Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger review
Wednesday 20th of June 2007 by Ed
First impressions
Skyports arrive in their box, looks nice. Open the box up and there’s all they different adapters I was hoping for. Miniphone to miniphone, miniphone to PC sync (for cameras without hotshoe), miniphone to studio adapter of some kind. Also included are chargers for the the receivers (which can be used whislt charging) and plug adapter for worldwide use. The transmitter battery is included, as is a spare battery holder. There is an instruction manual included for both transmitter and reciever which tells you everything you want to know.
When you turn the receiver on there is a little green light which flashes to let you know it is on and working. They will autopower off after 4 hours of non use to save battery. The triggers still work when the aerials are not up, but the range is reduced somewhat. The receivers work even when very close to each other, see picture below!
Range
Indoors
They worked where ever I went in the house, upstairs, through doors etc.
Outdoors
I am impressed by the range of these, having had eBay slaves in the past. They would reliably fire up to around 100meters or so (as per the specification). Beyond this distance they would start to misfire. For skate/BMX photography they have more than enough range.
It is also bearing in mind that there are trees and stuff in the way here, so on a open playing field they may work even further distances.
Compatibility
I have tested the triggers with Vivitar 285, 283 and Canon 430ex flash. They all work fine, the 430ex will also fire off any hot shoe adapter I have, not just the expensive paramount ones…
I read that there may be compatability problems with Vivitar 285HV, but I don’t have one to conform this… It DOES work with the regular 285 version though!
Sync speed
I read some rumours that these don’t sync past 1/180 of a second. I havn’t had a problem, the triggers were syncing as fast as I could push the sync on my camera (Canon 350D). I think people are confusing their camera sync speed with the trigger sync speeds.
Size
These things are real small and light, much more so than pocket wizards or even eBay slaves.
Close up, with compact flash card to show size
Pros
- Cheaper than pocket wizard (esp. in the UK )
- Very light and small
- Works to a good range
- Can be used to alter power on studio lights (if you have newer Elinchrom ones)
- Syncs to any reasonable speed (Elinchrom claims 1/1000)
- Comes with sync cords and worldwide power adapters
- Good, well thought out manuals
- Work even when very close togeather
Cons
- Arial’s are bendy and look fragile… Avoid knocking them…
- Don’t look very weather resistant
- No hot shoe lock, just slides in tightly… Potentially could get knocked off camera
- Buttons to change channels are very small and can’t be changed with just fingers
Overall
For skate photograhy and portrait applications skyport’s are perfect for me. They reliably fire every time, and the range is more than enough. Would have liked to see a more robust arial, but these are designed to be studio triggers so as long as you’re careful should be okay!
For more informtation see
Elinchrom official site
Part two
I’ve now had my Skyport set for about three months and so thought I would write a more complete review, and put up some answers to questions people have asked. I’ve also included pictures which hopefully make how you connect them up to flash units clear.
Group flash mode
One of the most powerful and versatile features of the Skyport, is the ‘Group’ system which allows the photographer to set up each flash or group of flashes on a different Group and either select a group to fire individually, e.g. a particular flash (1-4) or use the trigger all setting. Using combinations of groups means you can essentially trigger four separate flash groups, or all of them at once.
The diagram below attempts to demonstrate this, the flash fired is at the top, and the trigger setting is shown below it. The green underlining shows the setting the switch should be on.
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|---|---|---|
| Group mode, group 1 (left) | Group mode, group 2 (right) | All mode (both fire) |
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The above diagrams show how groups can be used to fire single flashes or both just using the on camera trigger unit. (This requires the Groups to have already been set on the receiver).
There are a great many creative photographic uses for this, and it has one up on pocket wizards in this respect as they do not have a fire all feature that I am aware of.
Connection Methods
Paramount hot-shoe and cord
There are also specific cables out there for connecting directly from the hot-shoe into the Skyport receiver unit, such as this one available from Paramount cords. These may seem expensive but are much better built than the standard hot-shoe adaptors and as it is an all in one unit there is less to lose!
