RadioPoppers rock!
December 07, 2009
Took my RadioPoppers into the jungles of Pahang over the weekend and they absolutely rock! One time, I had them on two lightstands at a distance of 400 feet and they still worked flawlessly. With e-TTL to boot! They're so awesome I'll be getting another set next month plus a pair of 580s to go with them.
For me, range is not that important, well, anything up to 100 feet is good enough for me but e-TTL is. The ability to have exposure control plus the ability to remotely control the slaves is important. However, more importantly, reliability is the key. The existing Canon wireless system is too dependent on line of sight and is quite easily confused when in bright areas, especially outdoors. I even had problems one time I did a portrait shoot where the left flash unit was fired through a translucent reflector and the right-side flash was bounced off the right wall and ceiling and one of the flashes wouldn't go off 100% of the time. I shot forty frames with that configuration and ended up with 9 frames where one of the flash units did not fire properly. This is indoors with a full height glass wall on one side. Maybe the infrared beams went through the windows but who knows.
In a wooden shack building 40 feet by 70 feet, I had 100% trigger rate no matter where I placed my two slave flashes. I had them outside the building firing through the side windows, left and right of the main hall, anywhere basically and all seventy frames fired successfully!
For me, range is not that important, well, anything up to 100 feet is good enough for me but e-TTL is. The ability to have exposure control plus the ability to remotely control the slaves is important. However, more importantly, reliability is the key. The existing Canon wireless system is too dependent on line of sight and is quite easily confused when in bright areas, especially outdoors. I even had problems one time I did a portrait shoot where the left flash unit was fired through a translucent reflector and the right-side flash was bounced off the right wall and ceiling and one of the flashes wouldn't go off 100% of the time. I shot forty frames with that configuration and ended up with 9 frames where one of the flash units did not fire properly. This is indoors with a full height glass wall on one side. Maybe the infrared beams went through the windows but who knows.
In a wooden shack building 40 feet by 70 feet, I had 100% trigger rate no matter where I placed my two slave flashes. I had them outside the building firing through the side windows, left and right of the main hall, anywhere basically and all seventy frames fired successfully!


Changing Tires in the Muck!
December 07, 2009
Sheer coincidence or divine plan?
When my friend's brand new Triton's spare tire was stolen in a shopping mall two years ago, all he can do is curse the thief and go buy a replacement. Since the original rims and tire cost a fair bit, he bought a regular steel rim and tire. After all, a spare tire is for emergency use so who care's about bling anyways. For us off-roading for God's work, bling and vehicle looks are the last thing on our minds. Anyways, just last Saturday, the Pastor's Hilux had a shredded tire valve. His spare tire had about as much air as the replacement plus he had forgotten his jack! With my hi-lift jack and hydraulic jack from the triton, we managed to get the car lifted out of the muck to change the tires... BUT where do we get a second replacement tire ten kilometers deep in the rain forest. Our stock rims wouldn't go onto another makes (we're on Mitsu's BTW) wheel hubs plus the bolts and nuts wouldn't fit.
And behold, the steel rim, in the exact size, fitting and tire as the wheel on the hilux. Oh, thief, you're forgiven and How great is our God? They say that often, we can't see beyond the next bend -- how true when driving off-road in the darkness (it's actually just 7pm) and visibility is just over thirty-feet -- and God sees the entire journey so when things happen, it might feel terrible at that point in time but if we can step back and see from God's point of view, I bet we all will think differently. Similar entry on our OA Ministry Blog.
When my friend's brand new Triton's spare tire was stolen in a shopping mall two years ago, all he can do is curse the thief and go buy a replacement. Since the original rims and tire cost a fair bit, he bought a regular steel rim and tire. After all, a spare tire is for emergency use so who care's about bling anyways. For us off-roading for God's work, bling and vehicle looks are the last thing on our minds. Anyways, just last Saturday, the Pastor's Hilux had a shredded tire valve. His spare tire had about as much air as the replacement plus he had forgotten his jack! With my hi-lift jack and hydraulic jack from the triton, we managed to get the car lifted out of the muck to change the tires... BUT where do we get a second replacement tire ten kilometers deep in the rain forest. Our stock rims wouldn't go onto another makes (we're on Mitsu's BTW) wheel hubs plus the bolts and nuts wouldn't fit.
And behold, the steel rim, in the exact size, fitting and tire as the wheel on the hilux. Oh, thief, you're forgiven and How great is our God? They say that often, we can't see beyond the next bend -- how true when driving off-road in the darkness (it's actually just 7pm) and visibility is just over thirty-feet -- and God sees the entire journey so when things happen, it might feel terrible at that point in time but if we can step back and see from God's point of view, I bet we all will think differently. Similar entry on our OA Ministry Blog.



















Louis Pang
Mark
Clement
Danny
TH Chuan
Ping Hun
Max
Michelle
Arden
Anna-Rina