I’ve been using the Nikon CLS very successfully for the last 5 years or so. However, being an infra-red system has its limitations, so when the Mini TT1 & Flex TT5 were released were announced for the Nikon CLS I was quite excited to try them out.

Few weeks back I decided to try these out to see how good this system was. I’m delighted to say that the results I achieved were incredible. I couldn’t have shot these images without them. The consistency is superb and this has opened up a whole new shooting workflow. The system is easy & quick to set up and very portable and lightweight.

So lets take a look at what & how I shot this session. The kit I used were:

Nikon D3

Nikkor 200mm f/2 and 35mm f/2

3 x Speedlights

Nikon SU800 Commander

Mini TT1 & 3 x Flex TT5

Lastolite Triflash Bracket

Walkie Talkies

I started the session with a long range shot. I went on the other side of the lake and I’ve circled myself on the above image. You can clearly see the distance I was shooting from. On the right is Charlie and my son who was helping us out! Had no problems firing all 3 flashes consistently from such a distance.

Below was my viewpoint for the above shot. You can just about see the tiny spec of the flashguns firing. It is ideal to have walkie talkies or mobile phone for communication.

Firing 3 Nikon Speedlights gave me 3 times the power on a sunny afternoon. I used one SB900 and two SB800 to test and see if they all work seamlessly. Over 2 hours of the shooting, all the images had consistent exposures.

My Speedlights power output was around the 1/32 to 1/64. Very little flash was used even though I had under exposed the ambient light quite a bit. I was controlling the remote flashguns via the Nikon SU800 commander unit. The remotes can also be controlled via the Pocket Wizard AC3 ZoneController.

The biggest advantage of using the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 & Flex TT5 is the ability to shoot from longer range and they also sync at any shutter speed up to 1/8000th.

Overall, I’m extremely impressed by the Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 and Flex TT5. Completely 100% reliable. I’m not making this judgement from 1 session only, in fact I’ve put them through the paces for the last 4 weeks or so during various photo shoots. There is also no need for any wired connection to the Speedlights. I wanted to write the ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ of the system. However, I’m really struggling to write any ‘Cons’. Just love it. For the price they are, it really is a tremendous value for your investment.

I believe Calumet are running a great money saving offer on these units.
Check out there website. Click on the logo.

Forthcoming Event:

I’m holding a free ‘PW Portrait Afternoon‘ soon at this very location. It will be a very informal meet up to practice lighting & posing. Just put your name below in the comment box. First preference would be given to those who are on our subscriber list. If you wish to join the list, please send an email to info @ sfdigital.co.uk with the subject line ‘Add to mailing list’.

Please feel free to share your experience below in the comments box or if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.

Oz