Equipment Using 540EZs with Digital for off-cam shooting

I was wondering if using a 540EZ in combination with a pocket wizard would be a viable solution to some off camera flashing with my EOS 350D?

Or would it be just as cheap/easy to go with a speedlite intended for digital?

I am asking because the 540EZ are dirt cheap and I don't see no reason for not using them, especially in complete manual mode.

Thanks!

 

So long as the flash has a PC sync port, you are good to go. Old manual flashes are making a big comeback these days as they are cheap and plentiful. The pocket wizards will be expensive though. PW's are, of course, the best out there for mission critical situations. But for fun/learning I usually point people to lower priced solution. There are the Bowens Pulsar triggers, which are mid priced and well made. And tons of really cheap stuff on ebay, but reliability suffers.

 

Hehe, I saw a second hand PW transmitter and receiver (The older plus version) go for 150 quid on ebay...you can buy the set brand new for 120. Some people are fools.

My friend has the bowens flash triggers and they work well for him. The cactus triggers are supposed to be good too

 

I'd get a set of cheap Cactus triggers for now, and come summertime, RadioPopper will be releasing their Jr. model which looks to effectively be a $25-30 PW (separate trigger and receiver rather than a transceiver, but it's also an eighth the price). The Cactus definitely aren't 100% reliable, but for close range work they're reliable enough especially for the price - though I intend to replace mine with RP Jrs the minute they're available.
http://radiopopper.com/blog/?p=48

I actually just finished modding a 1/8" jack into my Cactus triggers (in place of the PC sync socket) since the mono-mono cables are readily available and tend to be of higher reliability than pc-mono, which will be great to go with some studio strobes that I'll probably get soon enough or my modded 285 (also got the mono socket treatment, in place of the battery socket). As a bonus, if I get a better quality cord to go with my 580II it won't need to be replaced since all the good triggers use 1/8 sockets instead of pc sockets that are on the standard cactuses.

 

Word! I had forgotten about the RP JRs. Although they are FCC cleared only. They aren't planning export to the EU for at least another year. But if you can get some, the initial reports are VERY encouraging. This would be my first choice for a radio trigger, if I weren't already looking at their TTL offerings. Good call, Firehed.

 

I'm not able to find any cactus triggers on ebay... where would I find these? And I need them sent to Denmark so a European shop is preferred as danish duty, taxes and postal system will add a 125% to the price.

 

Actually, it sounds that the Jr model will be rapidly available worldwide (or at least in some markets outside the US) since it's on a totally different frequency than the P1s.

 

Cool.