The Magic Healing Spell - And The Radio Trigger

The magic healing spell for photographers is: " If I put it away carefully, it will be better in the morning...". You say this spell whenever a piece of equipment falters. Then you tuck it away until you really really need it, and when you take it out again...it fails completely.

Whereupon you say other magic words. Short words, but emphatic...

Yesterday in the studio. The radio trigger. The old dodgy radio trigger. The old dodgy, it will be good for one more time, radio trigger. The I need it badly to work this one more time because I forgot my new radio trigger back home, radio trigger...

You've guessed where this is going.

Thank Heaven and Mr. Elinchrom that each of their studio monoblocks has an in-built IR trigger cell - and that you can put a Fujifilm EF 42 flash on the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and swivel it around to point at the back wall and turn it down to 1/32 power. Not enough to foul up the lighting scheme but powerful enough to trigger the monoblocks.

I am ashamed that I forgot the new radio trigger - also from Elinchrom - but I am proud that I made the lash-up work. I hope I have learned my lesson.

Wireless, Cordless, Or Radio? Olympus Owners Take Note.

If you are fussy about it you can call it wireless - if you are easier call it radio. The thing will be the same in any case - control of your Olympus camera at a distance, with no cord in between.

If you are using an E-P3 or E-P4 or the OM-D you might need to shoot from a concealed position or away from the camera while it is on a tripod. Both the Hahnel Giga T Pro and the Hahnel Combi T will do this - they quote a range of 100 metres on the packaging. Attach the receiver to the hot shoe, plug the control cable from it to the side of the camera, and press the go button.

Why two different controllers? The blue box contains the one to use if you want the additional facility of firing a flash gun at a distance. You reverse the connection - transmitter on the camera and receiver under the flash and away you go.

The yellow packaging has the clever timer and interval controller in the trigger - but it doesn't do the flash thing. Use this one if you are going to do star trail photos or speeded up pictures of flowers blooming.

If you are going to insist on using the Nikon, Canon, or Pentax systems you can also get these products. But this posting is just for Olympus users and we won't mention that, okay?