Comments on: The RadioPopper PX review – part 1

By: George Mathew

George Mathew — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:46:49 +0000

Radio Popper did not work for me. I am on the second set of units. Even the second set took a trip to Radio Popper for testing. They failed to duplicate the issue that I have right now. But I can simply reproduce it. With both the units I had different kind of issues and its been more than a year since I bought it and not able to shoot any event without any single troubles. Allways one or the other problems. Finally gave up and around 705$ became paper weight (noo I cannot use it as paper weight either, its light weight). I am a very well educated user and hold top of the time camera and flash units from Canon and also tested with my friends flash units and camera and were able to reproduce the problems easily. And dont understand why radio popper was not able to re produce it. But one thing I have to say… they are very friendly in customer service. Very prompt until my last email saying about the latest issues. No replies yet…

By: Radiopopper PX review part 2 - range testing - Ed Z Studios

Radiopopper PX review part 2 - range testing - Ed Z Studios — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:42:56 +0000

[...] promised, part 2 of my Radiopopper PX review. (PART 1 HERE) Although for my purposes, I can’t imagine I’d need to trigger my slave strobes from [...]

By: Rob Cole

Rob Cole — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:01:17 +0000

It seems RadioPopper PX is functionally better than the new PocketWizards (Flex/Mini). The PWs do not support all TTL functions by a long shot – check the fine print in the PW manual. The Hypersync doesn’t seem that great to me – I mean I think I’d rather use true FP sync (at speeds of 1/400 & 1/500 & 1/640) than Hypersync (which is not an option at speeds between 1/250 & 1/640 with PW – it says this in the manual), and if there aint ’nuff power – add a light. The radiopoppers support everything CLS does, and can use true FP sync at all intermediate speeds (much more even lighting across the frame). Although I like the aesthetics of the PW better (looks, slide-n-play vs. velcro), if the radiopoppers are as reliable as the PW, its a better system. And then there’s the studio light support, which I dont understand the differences as well, since I dont use them now, but in the future?… Originally I was thinking the PW would be better, but after more careful analysis, I am going to go order the radiopoppers after submitting this comment. I hope its as reliable as PW – for $250/unit it had better be!, if so I’m sure I wont regret it.

By: Radiopopper PX’s Arrive | Pixelform, Inc.

Radiopopper PX’s Arrive | Pixelform, Inc. — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:09:51 +0000

[...] I get a few minutes. Actually, scratch writing a review – Ed Zawadzki over at F/1.0 has written a post that sums things up pretty nicely. My additional two cents so far: The PX’s just feel more reliable and responsive – absolutely [...]

By: Rex

Rex — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:13:04 +0000

I enjoyed your RadioPopper PX review. I’m a big fan since the introduction of the P1′s.
Poppers are the best new product I’ve added in years, they make great lighting so much easier. Reliable wireless high-speed sync is so damn cool.
I use the PX system now and love the improvements.

When PocketWizard introduced their new products I was REALLY curious how they were going to compare. When I got done reading the details I relaxed and realized my upgrade to a set of 4 PX’s was a very wise move.

Poppers help me create great light easily.

Rex

By: Weekend Perusing: Be Prepared | Your Photo Tips

Weekend Perusing: Be Prepared | Your Photo Tips — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:45:51 +0000

[...] has a review of the RadioPopper PXs that’s worth a [...]

By: Ed Z

Ed Z — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:58:48 +0000

Hi Tom -
Yes, the radiopoppers do allow HSS wirelessly. The max shutter speed you will get is a function of your camera’s HSS system – all the RPs do is “bridge” the TTL signal via RF. I do believe that most HSS systems allow up to 1/8000 sync – but at the price of greatly reduced flash power since the flash has to “strobe” rapidly off a single charge of the capacitor.

The pocketwizards also allow wireless HSS but this is *not* the same as what they call “hypersync” unlike HSS where the flash fires multiple pulses synced with the movements of the shutter curtains, hypersync allows a normal “single” flash pulse to be synced at a slightly higher speed than normal, by some careful timing of the burst to avoid the “black bars” of the shutter cutrains passing the film plane. They claim up to 1/500 sync with “hypersync” but the “fine print” is that that is only with a camera that already has a normal sync of 1/250, and only in optimal circumstances. I believe some real world tests showed an improvement of 1/3 – 1 stop in max sync speed, which is still nothing to sneeze at!

if all this sync speed stuff is confusing – check my article on it here for a more detailed breakdown…

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:26:06 +0000

Thanks for the review. I’ve been wanting the RadioPoppers for a long time. I was about to pull the trigger on the P1s and out came the announcement for the PX. I’m happy to hear you’ve had such good success in firing them. I have a question about HS sync. I thought the PX could sync up to 1/8000. Have you tried that? If so, doesn’t that match up with the PocketWizard TTL offering?

Thanks again for the review, I’m looking forward to seeing your real world tests and I’ll be linking to this review from my blog!

Tom