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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
101 of 103 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
FC-311 3m/10ft off camera flash triggering cable marketed by Pixel
April 23, 2011
By Chipaul Cao
Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read all the reviews on this product before I bought. There have been very conflicting reviews on this product and I decided to put in my 2cent comment here to help sort out the confusion (I seldom write product reviews as it's very cumbersome and time consuming).
I am a engineer and am also a good handy man. I always expect that a good product should not only function properly but should also feel good on your hand (touch inspection) and should have good quality appearance (uniformity/consistency under visual inspection). When viewing from different angles under light, a good material should reflect light uniformly (i.e. no warping, no defect, no inconsistency in material from one section to another).
Followings are my comments for the Pixel FC-311 cable (3m/10ft long).
(1) There seem to be two vendors for this product on amazon: Rainbow and Cowboy. Like another reviewer have mentioned, Amazon seems to mix the product reviews from these two vendors. If you search for it, Cowboy would always be the one that pops up. Even after I bought it from Rainbow, when I clicked the item description from the actual electronic RECEIPT, Amazon would bring me to the product sold by Cowboy store and not Rainbow. That is more than just confusing. As for Cowboy, I bought two light stands before from Cowboy and the product I received didn't match what they advertised online. So this time, I tried to avoid them and bought it from Rainbow.
(2) The plastic jacket of this product is very smooth, consistent, and uniform when viewed under lighting from different angles. That suggests it's made with good material and workmanship. It doesn't feel cheap and does look like an OEM products (e.g. Canon or Nikon). The coil is solidly built and is not very hard to stretch as some reviewers have suggested. Its strength/stiffness is within expectation. Of course, this is a subjective expectation and so the difference in reviewing is understandable (most professional equipment is made to stand abuse and so they must be made with adequate/strong material).
(3) Based on my visual inspection, it's hard to expect that the parts would come apart upon arrival (i.e. professionally built) unless it's made by another company (more likely someone who tries to copy the product). These days almost everything is made in China. However, one should know that they could be made by two very distinct sources: One built by reputable companies with good quality control and fabricated with western standards/quality expectation; the other is built by small/unknown manufacturers xyz with cheap material and no quality control. This kind of manufacturers tend to copy someone else products or tries to make a cheap product with low tech/cheap tools in his/her own small shops. You can find a lot of this type of products in the local 99cent stores.
(4) The one I bought from Rainbow is made by(or marketed by) PiXel Inc (FC-311 flashgun cable, Pixel Inc). BTW, another review here had mentioned the name YongNuo. I have bought YongNuo before (a flash remote trigger and a remote timer trigger) and my experiences from these two products is great. YongNuo products seem to have very reasonable/cheap prices but yet their products work much better than other generic/unkown China brand. I suspect YongNuo or Pixel probably could be selling the same product. However, I am not sure which product is being sold by Amazon Cowboy (which has sold me product that didn't match the photos shown at their site).
Therefore, the very conflicting product reviews here could have been caused by Amazon from mixing up similar products sold by different vendors. My review is only good for the model: "Pixel FC-311" sold by Rainbow.
(5) The cable had functioned consistently in two shooting events (i.e. didn't misfire with the long 10ft/3meter cable). Initially, I thought the long cable (electronic capacitive load) could affect the timing characteristic of the triggering circuitry and could cause mis-firing. However, my cabl has been functionally properly so far.
(6) If you search for this product on Amazon, it's likely that the one sold by Cowboy would popup ($24.49). Look carefully at the bottom of the description section, you should see something like this: 7 new from $20.99. Click on "new" and look for the one sold by Rainbow for $20.99 (more confusing is that you can see Rainbow for $24.49, Rainbow for $20.99....), select "Add to cart" from the cheapest one offered from Rainbow. Boy, this is the most confusing shopping experience I have had with Amazon.
My conclusion: it's a great product (Pixel FC-311) and I strongly recommend this product (its cheap price and good quality makes it much more attractive than the Canon OEM which has only one option: only 3ft long.
Hope this helps.
Chipaul.
I am a engineer and am also a good handy man. I always expect that a good product should not only function properly but should also feel good on your hand (touch inspection) and should have good quality appearance (uniformity/consistency under visual inspection). When viewing from different angles under light, a good material should reflect light uniformly (i.e. no warping, no defect, no inconsistency in material from one section to another).
Followings are my comments for the Pixel FC-311 cable (3m/10ft long).
(1) There seem to be two vendors for this product on amazon: Rainbow and Cowboy. Like another reviewer have mentioned, Amazon seems to mix the product reviews from these two vendors. If you search for it, Cowboy would always be the one that pops up. Even after I bought it from Rainbow, when I clicked the item description from the actual electronic RECEIPT, Amazon would bring me to the product sold by Cowboy store and not Rainbow. That is more than just confusing. As for Cowboy, I bought two light stands before from Cowboy and the product I received didn't match what they advertised online. So this time, I tried to avoid them and bought it from Rainbow.
