Elinchrom EL Skyport Wireless System Review

Elinchrom EL Skyport Wireless System Review

If you’re exploring the art of off-camera lighting, eventually you’re going to run into the problem of how to trigger those flashes from your camera, and preferably, how to do it without wires. The issues are two-fold. First you could continue to use either your pop-up flash, an external master flash connected to the hot shoe, or commander unit on your camera, but eventually you’ll run into line of site issues. In other words, for your pop-up flash to trigger an external flash, it has to “see” your pop-up send its signal. Ok, so that’s not much of an issue when you get started, your lighting setup involves a speedlight or strobe, right next to you, sitting on a stand. Eventually though that flash will go in a softbox, or be placed behind you, or you start working outside, then you start to notice it isn’t firing anymore, you’re out of its line of sight. So now the second issue arises, you could connect the external to your camera via a wire, a very long wire, but we all know that can be a pain, and if you don’t watch your slack, you could bring a lightstand crashing down with softbox and expensive speedlight or strobe in tow.

Solutions

Once you’ve decided that it’s time to go wireless with your flash setup, you then have to make the difficult decision of which trigger set to purchase. This aspect involves juggling

• How much you can afford
• Setting up your camera manually or keeping your camera’s functionality (using TTL and/or high speed sync)
• Reliability of trigger unit

Making the decision even harder is a number of good and better competing products, I’ll admit narrowing down my final decision was a difficult one. In a nutshell though the most likely options to choose from will be:

• PocketWizard’s Plus II: allows for manual control. Costs about $170 for transmitter or receiver
• PocketWizard’s MiniTT1/Flex TT5: allow for manual and E-TTL II shooting. For Canon only right now, and either a transmitter or reciever costs roughly $200. Additionally there are some interference issues with Canon’s flashes causing the units to potentially be not as effective in their working distances.
• Radiopoppers PX System: Allows for manual and ETTL shooting, but requires an external flash unit to also be on the camera. Transmitter or reciever cost roughly $250.
• Cactus/Cybersyncs/Ebay Triggers: Allow for manual shooting, but vastly more affordable than the above options. Because they are cheaper reliability may be an issue.
• Elinchrom Skyports: allow for manual shooting, work with Elinchrom RX strobes, $176 for a transceiver and transmitter ($99 each).

Obviously I’ve ended up with Elinchrom’s Skyport system, which was based on the fact that they are universal so I can put them on most any camera and still trigger my Canon Speedlights (or any other speedlight), they are quite affordable relatively speaking (I got mine at B&H Photo for $176 which includes the transceiver and transmitter), they will trigger the Elinchrom strobes that I intend on purchasing, and excellent word of mouth. I’m giving up the ability to use my camera’s ETTL abilities and high speed sync, but if need be I could always use an external flash on camera and go without the Skyports if I need those capabilities.

Out of the Box

If you order the “kit” you get everything you see above, again all for $176. This includes the transmitter, its battery, the transceiver and its charger, some adaptors for the charger, a padded case, and a number of cables for connecting the Skyports to your flash/camera. Thanks to prior research, I knew that I’d be needing  a cable not included, so I also purchased miniphone to pc screwlock cable for my 580 EX II’s. For some folks, the system will include everything you need, just put the included battery in the transmitter, charge the transceiver, and you’re good to go.

A note on build. The Skyports are quite small and very light, made mostly from plastic. You won’t find anything fancy on them either, no LED or digital read-outs, just a couple of buttons and switches on the side. The units themselves don’t look all that fragile, but I’d be wary of leaving them loose, floating around in a camera bag. The aerials on the other hand are quite flimsy, personally I don’t even raise them in the studio (not needed at all for most studio type distances). I can easily see one getting snagged and snapping off, so just be cautious with them. If you aren’t working great distances, I might even suggest just putting a rubber band around them to prevent them from even raising.

Performance

When you get your first trigger set, regardless of the brand you choose, it immediately falls in that “how did I live without this” category. The Skyports work right of the box. On the transmitter you have a switch for firing a specific group or “all”, and another switch for choosing which of four possible groups. The Skyports allow for 8 frequency channels (if working near other photographers), but the switches here are so small you’ll need a paperclip to adjust them (I’m not kidding). There’s a plus and minus button for adjusting Elinchrom’s RX strobes right from the transmitter (a feature I’m banking on) and finally a “Test” Button. The transmitter uses a CR2430 3V battery, which is not something you’ll find at just any store. Elinchrom suggests it’s good for 50,000 flashes or 3 months of use and ours is still going strong. It’d be a good idea to carry a couple of spares though, as you’ll never find this battery near a shoot location.

On the transceiver you again have a switch for selecting the proper group, the tiny switches for changing channels, a “on/off” button, and a ready light. The transceiver uses a rechargeable battery, and can be used while charging. Battery life has been good so far, I’ve only charge one unit of the 3 that I have, and I’ve been using them quite a bit over the last month or so.

