Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(204)
4 star:		(79)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

If you're looking at this product, you probably already realize a need to get your flash off of your camera but still use it while shooting. Simply put, this product allows you to do that very easily, all you need to do is attach the transmitter to your camera's hot shoe, your flash to the receiver's hot shoe, turn everything on, and go about setting up the shoot.

The one drawback is that it only transmits one piece of information, which is "fire". It doesn't transmit any TTL information so you have to set your flash power level manually and either use your camera in manual or set it to underexpose by however much light the flash is adding to avoid washout (since in auto the camera will expose as if there is no flash). Also I find that with my rebel XTi, in second curtain sync mode, the flash still fires up front, but I believe that to be a limitation of the camera, not the NPT-04 (the flash goes off when the camera tells it to, it's not the transmitter's fault the camera is jumping the gun).

I've had my trigger for about 3 months now and haven't had any problems yet. I am quite pleased with my purchase.

I ordered this so that I could take my flash off of my Nikon D5000 without having to pay 200 dollars for a PocketWizard or something like it. Although this doesn't have iTTL, you can adjust the light manually on the flash, and it's not that big of a deal. These don't really have instructions, but they're incredibly simple. All you have to do is set the channel so that it's the same on the trigger and the one attached to the flash, and turn it on. It doesn't fire the first time in standby, but I don't think my flash does when it's attached to the camera anyways. You have to wake it up with a shot, maybe a half shutter press. These get the job done for simple, but creative lighting uses. And for less than $30, you can't really go wrong. They're made of questionable plastic that seems like it could break easily, but if they do, you ca just buy another one. Very useful for those who want to make their photos significantly better without having to break the bank.

I have to admit I wasn't really impressed at first with the build quality and the packaging but what was I expecting for a cheap flash trigger and receiver. The great thing though is that they work just fine with my Canon T2i 550D and my 430ex II flash. I couldn't see myself spending hundreds just yet on Pocket Wizard if I'm just learning the ropes of photography so I thought I'd give these a try and I was pleasantly surprised. If these work just as good or atleast close to being as good as the more expensive pair then I don't see why you shouldn't try them. There's not instructions included but the company has online instructional videos you can check out. They're very easy to use though. Bottom line, they're inexpensive and they work fine.

I bought a transmitter/receiver set and then an additional receiver to fire 2 - Nikon SB-900 Speedlights from my Nikon D700. Received via USPS from Texas to MN 4 days after ordering. No instructions but easy enough to figure out. Worked flawlessly (so far) in a few test around the house. Fired a remote flash buried inside a Westcott 28-Inch Apollo Softbox (where I have had trouble with the Nikon CLS system), fired one across the street, one on another floor in the house and through 3 walls with no hiccups. I've been saving for Pocket Wizards but for $50 including shipping for all 3 pieces, this is a no-brainier. Try them, you won't be disappointed.

Just got these little gems in the mail today. Like a lot of people have pointed out, there is very little documentation about the product. It's simple enough to figure out though, so no complaints here.

In order to test these with my D200 and SB-600 I had to steal 2 AAA batteries from a remote... However, once I got everything set up it was just point and shoot. The flash does have to be set manually like everyone says, and it doesn't sync over 1/250 shutter speeds, but it's just a great device.

On another note, I have 180w monolights from the same company. I hooked up the receiver through the PC sync cable that was provided with the monolights and they work just as well too. So if you've also got monolights with a PC sync cable socket, you can also use the wireless receivers to trigger them instead of the IR sensor.

Overall, I would highly recommend this product to any wanting to play/work/experiment with off camera flash. The device just works. =)

Compact, inexpensive and simple, the NPT-04 units work perfectly (I bought two). I put the transmitter on my Canon 5DII hot shoe and slid receivers on two strobe hot shoes and they fire every time. You can also connect via a PC cord outlet. The receivers use two AAA batteries; the transmitter uses a 23A 12V battery identical to the one in my car door "clicker."

IMPORTANT NOTE: dedicated flash units can only be used on manual. Ironically, earlier strobes with built-in exposure eyes, like the venerable Vivitar 283, can be used on manual or automatic settings. If you are willing to shoot manual (full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc.) with your strobes, these radio triggers are a great solution for elegant lighting.

One very minor gripe. I can barely see the tiny on/off label on the receivers, especially once they are attached to the strobe. I added a label on the side and control them by feel.

Quite a bargain!

Update: last week I used these triggers on a really difficult annual report shoot in a cruddy factory/warehouse environment. They were terrific! I needed to shoot long shots on workers with a 200mm lens and, no matter how far away I was, the triggers fired perfectly every time. I used one flash on my hotshoe and slaved a second using the camera's PC outlet. Absolutely saved the assignment.

Update 2: The PC connector cord that attaches to the camera is TOO DARN SMALL! I've been forced to use pliers to carefully remove the cord from the camera's PC outlet and actually yanked two cords apart trying to get them off! CowboyStudio does not seem to have replacement cords. Hmmm.

Update 3: The PC Sync to 2.5mm Cable by Cheaplights replacement cords on Amazon work (and fit) much better than the originals!

I needed to control a slave flash but did not want the limitations of the line of site which is built in to my slave flash. This thing is amazing. using it with my nikon d3000 with no problems. I set the flash on the kitchen counter and went two rooms away and held the camera around the corner and wha-la --- flash. I plan on ordering a second receiver for my other flash. I have tested this only to about 40ft with no problems. if you are hesitating, dont. this is a great item.