Here is a first public note about the current slated development of the RadioPopper Jr. We welcome the user base to complain, er “provide constructive criticism and respectful requests” as to the final development of the Jr. product by commenting to this and future posts. 
Design Concept:
We are starting with a high performance radio system that has been used in other applications and has demonstrated high reliability in those applications. We are then going to add as little as possible to the radio itself to achieve a practical and usable end product. We’re going to step outside the box a few places along the way which may concern some people, but in our effort to deliver maximum use with minimal cost, we’re leaving off the extra coat of polish.
And that’s okay. Don’t interpret the design as “cheap” by any means. We’re using top of the line components and high quality manufacturing – we’re just going about it in a way that makes the unit easy and inexpensive to manufacture without compromising on performance.
More after the jump….
Initial Design Details – Inputs and Outputs:
The transmitter will likely sport a single 1/8” mono jack just like other triggering systems, and there is a very good chance it will not fit directly on the hot shoe. Attaching a unit to the hot shoe involves tooling and molding costs. That hasn’t been totally dropped at this point, it’s just not likely either.
Instead, the simple mono jack will allow the unit to be attached to any camera via an adaptor or cord. Many hot-shoe to mono adaptors are available, as well as PC-sync to mono cords. These adaptors do come at a certain cost and we are looking into ways to manufacture our own line of cords for various uses that won’t involve extreme markups in cost.
We do have an idea to attach a hot-shoe adaptor directly to the bottom of the Jr’s body which would then in effect create a unit that could be mounted to a hot-shoe in a clean way with minimal effort, while avoiding the high cost of plastic molding.
The receiver will include the same 1/8” mono jack as an output – which can be routed to any studio light setup via a simple mono to mono cord, as well as attached to the bottom of hand held strobes via a mono to female hot shoe adaptor. Again, we’re looking into possibly manufacturing such a cord ourselves to cut end user cost.
Power Supply:
The units will likely each use a single 9volt battery. This is to cut both costs and size.
We could use a single AA or pair of AAA’s – but this would involve the use of a fairly costly voltage regulator and filter set to step up the voltage then filter it to a very clean supply. A clean supply voltage is critical in achieving long range radio performance. Using AA or AAA batts without the regulator would require 3 with very short life, or 4 with longer life. At that point, the batteries themselves force the unit to become quite large and clunky.
With the 9v design, the battery itself accounts for most of the size. The circuit board is the same size as the profile of the battery, thus the entire unit is just a tad larger than the battery itself – significantly smaller than our current P1 units.
Standard 9v batteries are easy to find and offer high capacity and long run times, and the voltage regulator required to bring a voltage down is much cleaner, more efficient, and lower cost in manufacturing.
There is a slight chance we may go to a smaller purpose built lithium battery. This would increase operating cost as the lithium’s aren’t cheap – but they run longer and are often smaller. If we determine we can significantly reduce size with the lithium, we may go that route.
Transceiver Units?
Many are asking if these units will be “transceivers” – meaning one unit can be used as a transmitter or a receiver. In order to keep costs and size to a minimum, the Jr. units will be either a Transmitter or a Receiver and will not work vise versa.
Channels:
The Jr’s will have between 2 and 4 channels. We’re going about setting the channels somewhat differently than radio transmitters from other manufacturers. We’re using this new approach to setting channels as a novel approach to achieve reliable operation at extreme ranges and at higher sync speeds than other radio transmitters while at the same time, using a single frequency that will be export friendly to a greater number of countries.
Sync Speed:
Which leads us to the second point – the unit is currently slated to have a max sync speed of 1/500. We’re not certain that speed will be reliable until it’s actually built and tested, but that’ll give you a bit of head room above the max x-sync of most cameras and provide some growing room as manufacturers push the x-sync faster in future camera models. That number works on paper with some room to spare.
Range:
You can bank on range in excess of 500 ft. Realistically, we’re expecting range in the 1500 to 2500 ft range. This is one of those totally subjective things that’s impossible to accurately predict until it’s actually built, tuned, and tested, but our unit will transmit at the maximum power allowable by law and with our intended clean board design, you can be sure it’ll be more than enough range for 99% of the situations you’ll likely every find yourself shooting in.
Will it work with my P1 units?
Unfortunately the Jr’s will not talk to the P1’s or vise versa. The two units use completely different radio bands due to the specialized nature of the signal used by the P1.
Will it work with other radio triggers?
The Jr. units probably will not work with other radio triggering systems or accessories. We are using a different frequency as these other units to allow greater worldwide licensing, and we are also using a different type of radio signal to achieve the higher x-sync speed and greater range.
When can I buy one?
We probably will not take pre-orders for the Jr. units as the business dynamic is a little different with these units. We’ll likely wait until we have them in stock, then open the doors. We don’t have any official date yet, and we’re not going to set one until we’re very close. We learned that in the development of the P1’s. Every development pipeline poses delays that are unforeseen and unavoidable. We hope to have them out this summer and will of course update as things progress. We will be ordering a much larger initial shipment, and because the Jr. doesn’t include some of the specialized parts as in the P1 – we don’t expect any significant backorder situations.
Cost:
We published initial cost projections a few months back as a challenge for ourselves to hit a mark of incredible performance at a super low cost. As we move through the actual development process, calculate real world costs of parts, development, as well as support overhead, we will release final sales pricing shortly before the launch.
