CowboyStudio NPT-04, 4 Channel Wireless Hot Shoe Flash Trigger Receiver

by CowboyStudio

Product Details

• Item Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002W3IXZW
• Item model number: NPT-04
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (315 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #1 in Camera & Photo > Accessories > Flash Accessories
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 8, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This set is designed for photographic studio and on-location work to trigger various flash lights. The transmitter is attached on the hot shoe of the camera while the receiver is plugged into the studio flash. Each receiver works with one studio flash. Additional receivers are available to purchase .

Product Highlights

• 4 channels to avoid interference
• The receiver has an on/off switch, and an LED to indicate triggering
• A standard ¼in screw mount
• Channel Selector outside the transmitter and the receiver
• 4 channels with hot shoe connector for external flashes
• Transmitter Power: 23A 12V battery Receiver Power: 2 AAA Battery (Not included)
• Maximum Working Distance: 30m (open area, without interference)
• Max available in distance range: 30M (Open fields, no fraise)
• Operates on Frequency: 433MHzv
• Highest responding time up to 1/320s
• Triggering life: up to 20,000 times
• Trigger can operate additional NPT-04 receivers

Compatible models:

Canon SpeedLite 580EX II, 580EX, 550EX, 540EZ, 520EZ, 430EX, 430EZ, 420EX, 420EZ, 380EX; Nikon SpeedLight SB-800, SB-28, SB-27, SB-26, SB-25, SB-24; Olympus FL-50R, FL-50, FL-36R, FL-36; Pentax AF-540 FGZ, AF-360 FGZ, AF-400 FT, AF-240 FT; Sigma EF-530 DG Super, EF-500 DG Super, EF-430; Sunpak Auto 2000DZ, 622 Pro, 433AF, 433D, 383, 355AFm 344D, 333D; Vivitar 285HV, DF-400MZ, DF-340MZ, 2700; Other flash models with a trigger voltage of 12V or lower.

Product Description

CowboyStudio Digital Radio Strobe Trigger for Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus & Pentax Flashes includes One (1) FM Radio Transmitter, One (1) FM Radio Receiver, One (1) On/Off Switch and LED Trigger Indicator Light, One (1) Sync Cable, One (1) User Manual

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

505 of 507 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'll state the obvious just in case someone has these questions:, April 14, 2010

By 

Michael Seneschal "Mac N00b" (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CowboyStudio NPT-04, 4 Channel Wireless Hot Shoe Flash Trigger Receiver (Camera)

OK, 5 star rating. As many people have already said, they just work. Believe me, I wish a lot of things I buy `just worked'. LOL

I wanted to comment just to state the obvious... obvious to some, maybe not so obvious to others. But before ordering these I emailed Cowboy Studio's with a couple simple questions... then never got back to me. In fact, it was like I sent my email into space... don't expect this company to be on top of customer service via email. I suggest calling them, although, when I DID call them I got an answering machine (yes, like... and answering machine). I bought these triggers anyway... so I figured I'd answer my own questions in case others had the same questions.

Q1.) Do they work only if they can clearly see each other (ie. line of sight) or will they work if the flash is hidden somewhere, like in a softbox or just around a corner somewhere?
A1.) They indeed do NOT need to `see' each other. My first test I had the flash in my kitchen, then I walked 3 rooms away behind my fireplace. Not only was I 3 rooms away, but in between were the standard walls made of plaster as well as a brick wall from the fire place. Yup... it fired perfectly. Next, I put my flash inside one of my wife's leather pocketbook's. I figured if it would fire inside a closed leather pocketbook, it would have no trouble inside a cloth softbox. Indeed, the flash fired perfectly.

