Pocket Wizard makes radio-frequency remote controls for camera flashes. These off-camera strobe triggers are the choice of professionals as they have a reputation of being bulletproof, firing the speedlight every single time, over and over and over.
That is, until PW got fancy and started adding support for more advanced auto-flash modes, those that let the camera and flashgun talk back and forth to create perfect exposures from afar. The Canon-compatible FlexTT5 units were suffering from radio interference when used with certain Canon speedlights, limiting the range and reliability of the system. Now, Pocket Wizard has come up with a fix.
Has the company issued a recall, or promised to send out re-engineered units that are less sensitive to interference? Nope. Instead, it will send owners of the FlexTT5 a tin-foil hat for every unit they mistakenly bought.
The hats are gussied-up somewhat with a fancy name: AC5 Soft Shields. As there is a lack of pictures accompanying the press release, we are left to guess that these free “fixes” are little more than the DIY version pictured above, a quick wrap of aluminum/copper sheeting whipped up by Flickr user Daniel Aqua.
Better news for those who paid around $420 per receiver/transmitter pair, Pocket Wizard will, in “mid to late November” (yes, in ten months) take another $30 of your cash for the plastic, umbrella-mountable AC7 RF Shield. And remember, you’ll need one for every flash you buy. Way to go, PW.
AC5 Soft Shield Available to U.S. FlexTT5 Owners at No Cost [Pocket Wizard via DIY Photography]
DIY RF shield for flash (Photo): Daniel Aqua/Flickr
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