A few areas we’re seeing some very real challenges is reliable availability of parts. As we’ve learned in manufacturing our P1 system – parts manufacturers don’t always deliver on the schedules they promise. One key component we planned to use in the Jr. has already had it’s lead time for high quantity pushed back from 6 weeks to 24 weeks – and that’s not good. We’ll now be finding a replacement for that component from another manufacturer. It’s one thing to find inexpensive parts, and another thing entirely to bank on reliable delivery of those parts in high volume.
It’s also worth noting these units are 100% designed, developed, and manufactured right here in the United States, and it’ll stay that way. U.S. labor and manufacturing costs quite a bit more, but we feel supporting U.S. jobs and U.S. manufacturing companies is just the right thing to do.
Most of the profit of the Jr. project will be cycled back into supporting some other noteworthy causes, as well as funding the R&D of some other future products we’ve got cooked up. We got it started with the P1, we’re going to carry it forward with the Jr., and that’s just the beginning. We’ve got some pretty cool ideas rolling around here in the shop. There’s more where that came from.
At any rate, the Jr. will be affordable on any budget – whether you’re a pro needing some occasional off camera flash without the high price tag, or you’re a rank amateur who just caught the strobist bug – you’ll be able to own a set on any budget.
First off, I just want to say that I’m really looking forward to owning and using a handful of RadioPopper Jr.’s soon!
Of course, my comments are related directly to the hardware that I plan to use the RadioPopper Jr.’s with… so, my opinions may differ from others.
Case Design:
My understanding based on the P1 is that you are trying to make use of existing cases, so I can understand that designing a custom mold may not be in the cards, but I really feel that the transmitter should have a hot-shoe mount… for two basic reasons:
1) It’s a great way to secure the transmitter to the camera so it’s not flopping around.
2) It can provide the electrical connection to the camera thus removing the need for a sync cable.
If you don’t ship it with a hot-shoe mount, I’ll likely be hacking one on! (with a dab of epoxy and a spare Nikon AS-15, or a generic version of the same.)
Power Supply:
I understand the voltage step-up/regulation issues with AA/AAA’s and would be fine with the 9volt solution. I’m more interested in real-time availability of spare batteries than their cost. I’d prefer that you stay away from the lithium option unless the reduction in size is so dramatic that you just can’t resist. If you do go with a lithium, it would be great if it’s one that is stocked at the big-box stores so we don’t have to order them online.
Channels:
I would strongly prefer 4 channels. I suspect that the Jr.’s will become “standard” equipment for many “Strobist” photographers, so the more of us that can shoot simultaneously at meet-ups, the better!
For what it’s worth, I plan on purchasing 1 transmitter and 3 receivers as soon as they are available!
Thanks for all your hard work!
Fantastic,
I’ve been looking forward to this news here at the radiopopper blog for months (it seems like, anyway).
FWIW, I am guessing that a fair number of users are stuck with cameras without a flash sync port. Thus, a system that would allow for hotshoe mounting would be good. Like you’ve stated, there are many hotshoe to sync cord adapters, which should be fine but where do you put the transmitter? I guess that is a question even if the camera has a sync port.
-Taylor
Just a question popping my mind about simple radio triggers:
Other cheap radio triggers (we all know which*g*), will often trigger the flash without reason, since they are very sensitive to outside radio signals (like car openers and stuff).
I’m quite confident the Jr. won’t misfire, I just wanted to note this misfiring is very annoying, and hope you’ll remember that when designing the radio signal.
regards,
Sam
First, thanks for continuing the innovation on wireless triggering. Some comments:
I think for folks who love off-camera strobing, attaching some sort of hot key adapter is a must. Otherwise, we will probably be hacking the heck out of it to get one attached aftermarket.
The 9V might be a deal breaker for me. I already have a stable of rechargeable AAs and AAAs. 9V rechargers would be an entirely different unit, and the only thing I’d be using them on would be these RP Jrs. If there is any way to go to AAs or even AAAs, that would awesome.
I actually don’t mind them not being transceivers. I would think that everybody would just buy one transmitter and then a couple of receivers. Hopefully, you guys will offer some sort of “starter kit” with one transmitter and one receiver at a discount. =P
Thanks again. Looking forward to what you come up with.
(danielchinphotography.)
Go with the 9V form factor if it’ll still run on NiMH “9V” batteries. The small 23A batteries would be my second choice if size reduction is a priority, even if I’m not happy about their small capacity.
Is “phantom power” from the receiver’s PC cord an option or would that cause incompatibilities and false triggering?
For what it’s worth, I don’t really care how large the receivers are (within reason)… I wonder if using 4xAA batteries in the receivers and a readily available lithium like the 23A that Jonathan mentioned (which I’ve found at Target and Walmart in the past) is a good compromise? This would allow those of us (like Daniel Chin and most other “Strobists”) that have a healthy supply of rechargeable AA’s to make use of something that we already own in the receivers while allowing the transmitter to be as small as possible… which is ideal, since we already convinced you that it’s going to be mounted on the camera’s hot-shoe… right?
Did I mention that I’m excited about this product yet?
Sounds great!
The most important things are -
- Common Battery’s!!
- atleast 4 Channels
- atleast 1/250th sync speed
- and of coures just reliable firing.