(2) The plastic jacket of this product is very smooth, consistent, and uniform when viewed under lighting from different angles. That suggests it's made with good material and workmanship. It doesn't feel cheap and does look like an OEM products (e.g. Canon or Nikon). The coil is solidly built and is not very hard to stretch as some reviewers have suggested. Its strength/stiffness is within expectation. Of course, this is a subjective expectation and so the difference in reviewing is understandable (most professional equipment is made to stand abuse and so they must be made with adequate/strong material).
(3) Based on my visual inspection, it's hard to expect that the parts would come apart upon arrival (i.e. professionally built) unless it's made by another company (more likely someone who tries to copy the product). These days almost everything is made in China. However, one should know that they could be made by two very distinct sources: One built by reputable companies with good quality control and fabricated with western standards/quality expectation; the other is built by small/unknown manufacturers xyz with cheap material and no quality control. This kind of manufacturers tend to copy someone else products or tries to make a cheap product with low tech/cheap tools in his/her own small shops. You can find a lot of this type of products in the local 99cent stores.
(4) The one I bought from Rainbow is made by(or marketed by) PiXel Inc (FC-311 flashgun cable, Pixel Inc). BTW, another review here had mentioned the name YongNuo. I have bought YongNuo before (a flash remote trigger and a remote timer trigger) and my experiences from these two products is great. YongNuo products seem to have very reasonable/cheap prices but yet their products work much better than other generic/unkown China brand. I suspect YongNuo or Pixel probably could be selling the same product. However, I am not sure which product is being sold by Amazon Cowboy (which has sold me product that didn't match the photos shown at their site).
Therefore, the very conflicting product reviews here could have been caused by Amazon from mixing up similar products sold by different vendors. My review is only good for the model: "Pixel FC-311" sold by Rainbow.
(5) The cable had functioned consistently in two shooting events (i.e. didn't misfire with the long 10ft/3meter cable). Initially, I thought the long cable (electronic capacitive load) could affect the timing characteristic of the triggering circuitry and could cause mis-firing. However, my cabl has been functionally properly so far.
(6) If you search for this product on Amazon, it's likely that the one sold by Cowboy would popup ($24.49). Look carefully at the bottom of the description section, you should see something like this: 7 new from $20.99. Click on "new" and look for the one sold by Rainbow for $20.99 (more confusing is that you can see Rainbow for $24.49, Rainbow for $20.99....), select "Add to cart" from the cheapest one offered from Rainbow. Boy, this is the most confusing shopping experience I have had with Amazon.
My conclusion: it's a great product (Pixel FC-311) and I strongly recommend this product (its cheap price and good quality makes it much more attractive than the Canon OEM which has only one option: only 3ft long.
Hope this helps.
Chipaul.
88 of 90 people found the following review helpful
By Fred101
Amazon Verified Purchase
The short story: I TWICE ordered this product and got absolute TRASH!! Then I read another review and learned how to get what I wanted. Read part (1) for the TRASH review. Then read part (2) to get the scoop on the GOOD ONE!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Part(1) -- The TRASH Story
This sounded like exactly what I needed, and especially given the three five-star reviews. When I received it I liked what I saw, but when I went to mount it on the hotshoe of my Canon Rebel, I realized that the hot-shoe connector was in three pieces, held together only by the internal wiring. I contacted Cowboy Studio and they promptly sent a replacement. This one *looked* just fine when I received it. However, when I attempted to mount it in my hotshoe, it promptly came apart exactly like the first one. A tiny little tab of broken plastic fell out -- apparently all that held the pieces together, but much too flimsy to do the job (and I certainly didn't apply any force trying to mount it). I've contacted Cowboy Studio but haven't yet heard back from them. It's hard for me to believe that anyone could write a favorable review of this item if all of them are as poorly built as what I received, so perhaps I had the bad luck of receiving two defective units. If I hear from Cowboy Studio, I'll update this with what I learn, but in the mean time I'd certainly NOT recommend purchase of this item. It is inexpensive, but what I have received is totally non-functional.
...........................
A belated update. Cowboy Studio (who was the supplier for my Amazon order) refunded my purchase with no hassles.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Part(2) The GOOD ONE
Thanks to a very helpful review (posted by Chipaul Cao) I learned that there are (at least) two versions of this product that were being listed by Amazon as the same product. The two TRASH items I received had stick-on labels designating the item as OC-E3 and MeiKe (which seems to be the brand name?). Anyway, this item is total trash and falls apart when you try to use it -- something that both I and others can attest to.
Recently I saw the helpful review by "Chipaul Cao" and learned that another version of this product, manufactured by Pixel is supposed to be the real deal. I risked $16.80 to buy this unit, taking care to buy it from "Rainbow." What I received today is indeed an apparently well-built product. It has the feel of being solid, attaches to camera and flash easily, functions properly, and I expect it to be very satisfactory. I note that a number of the alternate suppliers listed on Amazon carry the designation (Pixel) -- including the one by Cowboy Studio. I played it safe by ordering from Rainbow, but I presume one could order this product from the others too.