Connections are pretty straight forward. The transmitter simply slides into the hot shoe of your camera. On my Canon EOS 5D Mark II, it slides pretty easily and is fairly snug, but it has been a somewhat snugger fit on several Nikon models. The transceiver attaches via the appropriate cable for your particular flash. I’m using the screwlock cable on the 580EX II, a strip of velcro (not included) secures the unit to the flash quite nicely. Once connected the Skyports just work. Supported sync speeds go up to 1/1000s so most users will be fine there, outside of that, there aren’t many issues to consider. The Skyports have worked near 100% of the time, I can’t say I’ve had a misfire that’s genuinely the fault of any of the Skyports. Working distances are fine too, in the studio of course you’ll have zero problems, but I’ve tried a couple of pointless exercises like leaving the Skyports inside then proceeding a great distance outside, and the Skyports still fired. Elinchrom claims 50m indoors and 120m outside, so there really shouldn’t be an issue here at all for most photographers.

I’m trying hard to think of negatives but there just aren’t many. Like I said these things are the sturdiest looking things, but I’m confident they’ll hold up well. Also they aren’t too fancy, no digital read-outs or anything else like that, but they do allow you to test all of your lights, or go by group and as I mentioned previously, when you’re ready to move on to Elinchrom strobes, you’re still good to go. Mix and match your speedlights and strobes, you’ll be fine too. Switch camera bodies, you’re still fine. For the price and reliability it’s hard to complain.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a wireless trigger system that handles manual setups, is very reliable even over long distances, and doesn’t break the bank, I can “Highly Recommend” the Elinchrom EL Skyport system. It works great, is small and light, ships with most everything users will need, and even looks pretty good too. To be clear this recommendation isn’t meant to infer superiority over some of the other systems, there are real and distinct advantages to all of them, be it ETTL shooting, high speed sync, or possibly much lower price points. But the Skyport system seems very fairly priced and offers professional levels of reliablity. I really don’t know how I lived without them.

Where to Buy

Get the Elinchrom Skyport system at B&H Photo:

• Elinchrom Skyport Universal Slave Set (transceiver and transmitter) $176
• Elinchrom Skyport Universal Transmitter
• Elinchrom Skyport Universal Transceiver

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1. 

   Tmu says:

   January 28, 2010 at 3:45 am

   They are good in modest distances but when you try to go outside and 20m and further, you need line of sight between transmitter and receiver. You cannot “hide” your flash and expect it to fire, I have had many problems on this. Because of that I have 3m long cords so I can hide the flash and bring receiver around the corner (or some other obstacle thats blocking the line of sight) for example. The on/off button is annoying. Just doesnt work all the time.
   Other than these problems, theyre good!

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     January 28, 2010 at 10:13 am

     TMU,
     that’s a good point, buried in a softbox at longer distances, there can be a problem, But as you said if you can keep them out on the stand, they work great from pretty good distances…further than most will need I would think

     reply
2. 

   Tommi says:

   January 28, 2010 at 3:50 am

   Thanks for the detailed review! I have though about getting Skyports too. They seem to provide good quality and price mix. The charging and battery life does not seem to be an issue. That’s been the only thing holding me back.

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     January 28, 2010 at 10:15 am

     Battery life is good, if you remember to turn them off, plus they recharge (the transcievers). The transmitter is still going strong, and just in case I got a couple of backup batteries from Radio Shak in my bag.

     reply
3. 

   forex robot says:

   February 10, 2010 at 12:07 am

   Keep posting stuff like this i really like it

   reply
4. 

   Mette says:

   February 13, 2010 at 3:36 pm

   Hi, thanks for your information. One question, can you adjust in camera, I also have 5d mark II, and 580 ex II the External Speedlite control with this system? I mean, can you control each flash on the camera with this system?

   reply
   • 

     Patrick says:

     February 14, 2010 at 4:15 pm

     Mette,
     No, you can’t control the flashes from the camera with the Skyport, you’ll have to adjust each manually. Of course with all of the manual trigger systems you’d have the same issue. If you want control, ,you’ll need to put a flash on top of the camera, and do without the Skyport, or you could opt for Canon’s commander unit.

     reply
     • 

       Francesco says:

       February 23, 2010 at 5:56 am

       Hi Patrick, wish you happy day. I am looking for a wireless trigger for my panasonic g1, have you any experience with this camera? Thanks in advance for your kind reply. Cheers, Francesco

       reply
       • 

         Patrick says:

         February 23, 2010 at 9:06 am

         Francesco,
         I have spent a little time with the G1, but can’t say for sure about triggers…I can say that we currently have the GF1, and we have used the skyports with it, and it works fine, triggering our Canon 580EX II flashes with no problems.

         reply
         • 

           Francesco says:

           February 23, 2010 at 10:18 am

           Hi Patrick, thank you for your kind reply. Yes, now I feel feel confidenent that it will work fine on G1 as well. Thank You Patrick, wish you great time. Cheers. Francesco
5. 

   Patrick says:

   February 23, 2010 at 8:18 pm

   Francesco,
   Glad to help, (I hope), good luck with the G1!

   reply