A common battery/s is much higher priority than size concerns. The 9 volt would be ok or even 4 AAA’s.
Lack of hotshoe doesn’t bother me but I think many people would be looking to hack a Vivitar 283/285 replacement foot (common cheap strong)or similar on there so it would be great if that was kept in mind when choosing the transmitter case and internal design.
That brings up another point of the case, it would be great if it was a snap together case instead of the screw on the P1 but thats not a major concern.
Channels – As many as possible! These things will be everywhere!! its bad enough already with Pocketwizard Plus II’s only having 4 channels, you can bet there will be 10 times as many Popper Jr’s at any minor event etc.
Will there ever be enough stock of these things? !!
For what it’s worth, I don’t care about a hotshoe adapter, but if you are adding one, make sure it’s not making the whole thing as high and unstable as a cactus trigger
(Right now I’m using cactus triggers with a seperate hotshoe and pc sync, since putting the flash on the trigger is too high (does not fit in softbox ezybox) and very unstable.
I think a re-examination or polling of the target price might be helpful. I personally would buy at double or triple the target price without a blink if the feature set is more robust (hot shoe, battery configuration, number of channels).
If the transmitter unit ends up costing significantly more than the receiver unit (molding cost), it can still be budget friendly as a complete system if the receivers can be had relatively cheaply.
For me, the resistance to entry into the P1 system is not the cost of the triggers themselves but the cost of the actual flash units to build a system.
These people seem awfully demanding considering how much you’re doing for us all. As if they couldn’t afford to buy some 9V’s with the money they’re gonna save compared to buying pocket wizards…
Just in case you are counting votes…
Must-haves for me to purchase:
- Transmitter with hot shoe mount for camera
- Receivers with 1/8″ mono plug (NO hot shoe mount)
- AAA batteries on receivers
- At least 1/250th sync speed
Nice-to-haves but not show stoppers:
- Multi-channel
- Higher sync speed
I have a no-name brand transmitter and receiver that has served me well for over a year, but I now need an additional receiver. I don’t want to purchase a whole new set of the cactus brand, so I’m impatiently waiting for the Jr.s to arrive.
1. I will not buy these if they don’t have a hotshoe on the transmitter. I would think that this would be a requirement from most Strobists.
2. I would much rather have AA or AAA batteries to align with my current stock of rechargeables. To add another battery into the mix sucks.
3. The other specs look fine (500 ft, 1/500th), but you should aim for at least 4 channels…
I’ve been excited about the Jr. for months.
If AAs are impractical, my first preference would be for long life (actuations, and shelf life) at moderate cost, and my second preference would be for something found at any convenience store like a 9V.
If the receiver and transmitter use different batteries, my preference is that one of them should be AA. The fewer types of spares I have to stock and carry, the better.
1/500 would be excellent. 1/250 would be a good minimum. My Cactus V2 units don’t *quite* do 1/250.
If the transmitter doesn’t mount by hotshoe, I imagine *many* Jr. buyers will be snapping up cheap Hong Kong hotshoe-to-sync-jack adapters on eBay, and Velcroing or gluing them to the Jr. transmitters.
A manual trigger button on the transmitter would be nice, such as for test firing the strobes or waking them up from sleep mode, without wasting exposures and shutter actuations.
In addition to *maximum* transmit distance, another spec is *minimum* transmit distance. (My Cactus V2 setup doesn’t trigger when the transmitter is only a foot or so from the receiver. For reliabile triggering in my small home studio, when sometimes I’m moving the camera very close to a strobe, I have to put the receiver on the end of a sync cable, several feet away.)
Thanks for soliciting user input. I am really looking forward to this product.
Reliability is my #1 concern. Everything else follows. If you can give me PW-style reliability at a reasonable price, I am willing to make reasonable sacrifices.
My thoughts on your feature/functionality statements above:
Hot shoe mounting–I really hope the transmitter is hot shoe mountable for those cameras without a dedicated PC sync cord (like my backup camera
, assuming the increase in cost is not prohibitive. If that’s not workable, the alternative of mounting it directly (and securely) to a hotshoe adapter would be fine with me.
Power–AAs would be best, AAAs would be good. But if making the power supply reliable is cost prohibitive, 9Vs are fine. I would prefer 9Vs to a specialized Lithium batteries, because NiMH 9Vs and chargers for them are available at reasonable prices, and you can get 9Vs anywhere in a pinch.
Transceivers, Sync Speed, and Range–Everything you said seems fine to me.
Channels–4 would be great, but I think 2 would be fine for my purposes.
Thanks for the transparency of your business model and for your commitment to the US. I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these!
I have to chime in to agree that not including a hot shoe mount will force me to take my $$ elsewhere. I’m a Canon shooter, and one who has been anticipating the RP Jr. for quite a while now. But I’m not a Canon shooter who has a sync port on my camera – if I were I wouldn’t be looking to buy a RP Jr., I would be using either the P1 or PWs. Please consider that your market – at least until the RP Jr. is very well established as durable and reliable – is going to be the budget photographer. That makes your primary competition the Cactus / GI setups, both of which do have a hot shoe mount. I understand that it may be expensive to ‘custom mold’ the plastic for these units, but I for one won’t be looking to spend more $ / transmitter, on top of buying new cables, and needing to rig a way to hold it to my camera just so that I can say I’m getting a bit more range + reliability. It doesn’t make sense for me to do that, and a lot of your other potential customers will reach the same conclusion.