In any case, I wanted to set the record straight. If you take care to purchase the Pixel product you should be very satisfied. I've left my review at one star as a caution to others, but if the Pixel product continues to live up to first impressions I would give it five stars as an exceptional value.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Part(1) -- The TRASH Story
This sounded like exactly what I needed, and especially given the three five-star reviews. When I received it I liked what I saw, but when I went to mount it on the hotshoe of my Canon Rebel, I realized that the hot-shoe connector was in three pieces, held together only by the internal wiring. I contacted Cowboy Studio and they promptly sent a replacement. This one *looked* just fine when I received it. However, when I attempted to mount it in my hotshoe, it promptly came apart exactly like the first one. A tiny little tab of broken plastic fell out -- apparently all that held the pieces together, but much too flimsy to do the job (and I certainly didn't apply any force trying to mount it). I've contacted Cowboy Studio but haven't yet heard back from them. It's hard for me to believe that anyone could write a favorable review of this item if all of them are as poorly built as what I received, so perhaps I had the bad luck of receiving two defective units. If I hear from Cowboy Studio, I'll update this with what I learn, but in the mean time I'd certainly NOT recommend purchase of this item. It is inexpensive, but what I have received is totally non-functional.
...........................
A belated update. Cowboy Studio (who was the supplier for my Amazon order) refunded my purchase with no hassles.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Part(2) The GOOD ONE
Thanks to a very helpful review (posted by Chipaul Cao) I learned that there are (at least) two versions of this product that were being listed by Amazon as the same product. The two TRASH items I received had stick-on labels designating the item as OC-E3 and MeiKe (which seems to be the brand name?). Anyway, this item is total trash and falls apart when you try to use it -- something that both I and others can attest to.
Recently I saw the helpful review by "Chipaul Cao" and learned that another version of this product, manufactured by Pixel is supposed to be the real deal. I risked $16.80 to buy this unit, taking care to buy it from "Rainbow." What I received today is indeed an apparently well-built product. It has the feel of being solid, attaches to camera and flash easily, functions properly, and I expect it to be very satisfactory. I note that a number of the alternate suppliers listed on Amazon carry the designation (Pixel) -- including the one by Cowboy Studio. I played it safe by ordering from Rainbow, but I presume one could order this product from the others too.
In any case, I wanted to set the record straight. If you take care to purchase the Pixel product you should be very satisfied. I've left my review at one star as a caution to others, but if the Pixel product continues to live up to first impressions I would give it five stars as an exceptional value.
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
By Angela
Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this Off-Camera shoe cord and was awaiting it with great expectations. I was told that my 430EX Speedlite (Canon camera) would need a master flash to be used off camera. I was not about to invest over $400 for the 580EX II, which is the master flash I would have needed. I figured I would give this a try. I am very happy that I did! I was also told by a sales representative at a highly reputable and well known professional camera store that I "must" use only those flash supplies with a Canon camera that Canon sells... nah... don't ever fall for that! This one works like a charm. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because the 10' cord is quite tightly wound up in its coils and it is hard to extend it past 4-5 feet as a result. I will have to spend some time stretching the cord to make it lose enough to stretch with ease.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Works
Works as it should, would buy again if I needed an additional cord. You might consider going wireless though. i
Published 9 days ago by Lauren Greaves
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy to break
This cord communicates with camera flawlessly. Its Achilles heals is the part where cord attaches to Flash bracket or other Flash Shoe holder. Read more
Published 17 days ago by Tibi
2.0 out of 5 stars
Despite the Misleading Pictures, this does NOT have a Hot Shoe on the...
Pretty massively disappointed when I got this. I thought the very low price was too good to be true and it was. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Josh B
1.0 out of 5 stars
OOPS - VIVITAR IS GREAT this PIXEL is NOT
I mistakenly panned the VIVITAR when I meant to criticize this piece of crap from PIXEL. So see my review of the VIVITAR for my opinion of PIXEL, which you should buy. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Charles Mann
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shoe cord
Works like it should. get great shots with this shoe cord. I would recommend to fellow photographers. it works great.
Published 1 month ago by Sam Evans
1.0 out of 5 stars
DOA
Didn't work right out of the box...build quality seems fine but would not fire a 580EX. Tired multiple cameras, will be sending back and ordering a product from a different... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Cory
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cheap solution
It works, it's super cheap, and it works. I wish it was longer, and the shoe mounts slightly more beefy.
Published 1 month ago by Chris Z. Samaripa
3.0 out of 5 stars
Works well, not built for heavy use
This product worked great for light use, but the plastic foot broke after a year. If you want one that lasts, buy one with a metal foot on both ends.
Published 1 month ago by Dan
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sacrifice bunt...
Need I say more...E-TTL works.
Would I use this professionally every day??? = X
Would I use it as an emergency backup cord ??? = Y
Would I use this professionally every day??? = X
Would I use it as an emergency backup cord ??? = Y
Published 1 month ago by Hale
2.0 out of 5 stars
waste
does not work for me , I wasted my money for this, I wish I knew what I was doing
Published 1 month ago by Dr. True Honesty
