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A7s / A7R II off-camera HSS Elinchrom flash confuuuuusion ....


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Hi there!
 
I'm a bit confused right now, maybe someone here can help.
 
I recently sold my Nikon gear and switched so Sony (A7s for the time being, A7R II later). With my Nikons I used the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 to trigger my off-camera Elinchrom ELB400 Pro Heads. Worked quite well.
 
Now I have an A7s and I also own a Metz mecablitz AF-64 for Sony which supports on-camera HSS in M and TTL mode. Also works fine up to 1/8000.
 
But HOW TO TRIGGER my off-camera ELB400 heads in HSS?
The Skyport trigger alone doesn't work of yourse (no HSS support).
I've read somewhere that you could use an on-camera HSS flash to trigger external flashes via photo cell. It fires, yes, but only up to 1/250 or 1/300 but it doesn't go higher. I mean an CAN dial in faster shutter speeds but the flash does not register on the photo, although being fired.
 
I suspect the photo cell triggering takes too long for the flash to be registered by the camera at high shutter speeds?
 
Be that as it may - what do I do? Is there a trigger/setup which enables me to use my off-camera Elinchrom ELB400 heads with my A7s and hopefully the A7r II in HSS mode? Since both (cameras and flashes) in theory support HSS, there should be a way, no?
 
I found it to be rather tricky to get reliable information about this, maybe because both, professional Alpha cameras and HSS are relatively "new"...
 
Many thanks!
Todd
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Hi there!
 
I'm a bit confused right now, maybe someone here can help.
 
I recently sold my Nikon gear and switched so Sony (A7s for the time being, A7R II later). With my Nikons I used the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 to trigger my off-camera Elinchrom ELB400 Pro Heads. Worked quite well.
 
Now I have an A7s and I also own a Metz mecablitz AF-64 for Sony which supports on-camera HSS in M and TTL mode. Also works fine up to 1/8000.
 
But HOW TO TRIGGER my off-camera ELB400 heads in HSS?

The Skyport trigger alone doesn't work of yourse (no HSS support).

I've read somewhere that you could use an on-camera HSS flash to trigger external flashes via photo cell. It fires, yes, but only up to 1/250 or 1/300 but it doesn't go higher. I mean an CAN dial in faster shutter speeds but the flash does not register on the photo, although being fired.

 
I suspect the photo cell triggering takes too long for the flash to be registered by the camera at high shutter speeds?
 
Be that as it may - what do I do? Is there a trigger/setup which enables me to use my off-camera Elinchrom ELB400 heads with my A7s and hopefully the A7r II in HSS mode? Since both (cameras and flashes) in theory support HSS, there should be a way, no?
 
I found it to be rather tricky to get reliable information about this, maybe because both, professional Alpha cameras and HSS are relatively "new"...
 
Many thanks!

Todd

 

 

The Pocketwizard does not do HSS with the a7s? 

 

You will have to contact Elinchrom about Sony support.

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The Skyport will only trigger the ELB upto 1/250th of a sec in speed mode.

You will need a trigger like phottix. You will lose TTL and power control but will be able to HSS

http://www.phottix.com/index.php/en/flash-triggers/phottix-odin-ttl-flash-trigger-for-sony-receiver-only.html

 

Being you have pocket wizards. You might want to look at the Plus 3 from Pocket wizard according to pocket wizard they will trigger the tt5 and Tt1s, Again no TTL but can hyper sync with them. 

You will need a cable to go between the TT5/TT1 and the ELB pack. This would go the same from Phottix as well.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Skyport will only trigger the ELB upto 1/250th of a sec in speed mode.

You will need a trigger like phottix. You will lose TTL and power control but will be able to HSS

http://www.phottix.com/index.php/en/flash-triggers/phottix-odin-ttl-flash-trigger-for-sony-receiver-only.html

 

Being you have pocket wizards. You might want to look at the Plus 3 from Pocket wizard according to pocket wizard they will trigger the tt5 and Tt1s, Again no TTL but can hyper sync with them. 

You will need a cable to go between the TT5/TT1 and the ELB pack. This would go the same from Phottix as well.

 

Alright, thx for that so far!

 

So​ I plug the Phottix Odin TTL Flash Trigger RECIEVER for Sony into my ELB400 pack via 3,5mm cable an put a Phottix TRANSMITTER on my Alpha - but which one? The Odin description states that it's compatible with the Strato trigger series but I only see Canon and Nikon Strato triggers on the Phottix site...? ´ Or is that immaterial since I don't want/need TTL and just want to fire the Flash so I could use either Canon or Nikon triggers on a Sony Alpha?

 

cheers

 

PS: I don't have the ​PocketWizards anymore, sold them along with all the Nikon gear...

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