Please, put a shoe mount on it.
And I also agree that AAAs are the customer-friendly way to go for receivers.
Sean
I can’t tell you how anxious I am to see this product hit the streets. I think I’m in agreement with most folks in wanting a common battery size and I’m very comfortable with a 9V. I would really like to have hot shoe mounting. I don’t want to have to cobble something up with rubber bands or velcro. The hot shoe is the most out of the way place on a camera as long as the whatever is on it doesn’t lean backward. And I’ll jump on the channel bandwagon, too. The more the merrier, but I would be fine with four. Fewer than four and I think there will be trouble. Regardless, I don’t know how I can keep from buying them if they work.
I would add that the hot shoe is only important to me on the transmitter. I personally don’t need or want one on the receiver.
A Vivitar 285 replacement shoe should be easy to screw to a standard transmitter case, I would imagine having something moulded like that (in the USA) would add quite a lot of expense otherwise. I’m sure someone will mod them for you for a few $$ if your not a DIYer.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vivitar-283-285-285HV-Flash-Metal-Replacement-Foot-NEW_W0QQitemZ190223778797QQihZ009QQcategoryZ64354QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I’m also eagerly waiting for Radiopopper Jr. Many good points have been raised here. Here’s my share:
- Hotshoe mount on transmitter is quite important. 1. At least to hold the transmitter while handholding the camera. 2. It’s also a big issue for those with a camera without a PC socket. For me personally, having just a plastic hotshoe mount without contacts would be ok (I have a Nikon D300). But many others need 2.
- On receivers, hotshoe mount is not that important. Many old flashed (which are ideal to be used with Jr) have a PC socket. And since flashes are mounted somewhere anyway, adding an extra hotshoe adaptor is no problem.
- The battery issue depends on how long the batteries last. If we are talking about >10000 shots (like my Phottix Cleon remote release), then it doesn’t really matter that much (I might go with regular non-rechargeable batteries). Otherwise some common battery is a must (I would prefer AA, but it’s true that 9V is smaller, if voltage requirements would dictate 4xAA).
Hot Shoe mount on “transmitter” is a must for me so would prefer to have it come that way and not me having to mess with (buying…) attaching hot shoe adapters, cables, etc..
I wouldn’t mind a larger unit size for the receiver and transmitter units if smaller meant giving up having a standard rechargeable battery
(#1 choice: AA, #2 choice: AAA, #3 choice: 9V). The lithium batteries in my Cactus are very expensive in my country (and most countries).
Made in the USA is a big selling point for me, as is 1/8” mono jacks. I’ve purposely avoided buying the “similar” Chinese product because of this.
I’d be just fine with it using 1/8” mono jacks for the transmitters and receivers. I’m figuring out my sync cord setup as I write this and will likely be basing it on 1/8” mono jacks, with a Nikon AS-15 and a screwlock to 1/8” jack cord. I’d just need to get or make a short screwlock to 1/8” mono cable and the rest of my setup will work perfectly for redundancy. In fact, if you go with the hotshoe transmitter I’d be willing to special order some 1/8” jacked transmitters or buy some 1/8” jack test units if you built them.
I’d prefer four channels. The Seattle Strobists may want 1,024 but I’d be fine with four.
Four would be great for shooting with friends, at a Strobist event I’m just going to assume using sync cables.
I’m fine with 9v batteries if they will perform better, but I’d prefer AA or AAA. The fewer battery types I deal with the better. Please don’t use lithium batteries, I don’t care how small or light you think you can make it with them. A few cc’s bigger and a few ounces heavier doesn’t concern me when I’m also toting a Dryzone 200 and a tripod. Tracking down or ordering lithium batteries is another hassle that I don’t need and I’d go with someone else’s triggers instead. I want something I can use low discharge eneloop style NIMH batteries with, and I think someone makes a 9v.
Once these are ready for prime time, I’d be interested in an initial order of five of them and if they work well I’d probably be buying another five over the next two years.
One thing that you haven’t mentioned is weatherproofing. The more weather resistant the cases the more interested I’d be.
Thanks much,
Joe
I’d just like to reiterate a good point by Neil Van Dyke.
The test button on the transmitter that would trigger the receiver (and possibly a light to indicate the signal was received) allows a visualization of where light is falling — important for freshman photogs.
The other item Van Dyke mentioned was a minimum distance for trigger activation. Personally, I will be using this system as my only method for triggering off-camera flash.. at 2 feet, or 40.
I think some of that velcro stuff for the receivers would work just fine for sticking them on the flashes. The transmitter is a whole different argument. Since most people are only buying one, I’m sure the transmitter price could be slightly higher to accommodate a hot shoe.
Before you’re surrounded by an angry mob wielding torches and pitchforks, do everyone a favor and include a hotshoe on the transmitter.
Beyond the hotshoe requirement, I’ll add my vote for:
Transmitter test button
Reliable to a minimum 1/250 second sync speed
Reliable at close transmitter-to-receiver distances
Total resistance to RF interference and resultant false firing
Don’t hold yourself captive to the initial price target. Give us the features we need/want as inexpensively as you can.
Now, back to the lab with you! I want a bunch of these pronto.
Dave F.
Hi! These are really good news, i’ve been looking forward to the Jr. since you first announced it!
