How to trigger external Flashes: Radio Triggers

This is the 3rd and final episode of the series on how to trigger external flashes.

Here we cover what I consider the …

best and now very affordable solution to trigger your external flash. Here is why:

Radio Triggers rely on the wave to communicate with your external flashes and therefore doe not require any line of sight which enable you to place your flashes behind walls as well as inside certain light diffuser (softbox) which do not offer easy access to the flash.

Until recently, Radio triggers used to be very expensive so reserved to professionals who could justify the cost (over hundred pounds for a single unit).

One of the most famous brand for Radio trigger on the market is the PocketWizard:

The famous Yongnuo brand which tackles the flash market and produces very reliable (TTL and non-TTL) flashes have taken on the trigger market as well and when they first release their radio triggers those were not TTL and had very little settings.

Their latest model, the YN-622 (C&N):

This Canon and Nikon respective models are rather cheap (£30 the unit) as they are transceivers meaning their can either be used as trigger or receiver attached to the flash. They use 2xAA batteries and are fully featured with the channel and flash group selector. They also have an Auto Focus Assist Beam which projects a series of vertical and horizontal lines onto your subject to help you focus on it in dim light.

They also understand TTL and on modern camera will enable to adjust your flash power from the camera menu like here on the 5D III:

So using such trigger enable you to never walk back and forth to your flash(es). You now can set their power like you would your built-in flash.

As far as I am concerned, now the radio triggers have become so affordable, I do not see any value in investing in an infrared commander as those remains still pricey (£90).