break down and fail miserably during important shoots. This one though looks sturdy and means business. Must-have for my strobist work.
Elmer xxx (emaniebo)
May 20th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Elmer! Nice seeing you here… The FW are swell, if you can afford PW II, you might wanna scout eBay as there are a lot of folks who upgraded to PW transceivers. However, I can't justify the cost of PW for my needs even with used prices, not to mention I find PWs to be quite bulky.
There's another brand that's quite popular in the US (not sure if it's in UK called "Cybersync".
May 21st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Sir David will this work with Nissin flashes?
May 21st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Hi Matt..
It'll work with any flash or studio strobes.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:57 am
veed, saan yung Aperture Trading?
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 am
Alvin: http://www.aperturetrading.com/contact
June 8th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Hi Jester,
The receiver? Yes, there's a screw at the bottom and a hotshoe on the top. You can clearly see how it is mounted in the last photo before the sample pictures.
Here's how it looks on a stand/holder. All you need is a standard 1/4 stud.
<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/3607552389_9c8070a17f.jpg">
On a stand and silver brolly
June 8th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Hi David
Can the receiver be attached to a lightstand? I noticed that it doesn't have the hotshoe, only screw.
Cheers
jester
June 9th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Ahhh, Now I know what you're asking… You have a lightstand where instead of a stud, you have a shoe-mount, am I correct?
In that case, yes, you can mount it on that. If you look at the second image, you'll see a round knob (left of the mini tripod), you screw that knob into the receiver's hole and that knob has a cold-shoe on the other end.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I read off the website that Flashwaves is not compatible with all models.
http://eng.smdv.co.kr/shop/main.php?page=view_ite...
I own a Sigma 530dg super. and i would love to use these triggers.
This could be Flashwave 1 and not the Flashwaves 2 version. I cant seem to find FW 2 in korea? Marketed under a different name?
June 10th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I've never tried it on a Sigma flash, Jordan. Not sure why it won't work with any standard ISO shoe flash as I use it on a really old Cobra D650 flash and it works flawlessly.
I think the last line in red text in your link states: "All of those camera flashes works in the "M" mode.", so maybe it means it won't work in program, aperture priority, and shutter priority modes but works fine in M mode.
There are some differences between ver 1 and ver 2 in terms of signal. A friend of mine can trigger his eBay China CTR-301 flash receivers with his Flashwaves 1 transmiiter, but my FWII won't trigger the CTR-301 despite having the same 433mhz frequency.
June 12th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Thanks a lot. I am in Korea now. I believe they sell for around $130 USD for one reciever/transmitter for FW 1.
June 12th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Looking at the Korean site, it seems that their working frequency is different from the unit that they sell in the Philippines (315mhz vs 433mhz)… Hmm…
June 30th, 2009 at 7:23 am
any review regarding the CACTUS V4? i think is more cheaper that the flashwaves with same spec.
June 30th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
The build of the V4 are several notches below the Flash Waves, but the V4 is an incredible value item.
Might order one just to see if it works with the FW as it claims to have the same 433mhz frequency so I won't have to shell out for a FW trigger.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:19 am
would you know if Nikon's SB-600 is compatible with this?
August 17th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Rjay: Yes, it'll work with all Nikon/Canon OEM flashes.
August 18th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
hello david ,
does it support continuous shooting / triggering ?
upto how many fps ?
do u know its pricing nowadays ?
where can find in malaysia ? KL area
August 18th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Ken:
Q1: Yes
Q2: Depends on your flash's recyling rate, not trigger.
Q3: eBay sells it at around Php7500, that's around 550Ringgit
Q4: Not sure, I'm not for Malaysia.
I do suggest you check out Cactus V4 and Yong Nuo CTR301P units as well, they're A LOT cheaper and very reliable, not as good in build as the Flash Waves, but it'll get the job done consistently. Again, search eBay for those two, shipping often takes a week or less from HK.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
thanks david.
but anyway , hav u tried shooting continuously ,,,,,, lets say 5fps with flash set at 1/128 output ? at tat output …… flash shud hav enough power to do continuous firing .
i keep asking dis question bcoz i dont find any info on dis continuous triggering on other system except the pocket wizard .
thanks again for yo response
August 19th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Ken: Continuous firing has nothing to do with the flash trigger, the trigger is merely a go-between device that transfers the signal from the center pin of the hotshoe to the flash, so it doesn't matter whether you're firing at 1fps or 10fps, it will trigger the signal.
The reason why I said it'll be dependent on your flash's recycling rate is identical to when you mount your flash on your camera's hotshoe directly, if the power is insufficient or the flash isn't capable of recycling that quickly, even a directly mounted flash will not work consistently in continous shooting mode. The bottleneck here is the flash, not the trigger.
By 1/128, I'd assume you're talking about a Canon flash like the 550ex or 580ex, then yes, it would depending on your flash's battery. Battery you use affects recycling rate, so if you plan to always use burst mode, invest on a battery pack like the CP-E4 as 4AA batteries will drain pretty quickly with continuous shooting.
Hope that clarifies
Dave
August 20th, 2009 at 5:30 am
thanks david for yo response.
but , stil again i would like to ask …. pls dont misunderstand , no offence at all .
i own wireless trigger which is no-brand one , i use to trigger my studio strobe , i found tat its not capable to trigger another time in spilt second .
i mean …… once i press my shutter release on my camera , the strobe fires , but within a second , i press my shutter to take another picture , the wireless trigger isnt capable to trigger for the second time , thus no flash at all from the stobe .
for yo info , my studio strobe is connected to AC power , & strobe is set at lowest power output.