A couple of notes:
- a coldshoe adapter for mounting the transmitter on the camera would be really nice, having the thing dangling from the camera or velcroed somewhere with a long sync cable messing around would not be too nice. no need for actual electrical contacts on the mounting, just a something to screw it. or at least some other kind of “standard” mount point, like a tripod hole (i guess somewhere there’s someone making hotshoe-tripod mount adapters). no need for that on the receiver’s end.
- please, please, please, please, please include all the necessary cables with the thing. i don’t know in the US but here in italy sync cables can cost as much as the Jr. itself.
- as Taylor Dewey says a test button would be cool. but it’s not a number 1 priority. let’s call it a “nice to have” feature.
- 9V batteries would be ok. lithium would be much less okay
Thanks
Marcello
Well I would *really* like to see a hotshoe mount on the transmitter. Anything else is going to be awkward. As far as the flash triggers, I don’t really care if they have hotshoe mounts, but I wouldn’t mind the option. And as far as batteries go, I just want something that is readily available and can be recharged.
Thanks for all the work you’re doing. Can’t wait to try out the Jrs!
It would be Really nice if there were atleast 8 channels for photographing in a crowded area with lots of radiotriggers.
Photographing like a ski/snowboard event would be a real pain. There are usually more than 4 people with PWs and the channels simply run out and they have to fight about the channels. This could be a real world situation for RP JR.
Two ports; 3.5mm monoplug and a female PC port.
I hope the antenna for the recievers will look/be the same as the P1 recievers one. Having a tilting antenna would make them supersmall.
Also a separate LED would telling you that the Reciever is activated could also be a good thing.
People always forgets to turn off their recievers.
And don’t make a push in button to turn it on and off.. Rather add a sturdy on/off switch to prevent the reciever to be accidentaly turned on.
Will these be use encoded channels like PWs to prevent any random fires?
Give it a hot-shoe mount, pleeeeeaaase!
I somewhat disagree with Sean’s post, even though I also own Canon gear (none of them have a PC port). Cheap PC-to-hotshoe devices are widely available on eBay. If adding a shoe mount to the receiver would greatly increase cost or size or clunkiness of the device (like the Cactus), I’d prefer a PC-to-hotshoe device be offered separately.
My only real requirement for it is the battery. If it can’t use an affordable rechargeable battery, I won’t be buying it. Ideally, it would use AA/AAA. I’d much prefer to carry several spare AA/AAA than to buy a hard-to-find $50 spare.
I’ll second the test button. It’s so much a part of the way I do things that I took it for granted that there would be one. I pull my poverty wizard off the camera and walk around with it as I set things up. It’s so much easier than having the camera dangling from around my neck.
Nine volt batteries would be great. First of all they are relatively inexpensive. Second, I would just purchase NiMH 9v’s and a charger. You can purchase a really nice NiMH charger that will charge AAA, AA, C, D and 9v for 40$ from Thomas distributing. Third, the reduced size and cost of the units (due to voltage regulation) over the AA’s or AAA’s would be desirable.
Putting the hot shoe on the transmitter would be a very good idea.
I’ll be purchasing 2 transmitters and 4 receivers as soon as they are available.
Thanks.
I am counting the days until I can buy these…
I would be willing to pay considerably more if the transmitter had a shoe and the receiver had a PC connection. It would also be really nice if they took triple A’s…
Thanks!!
Jordan
Great stuff, looking forward to seeing these in distribution. I’d like to place a vote for using batteries at both ends that can be rechargeable… this means both in terms of the size (e.g. AAA, AA or 9V) and also transmitter & receiver performance (works reliably at the slightly lower voltages you often get from rechargeable batteries. Even if it is still economic, constantly buying and then tossing away disposable batteries is not acceptable to me from either a convenience or more importantly environmental standpoint.
Love the work you are doing.
Go for the 9v, it sounds like the regulator is a real issue (make sure rechargeable 9v can be used!).
I’d like to have a hot-shoe included, or at least use a body that is friendly to a velcro-the-Jr-to-a-hotshoe-adapter solution. A small form factor for the body would be awesome. No need to brag by making a huge and cheap piece of plastic like the gouge-wiz’s.
A test button is fairly important I think, but if it heps keep the cost down, I could deal with it (it IS digital, after all).
I am fine with having 1 transmitter, and another receiver. Make them both use the same battery though!
If 9V batteries are a requirement to get a clean, functional unit then enough said. I’d rather have something that works correctly and requires me to carry yet another set of spares than something that works like crap and uses AAs.
Could you do a hot shoe on the xmitter only? Receivers I totally don’t care, I velcro my GI triggers right now, but having to jerry rig something for the transmitter would be a sad state. Increased price on the transmitter with a shoe is a-ok.
Please, please, please go 4 channels. I regularly shoot in enthusiast groups with 3 or more shooters each with a set of lights going, 2 channels is just not enough.
Manual test button would also be great, for the reasons others have mentioned.
Minimum triggering distance is also a factor again as previously mentioned by others.
Thanks for the work you are doing on these, I have been putting off replacing my @#$@# Cactus V1s until the JRs come out, so hopefully they will smoke the Cactus V2s.
thank you!
2 or 4 channels!!!
what can I do to help!?!?
I’ll send you some wires I found in an older Domke bag! Maybe they’re what you need!