Q2.) Does it work like TTL... or... can I at least adjust the flash power from the back of the camera?
A2.) No and no. However, if you set your flash to M, you can adjust the power this way. If you set your flash to 1/2 in M mode, it'll fire at 1/2 power. If you set it to 1/4 in M mode, it'll fire at 1/4 power.... you get the point. If you have the flash on any setting other than M, it will still fire, but it'll fire at full power. So at first I had my flash setup as a slave to fire from the camera's commander mode. With these triggers on the camera, it fires the flash, but only at full power. I then set my flash to TTL mode. Again, the triggers fired the flash, but only at full power. Now, I read somewhere that these triggers only fire the flash at full power... this isn't true... you have to set the flash to Manual and adjust the flash power from the flash itself. I didn't realize this at first... and it wasn't written anywhere since these triggers come with instructions in Chinese (at least it looks like it's written in Chinese, I don't know).

Q3.) Do I have to change any settings in the camera in order for these triggers to recognize and work.
A3.) Nope. Literally, just slide the thing on your hotshoe... that's it. In fact, it doesn't matter what setting your camera is set to. Same goes with the flash.

Summary: The range CAN be obstructed and the flash will still fire. Set your flash to manual mode and adjust the flash power from the flash itself. That's it.

117 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are what you want., July 4, 2010

By 

Davis D - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CowboyStudio NPT-04, 4 Channel Wireless Hot Shoe Flash Trigger Receiver (Camera)

Wireless triggers come in two types, the super cheap generic ones and the crazy expensive PocketWizards. These trigger/receivers are excellent and work great. They are much better than the cheap ones I've tried and so far just as good as the PocketWizards I've tried.

Range is not a big issue for me, I've not hit the limit of these Cowboy Studio ones. Honestly, if you exceed the range on these you better be finding a bigger light source than the Speedlight your probably trying to trigger. The wireless is pretty robust as well, I triggered strobes with these through two walls with no problem.

The build quality is better than the generic guys but maybe a hair less than the PocketWizards. Doesn't matter though you can buy yourself about 10 of these for the price of two PocketWizards. So break them, loose them, blow 'em up or whatever and never worry about it. They're built well enough to not give you false pops too. So far I've had exactly one misfire, and that was because of the transmitter not being screwed down tight into my cameras hot shoe. Great performance from these so far.

No TTL support, but I shoot Nikon and none of the high end brands support real iTTL either. This may be a bigger issue for Canon guys who can find radio ETTL options on the high end stuff. Manual flash is not a big deal and being wireless means that these are most likely going to be on stationary light sources anyhow.

The sync speed on these is pretty great, cheap generics don't sync very high usually. My old generics wouldn't sync higher than 1/180, these are fine at 1/200th, bringing them on par with the PocketWizard who is suppose to sync at 1/250th but never does.

The extra PC sync port on the receivers is a plus and lets me use them on my strobes and not just my speedlights. Even though I wish PC sync would die a horrible death, it is a good port on here that fits snuggly with the cord. The on and off switch is also great as the super low end generic radios I've previously used just stayed on and ate up batteries. The transmitter has a 1/8th inch jack too, this allows you to hook it up via the included cable to your camera's PC port and leaves your camera's hot shoe free for an on-camera manual flash.

My one real complaint about these is that the receivers use AAA batteries. They really should use AA like all my other equipment. Not a big deal but still, one more pack of batteries to carry around. On the other hand, the transmitter seems to not require any batteries and that's great.

If you're on the fence about these, jump on over and get them, they work great. Grab a couple extra receivers while you're at it and have all of your lights wireless. These will work just as well as PocketWizards in 95% of your shoots. So unless you shoot rodeos, sports or anything else that requires you to have lights setup at the top of stadiums buy these instead of the PocketWizards and use the money you saved on a nice Circular Polarizer, UV or ND filter.

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT BAD AT ALL!!!, April 7, 2010

By 

Amazon MM (Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: CowboyStudio NPT-04, 4 Channel Wireless Hot Shoe Flash Trigger Receiver (Camera)

I just received the wireless flash trigger today. Did some test shots and it worked brilliantly. I will do more extensive testing this weekend.

Simple directions for first time wireless trigger users:
*Camera Flash mode must be set to manual
*Flash (sb600/800/900) must also be set to manual mode

'Also if you are in between shots and find that the flash does not fire I think it's because it goes into a standby mode. I simple press the test button on the transmitter and fire away.