The Paramount cord next to the input socket on the Skyport receiver
The wired up setup with a Vivitar 285 (non-HV)
Generic eBay hotshoe adapter
The units come as standard with male mini-phone to male mini-phone (like stereo headphone jacks). One end of this connects directly into the Skyport and the other end plugs into a hot-shoe adaptor.
This system works reliably for me, but the hot-shoe adaptors are extremely flimsy. As you can see in the picture, two out of the four ends have come off, exposing the wiring inside. It still works but doesn’t look very pretty and is likely to break any day!
The broken off sides…
I got my adaptors as part of a set from my original cheap eBay slaves, and so can’t give you a particular part number, sorry. The cable is supplied with the Skyport kits though.
Other
You can quite easily make your own cable by splicing one of the miniphone cables which comes with it, into a standard pc connection and using a standard pc hotshoe adpaptor. (Do so at your own risk).
Channels
As the Skyport has 8 channels and within each channel there are 4 groups you could potentially have 32 people using Skyports in the same place, provided people aren’t using multiple groups of flashes.
Battery Life
One of the biggest concerns I and others had was the battery life of the units. It is worth noting that the triggers have replaceable, non-rechargeable battery and the receivers have a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery. Try saying that fast… The receivers work whilst plugged in/recharging, perfect if used in a studio.
I have had the original battery in the trigger for three months now and it is still going strong. I couldn’t put an exact number of hours on this, but they were being used for a couple of hours at a time, a couple of times a week.
I have had to recharge the receivers once during this three month period. I was ‘caught out in the field’ and had to make do with just one receiver. This was a annoying but just keep tabs on the amount you use it and recharge regularly to avoid this happening.
Weather Sealing
I haven’t used this in any extreme weather conditions yet, the most being some light rain, and I quickly put them back in the bag to protect them. They might be able to withstand a limited amount of water, but I don’t fancy trying.
Durability
One of the most talked-about features of the Skyport is the rather flimsy looking aerials. Mine are still going strong and this is partly due to them being not as flimsy as they look, but more importantly, transporting and storing them properly. You wouldn’t just chuck an expensive lens into a bag, so the same thinking applies here, and then you should be fine.
Range
I haven’t once gone out of range in normal shoots, even using a 70-200mm lens . The radio signals will still go through glass etc if your shooting the inside of a car from outside it with slave flashes inside, for example. Again with a 70-200mm when used to take bmx shots from way back in dense woodland they still worked (see here).
Extra receivers
You can now buy extra receivers on their own, rather than buying 2 part sets. The on/off button is in a slightly differnt position see Paulo Rodrigues picture of this ‘The Difference Between Recievers‘. The on/off is now a button on top, not a switch on the side like before… Doesn’t sound like a great idea as it would be easy to knock them on or off by mistake.
Sync speed
Paulo Rodrigues also said that “I can now confirm that they will sync upto speeds of 1/1000 on a camera that is capable of it. Which IMHO is pretty good.”
So great for Nikon D50 users etc.
Where to buy
UK
I brought mine in the UK, from a place called Robert White who were very fast and
helpful.
Another good option is the Flash Centre who were also knowledgeable .
US/Canada
I live in the UK so I don’t know where you can buy them, sorry! Heard good things about Vistek in Canada, haven’t used myself though, also doesn’t ship to US apparently?
Conclusions
I’m still really happy with how the Elinchrom Skyport triggers are working out, and using the Groups properly you have very good radio control of your flashes. Their size and weight means its no hassle to take them to places, so you always have the option of using off camera flashes. Remembering to keep them charged can be a bit of a bitch. But I guess if you’re really concerned you could buy an extra unit and it would still weigh and cost much less than a pocket wizard set.
For more information see the Elinchrom site, or visit Strobist for more useful flash and camera related stuff.
Please ask any questions below, or go to my photograhy website for contact details. Cheers, Ed.