Be so happy to have something that doesn’t say Pokit Wi$$ard….
Ok, so I had lots of comments, but rather than be redundant, here’s an abbreviated version:
Hotshoe: Would be great, but I’ll live
Battery: 9v if you must, please no specialties that I can’t find at any given store.
Test Button: Would be fantastic
Power LED: Something to visibly identify the units as on, so they don’t get left so
Channels: Whatever you can manage
Cost: This is why I’m buying your product, please respect that.
The point I’m most excited about, though, is one you mentioned early on in one of your press releases, I think. There was an idea of making a small profit margin, and turning it around as a sort of fund for photographers. I know that I feel like a part of a community here, and just reading the number of people who’ve commented here thus far as if these triggers were a life-or-death matter makes me realize how much so many of us value this (often) newfound way to spend our money and our time. Any company that reaches out to this community deserves the eager business of its many involved members.
Thank you for the efforts you’ve put in to your products, for taking the time to ask our opinions and making sure that you do things right. Know that what ever features your product ends up with, I’ll be buying a couple units.
What matters to me is getting rid of the rat’s nest of cables I have now, and if that means using a short sync cable to put the transmitter in my pocket, I’ll do it.
I’d like to take a minute to add my two cents.
I shoot with a camera that does not have a sync port (Canon XTi), so a hotshoe mount on the transmitter is the feature under consideration that is of the most interest to me. If it doesn’t come with one I’ll be hacking one on in short order.
My battery preference is less strong. I’d prefer AA or AAA to 9v and I prefer any commodity battery over specialized batteries. I’d be happy with a “snap” type closure over a screw cover if the snap is sufficiently rigid – I’ve had too many snap covers break and go missing.
I don’t have a strong opinion on sync speed (as long as it is 1/250 or better) or number of channels.
None of these design considerations are deal-breakers for me and I’ll almost certainly be getting myself a flock of Jr’s whenever they become available if they live up to the quality of the P1 and the cost remains on the low-end of the scale when compared to competitors. For me the Jr. needs to be less than 40% the cost of the P1 or its competitors but prices greater than the GI/Cactus triggers. IMHO the transmitter costing somewhat more than the receivers is reasonable.
Wow, honestly, some people are such little babies. I MUST have this and I MUST have that or else I’m not buying it because I don’t want to buy a hot shoe to pc-sync adapter or a 9V battery or two every few months!
I find it ridiculous.
I am eagerly awaiting the Jr. Product. My 2 cents as a working PJ/freelancer:
1-Shoe mount transmitter. Less dangling stuff is better as I work fast and move ALOT. Every connection through cords is a possible failure point.
2-Shoemount receiver with additional cord plug. Same reasons as above. I OFTEN handhold the flash or stick them around rooms on shelves or gaff/tape them to things/people. I don’t want to have to run across a room to check a cable connection and miss a shot or worry that someone will jostle something loose when I’m not looking.
3-Robust and stable receiver to swivel head shoe mount. My “current poverty wizards” have their own unnecessary pivot that “flops” sometimes.
4-Batteries-reasonable availablity.
5-Channels-4.
6-I like what all I am hearing. I need a solid, reliable unit that does not break the bank as I don’t use TTL and there is a regrettable but constant risk of “unit destruction” in the line of duty in the field.
(OK I work hard on location and damage tools sometimes-hey how about a craftsman tool-like warranty?? Just kiddin’.)
Feel free to contact me if you have questions.
Thanks
Tony V. Martin
I’m very excited about the jr. – I’ve been following this for months and can’t wait until I can order! Thank you for seeking feedback.
If you’re taking a vote count, my preferences are:
1) Commonly found batteries (9V, AA, AAA)
2) Shoe mounting for tx. (hot or cold)
3) Illuminated ON indicator
# of channels is less of an issue as I am virtually never around someone else doing wireless flash. Manual test button is handy, but cost is more important to me there. Good (and speedy) luck!
I would add my voice to those asking for a hot-shoe mount on the transmitter. I don’t think we’re just a vocal minority: I think it’s an important feature for most potential buyers.
@Kevin: Buying a hot-shoe to mono adapter is only half the problem. Having a transmitter dangling from or crudely affixed to the camera is the other half.
A cold-shoe solution doesn’t help shooters without PC-sync jacks (e.g. Canon XTi or G9 owners).
I’m looking forward to the release of the .JR. I also appreciate the blog witch lets us in on the engineering of the units.
So in ending I can’t wait to get my hands on these, and thank you for the blog.
Bryan
“Kevin
May 19th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
These people seem awfully demanding considering how much you’re doing for us all. As if they couldn’t afford to buy some 9V’s with the money they’re gonna save compared to buying pocket wizards…”
I’m with Kevin. I think what this company is already doing by trying to cut down the cost is a godsend to us photographers, especially those of us amateurs who don’t have the financial income to purchase those high end PW’s. Why try to add more than what the RadioPopper crew are already doing. Stick with the 9v configuration. So you have to buy 9v batteries. Big deal, if it means saving the costs from ‘voltage regulators, molding costs’, etc etc, then hey, I’m all for the RadioPopper’s original schematics. Some are saying to make the unit a hotshoe mountable unit. Again, this will probably raise the cost of the unit with possibly having to rearrange the molding, etc. I say, buy/hack/rip off some old flash units shoe and Elmer-glue the hell out of it to the RP Jr. Sorry for the venting, but with all of the suggestions, it seems that some of us forgot the purpose of the RP Jr’s, reliability and cost-saving. I just have to say hats off to the RadioPopper crew. You’re making photography that more fun and creative for us broke folks. Can’t wait to purchase them.
