What do flash receivers do?įlash receivers are the device that attaches to your flash and receives and acts on the signal from the trigger. Click here for an example of a “smart” trigger. walking to each flash and changing it manually. Smart triggers are handy because you control everything right from the trigger on the top of your camera vs. If I wanted to change the flash with a manual-only dummy trigger, I’d have to physically walk over to the flash and change the power. If I want to change the power of the flash, I can do it from my “smart” trigger.
A smart trigger, for example, might let you set flash power, change the mode of the flash from manual to TTL or change the zoom. These triggers allow you to control more or even all the functions of the flash directly from your camera. Click here to see an example of “dummy” triggers. If you want to make other changes to the flash, though, you need to do that on the flash itself. These triggers control only what channel the signal is sent on. First, there are what we call manual or dummy triggers. But there are two basic styles of triggers.
Triggers come in lots of different makes and models. When you fire the shutter, the camera sends out a little electronic pulse to the trigger to activate it. The trigger is connected to your flash via the hot-shoe (that little bracket that sits on the top of your camera). What are flash triggers? What do flash triggers do?įlash triggers are the device the camera uses to talk to the flash. This tutorial talks about a radio-based trigger and receiver system to fire your flashes. Their disadvantages include cost and the learning curve of setting them up. Radio based devices don’t require line of sight, they are more reliable and won’t be set off by someone else’s flash. Many photographers, then, choose to use radio communication. And sometimes another flash firing in the room trips your flashes. Shooting outdoors in bright sunlight or indoors in weird lights (think DJ disco ball) affects the communication. But because it is an optical signal, the camera and flash have to actually see each other and have line of sight. Infrared is less expensive and works great some of the time. There’s also a hybrid method, but we aren’t going to get into that right now for simplicity purposes. The camera talks to the flash three different ways: via infrared signals (which are sent optically) or via radio signals. How your camera/trigger/flash communicate And like walky-talkies, they use radio channels to communicate. Thinks of them as sort of a walky-talky system for your camera and flash. So we use a trigger on the camera to send a signal to the flash (FIRE!) and a receiver on the flash to interpret the signal (FIRE!). That’s what’s giving us that extra light after all. Either way, that’s off-camera flash.īut we need the flash to fire when the shutter fires on the camera. That flash could be on a light stand three feet from you or held by an assistant 30 feet away from you. Off-camera flash means the flash (either a speedlight or strobe) is located somewhere other than on top of your camera. For the maximum control, flexibility and power, photographers use off-camera flash. Sometimes our scene needs extra light, which we introduce through the use of flash. Why do you need flash triggers and receivers? You’ll learn what they are, how they work, what groups and channels mean and a few troubleshooting ideas for when you get stuck.
In this tutorial, I’m going to give you a basic rundown of one element of using off-camera flash…understanding flash triggers and receivers. But don’t quit…try reading this beginner’s guide to understanding flash triggers and receivers instead! Taking your flash off-camera and shooting wirelessly? That seems even more overwhelming! Triggers, receivers, signals, groups…just argh! I know plenty of photographers who quit even trying to understand and never venture beyond natural light. There are all these different settings and terminology. Get started understanding flash triggers and receivers and up your off-camera flash game!įlash photography feels really intimidating at first.