THERE SHUD NOT BE PROBLEM ON POWER RECEYCLE OF THE STOBE .
additional info , my no-brand wireless triggers hav LED light on them ( receiver) , eventhough not conneted to the flash unit, when i press the test button on the transceiver , the receiver will blink its LED light , means to say tat it fires away , BUT in a split second i press another time, there is no light on the receiver LED , which means to say the receiver didnt fires away .
i hope u can understand from this scenario , of wat i mean all .
August 20th, 2009 at 5:31 am
And now , i intend to but wireless trigger for may flashes , nikon sb26 , sb800 , canon 540ez , coming sb900 . but not sure whether other system…….. other than pocket wizard , can do continuos triggering as pocket wizard claims for their system .
thanks if u can help me a favor , try continuos shooting of yo wireless trigger system , lets say at least 3fps .
and , thanks again if u wil response to me again .
August 20th, 2009 at 5:36 am
in fact , i m curently using those small-tiny peanut sensor for my flashes , but in some situation , it wil be interrupted by other people flash ……. which is realli annoying.
AND, with this real cheap sensor , i manage to do continuous shooting & the flashes stil manage to give me at least non-stop flashing at 4fps.
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:03 am
As I've mentioned, it works fine, I've used it at 3-8fps if the flash recycles fast enough.
- Dave
August 23rd, 2009 at 6:49 am
ok thanks david.
1 more question , how u connect it to a hot-shoe mounted flash ?
eg. hav a camera hot-shoe mounted flash for fill-in light , then connect dis slave waves in order to trigger other flashes ?
August 23rd, 2009 at 7:36 am
If your camera has a PC port (most non-entry level cams do), you can connect it via the mini aux jack just like any other trigger, hence the wires provided in the first photograph.
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
david,
do u mind to share with pictures showing d connection with d real devices ?
thanks in advance
August 24th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Here you go.
http://www.sglightbox.com/images/8puufgvi278z5clf...
August 24th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
thanks.
but i wonder whether can connect thru Nikon SB800 flash instead of thru D90 body >>>!?
as i feel tat quite disturbing when connected thru d body
.
August 25th, 2009 at 12:27 am
The SB800 has a PC port so yes, you can just velcro it onto your SB800.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:26 am
If you're still sitting on the fence with regards to using off-camera flash, i suggest you try the Yong Nuo CTR-301P or the new Cactus V4 instead, they're much cheaper and quite reliable as well. Head to ebay for listings
Hmm, the FW3 doesn't seem to offer much over the FW2… I don't like the small channel sliders either.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Saw your video and the video test is rather inaccurate, read the video comments. RF trigger and the receiver shouldn't be placed that close to each other (and rarely can you mount the flash that close to the transmitter anyway).
<a href="http://akikorhonen.org/articles.php?action=view&a…” target=”_blank”>http://akikorhonen.org/articles.php?action=view&a…
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/721…” target=”_blank”>http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/721…
I do have the CTR-301P as well, they work fine.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Hi David, Thanks for this wonderful review of a good alternative for Radio Trigger.
Been to the Philippine website but unable to locate the item after searching for some time.
Might just drop an email to them instead.
Curious, how much do you get your unit for? I might get friend who is flying back there to help me get one in few months time.
BTW, Saw the Korean website that they are coming out with FlashWave III.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:44 am
@Maverick – I got the unit for Php7,000.
FW3, wow, what's new with it? Wireless TTL would be awesome LOL.
October 5th, 2009 at 5:10 am
LOL. Sadly, Wireless TTL ain in the list of new features. ^^
http://eng.smdv.co.kr/shop/main.php?page=view_ite...
Anyway, thanks for the pricing. Trying to figure out if it is worth the money to ship it in myself or get my friend's help but the waiting time is long.
Gonna be my first wireless flash trigger as i am not really a flash person but gotta learn somehow.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:04 am
@ David
Thanks for the suggestion.
Have check out Cactus V4 and the reliability is a big question.
Checkout this video > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgDo_GZIR_Q
The test shows a big NONO dspite of the small price tag on it.
December 2nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm
These units look great. But for the price and what it actually does is a little expensive. The Radio Popper Jrx units are cheaper in price and are more reliable. For just a little bit more money you can get the PX system that works with TTL.
December 4th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Hi WillieJr:
I think you’re misinformed about the RP pricing.
RadioPoppers PX (http://radiopopper.com/products/) does not cost anywhere near the Flashwaves triggers. The RPPX TRIGGER alone cost US$250 already, the RECEIVER will cost another US$250, that’s $500 USD a set of RPPX compared to US$150 for everything you see in the Flashwaves box.
$350 is definitely not “a little bit more”.
December 9th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Sir David, where can I get the Flashwaves in Singapore and what is the price range there?
Thanks
December 9th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Hi Ralph, I'm not sure how much it costs and if it's available in Singapore, as I got mine from Manila.
December 11th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
i dont think this will work with Nissin Nissin does not work with any flash trigger unless Modified
December 11th, 2009 at 7:27 am
@Tito – Please refer to the Di622 review comments. The Nikon mount Di622 can already be used with standard flash triggers such as the Flashwaves 2 after USB firmware update. The Di866 is already RF trigger-ready out of the box.