I’ve been awaiting the Jr.’s since they were announced and this all sounds good. My 2 cents worth: Keep the build quality high, and if you have to raise the price a little then that’s ok. I’d much rather have a good piece of gear, well made, than something inexpensive and cheap. By the way, I’ll be buying a few of these, so build plenty… I’m ready to order!
I think 9v are the way to go to keep size down and since there are in fact rechargeable options then this makes the most sense.
I think a test button would be a good idea as well as LED’s to show if the unit is on or off. But not a deal breaker. Also minimum firing distance is a big deal, the cactus remotes misfire a lot when close.
I don’t know that a hotshoe adapter is necessary, especially if it is cost or form prohibitive.
I’m very excited to see how these things progress and plan on buying a bunch as soon as they’re available.
keep us posted!
I’m looking for reliability first, cost next, usability following, and features last.
As a Canon shooter, getting the necessary cabling is a cost consideration. If that cost is equal or greater than the difference in cost for a unit that doesn’t require buying extra cabling, then I’m on board for the increase.
Looking forward to these!
Upon thinking about it some more, planning for integration/attachment to a widely available hot shoe unit might be better than molding one in. . . from a durability perspective, if the Jr. gets knocked hard enough to break a molded hot shoe, I’d rather it break at the “expendable” shoe and save the transmitter.
One more vote for the Hot Shoe mount on the transmitter only… G9 shooter, and a cold shoe will not help since I would need to use the hot shoe for an adapter to sync off camera anyway. Lots of cameras do not have a pc sync cord, and adding good light is so much cheaper/more effective than replacing a body.
Everything else if perfect! Been eagerly awaiting these for almost a year now.
Waiting with bated breath! A couple of wants:
1. Voltage – 9 V works for me. Whatever.
2. Transmitter hotshoe would be nice OR a 1/8 miniplug with a way to purchase hotshoe to 1/8″. Please don’t use PC sync. Yuck!
3. Receiver: miniplug or phonoplug (1/4″). I can buy the jack to hotshoe adapter easily.
4. Trigger voltage ability: 3 V (I use Pentax flashes)
I’m probably down for two transmitters and 4 receivers if the price is close to reasonable and compatible with Pentax so anytime you want to start producing would be great! Thanks much
Obligatory anticipation/hype statement: I’ve been anticipating the Jr.’s for some time now, and am beside myself at the salivatory near-possibility of their imminent arrival in my virtual shopping cart!
List of things I absolutely, positively can’t live without/refuse to accept: (1) reliability is a must / although there is a certain…vitality in shoots with unreliable triggers that shouldn’t be underrated…is it going to work, is it NOT going to work…); (2) the ability to use commonly available, affordable, rechargeable batteries would be greatly desired (9v or AA/AAA) / if these things end up using car batteries, I quit); (3) (relative) affordability is good / if it costs $1 million, I’m just going to have to go somewhere else; (4) smaller is better / I absolutely won’t buy it if these things weigh more than 8.9534 ounces; (5) the more channels the better / the fewer channels, the worse;
Standard (slightly more) polite closer/bit of trite encouragement: I hope you will consider my opinions in your designs. You guys rock! Keep up the good work! Let me know when I can buy them!
(Seriously, I wanted to offer my comments/suggestions, but by the time I got to the bottom of the page, I couldn’t, without laughing at myself, post a “normal” post…so I thought I’d do a bit of a form analysis of the average responses…enjoy!)
Dale
Would happily pay an extra few dollars for a unit with a ‘built-in’ hot shoe at the transceiver end. Anything else is just something else I need to bring along.
I’m extremely excited about the Jr. — looking forward to further updates!
I’d like to throw my vote in for a hotshoe mount. That really is a key feature for us Canon shooters who have no sync port.
Perhaps some sort of reasonably priced adapter that could mount the Jr. as a resonably priced add-on to the hotshoe would be the best solution – avoid custom molding to a certain extent, only has to be bought by those who want the hot shoe mount feature, etc.
Can’t emphasize enough that the hotshoe mount for the transmitter really is a key feature I’m REALLY hoping to see.
Kevin — keep up the great work!! Thanks for the popper product and the blog!
I think you guys are doing a fantastic job.
I (unlike many here) have a sync port, so it doesn’t matter to me whether it has one or not.
Basically, if it is reliable and syncs up to 1/250, I’ll be ordering 2 transmitters and 3 receievers the moment they are available. You’re creativity is inspiring
Id rather enjoy the optional coldshoe attachment to the transmitter, especially for all of us sony/minolta shooters. Just a consideration. I hate going though my hotshoe adapter.
Kevin
Have you checked those metal Vivitar 285 shoes?
Couldn’t those solve the hotshoe problem? Just a simple hole and screw it on and it’s ready to go. No molding whatsoever and it contains a test button too
I would just like to really repeat many of the above comments with my personal reasoning behind it…
Most importantly, I would consider a hot shoe mount on the transmitter as essential. I use a Canon 400d which has no other sync options other than the hot shoe, so the only option for me sans hot shoe would be to get adapters which add more pieces and complexity to the system. On the camera end keeping it as simple as possible would be much preferred, the camera being mobile means there is more movement and play, and every extra connection and cable adds another point that can shift and disconnect. A simple hot shoe means the trigger mounts directly and is as small and convenient as possible.
