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In a Profoto YouTube video, the instructor had a setup where two Profoto B1 flashes were triggered with a Profoto AirRemoteTTL on the hotshoe of the camera but then he wanted to add a small Canon speedlight to the mix so he connected a PocketWizard PlusX to the Canon speedlight and another PlusX to the sync port of the camera and when he took the next shot the Profoto B1s got fired by their own AirRemote and the Canon speedlite got fired by the PlusX.

I was not able to do what he did at home; my PocketWizard one did not fire. So my question is do you think I understood what I saw in the video correctly and if it is possible at all? and if it should work then why I couldn't do it at home and What should I troubleshoot?

Here is the video, Minute 29:00: https://youtu.be/FY9QH-K-A0A?t=29m

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  • Could you please include a link to the video? Also it's possibly a little confusing what the "first" pocket wizard is. A less ambiguous naming scheme could be to name the PW on the camera the sender and the PW on the speedlight the receiver. Also, what settings on the speedlight do you use? What happens if you hit the test button on the sender PW (the one on the camera)? Does that fire the speedlight?
    – null
    Aug 27 '15 at 13:13
  • @null yes if I hit the "Test" button on the PW that is connected to SyncPort of camera, it will fire the speed light. Mine is a fully manual speed light anyway. It is a LumoPro LP180
    – user1899082
    Aug 27 '15 at 14:57
  • @null updated and added the youtube video he is doing this.
    – user1899082
    Aug 27 '15 at 14:58
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    @user1899082 as the test button on the PW does fire the speed light, I'd be tempted to test the cable between the PW and the camera next. You can do this by unplugging the male PC connector from the SyncPort of the camera, and touching the inner pin and the outer circular metal part with a bit of conductive metal. I've used the tip of a pocket knife to do this previously. If that fires the speedlight too, then your PW setup is working, just not being triggered by the cameras SyncPort.
    – a_henderson
    Aug 28 '15 at 11:35
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Make sure your shutter speed is not more than sync speed, specially for your pocket wizards.

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  • That was the problem indeed. My shutter speed was 1/3200 which still was working fine with Profoto HSS mode but PW was not supporting it.
    – user1899082
    Aug 28 '15 at 14:04
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The PocketWizard units the guy in the video uses are manual-only triggers, and hooking them up from the PC sync port of the camera means that it's a manual-only connection (the PC connector only has two connections: sync (inner post) and ground (outer ring)). This means that particular triggering cannot communicate TTL or HSS. So, you have to have a shutter speed that's at or below your camera's sync speed in order for the speedlight's flash to register in your shot without being partially cut off.

This is not the best way to use a TTL-capable speedlight like a 580EXII with the Profoto B1s and AirRemote triggers. The best way is to get a TTL-capable trigger with a full TTL passthrough hotshoe, like a PocketWizard Flex/Mini TTL unit, Yongnuo YN-622, or Phottix Odin, and sandwich one on the camera between the camera hotshoe and the Profoto AirRemote transmitter (i.e., "stack" the Profoto trigger on top of the TTL one on the camera hotshoe) and put the other on the flash's hotshoe as a receiver. That way, you'll have remote power, TTL, and HSS control of the speedlight in conjunction with the B1s, and you won't limit your shutter speed.

See also: What setups work to trigger a Profoto B1 and Canon 600EX-RT Speedlights together from canon body

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