It may mean a slightly higher cost, but something well worth it in my eyes and presumably a lot of people in my situation – using the cheaper gear like the 400d and wanting a cheap and convenient off camera trigger – if I was in a position to be using the more expensive cameras, I would hope I was also in the same position to be using the fancier triggers like the p1’s or pw’s.
It also provides a convenient mount, without the shoe mount we would have to find some way of hanging the transmitter in place or velcroing it to the camera neither of which sound particularly good options.
On the receiver end, it is not as important. A flashgun will be a much more controlled piece, so hanging the receiver from the flashes mount and using adapters becomes a much simpler prospect where saving the expense of getting the mount moulded is workable.
If anything, I am willing to spend a bit extra on the transmitter, as I only need one for my whole system, saving $10 on the receiver on the other hand is preferred when I will have to be buying multiple units to cover multiple flashes.
Battery wise, I am happy with whatever works best and gives good life and is fairly convenient. AA’s are probably easiest to get hold of, but to use four gets bulky, so if a 9v battery is smaller and still gives a good lifespan in the trigger then I am happy keeping a spare or two in my bag. Same for using a lithium battery really…
Most importantly, keep up the fantastic work. The jr’s look to being a future standard in budget wireless triggers and a fantastic option for those of us who can’t really afford the step up toe p1’s or pw’s.
Hot shoe on the TX is a Must, 90% of the problems (from computers to flashes) are related to wiring.
Nice Idea Bjorn, I was thinking about using a Nikon SB 600 style hotshoe, is made of aluminium, it can be shipped along with 4 self tappered screws so the end user may attach it to the unit (thus saving costs to the producer). The only issue here is making it “HOT”… one of the contacts is the aluminium shoe itself, but the center pin.. any idea? Another good thing could be having an USB RP jr, so you can connect it to the computer and set up the channel and battery saving features, you don’t need 1500ft range 100% af the time. I think you radioPopper guys should push yourselves in developing and produce the stuff according to your goals, it may not be ready next week, but in 2 year time, the radiopopper Jr V7.8 will be a small tab you would insert in the hotshoe… and it will use solar cells wich will get energy from the flashes!
How big if the assembly cost? just send the PCB, case, and screws… so we can put everything together… feel free to contact me… good job guys!
… by the way… remember that the Jr. is aimed to the amateur/enthusiast. All that it have to do send a signal when you push the trigger and catch it at the other end. If you need more features/channels/range (because you are a pro or close) just go and get a PW or a P1.
The important think about the popper Jr. is size and price… am I wrong?
To followup to my earlier comment, and to respond to some of the subsequent ones…
I *don’t* think that lack of shoe mount on the transmitter is a showstopper.
If that would delay shipment or substantially increase the cost, I’d rather see the device come out sooner and at a price point that makes it accessible to the most people.
Again, if the transmitter doesn’t have a shoe mount, I’m sure there will instantly be many DIY approaches discovered and posted to the Web.
Leap Devices or other commercial vendors could then introduce aftermarket Jr transmitter shoe mounts with little cables at their leisure. Probably a professional modding service would pop up, like there is for adding sync jacks to Canon strobes.
I suppose there’s also the possibility that Leap Devices would have means and interest in later developing a Jr transmitter with integrated foot, as a follow-on product to an inital foot-less transmitter.
Looking forward to whatever you decide to ship initially. All of the Jr ideas I’ve heard sound like a product I’d want, even if it’s not “perfect” for my particular needs.
Hotshoe/PC
Big/Small
AA/9V
I don’t care.
Just get them across the US border!
Canada needs some RadioPopper love!
A follow-up with my last post. Here’s a link to a blog article that doesn’t appreciate the alien bees triggers. Granted, they are using the AC powered studio receivers:
http://www.subtleimages.com/blog/2008/06/01/alienbees-cybersync-no-thanks/
Kavin,
My Vote for Hotshoe adopter also. Rest I do not care.
Some people have hebit to whine no matter what.
Let me tell you, you are doing favor to many of us to bring product like Jr. and P1 and P8 into the market.
Hopefully you release the product soon enough.
Any news in the pipe regarding the Jr. production / design process since the most recent May 18 post?
I second that.. Any news since May 18th?? I dont know how much longer I can hold out?
pfff just wished you would ship to FRance
Two comments.
1. This site is very difficult to read. The fonts should be larger so that the elderly can see what you are posting. The use of Gray for links is also difficult but with your black and white design, I can see why you want to use gray. Talk to your web designer, he will help you fix this problem.
2. Very anxious to get my hands on these units so please do a great job getting all the bugs out. Your design and manufactoring seems to be well thought out. Thanks for doing this product.
I’ve been waiting for these very eagerly since last fall and have put off acquiring any sort of interim wireless solution. I have a real need for these for an event in November. Any chance these will be shipping by August or so? Or should I just go ahead and buy Pocket Wizards and regret the year of use that I missed by waiting on your product?
An update, please.
What is the word on the Jr’s? I am anxiously awaiting any news at all.