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Features:
Product Description
The FlexTT5 transceiver shares the MiniTT1 transmitter’s(ordered sepretaly) features and adds the advanced auto-sensing and relay modes introduced with the PocketWizard Plus II, as well as camera and flash ports for PocketWizard cable connection to any camera or flash system. Used as a transmitter, the FlexTT5 can provide TTL auto flash at distances of up to 800 feet* and conventional triggering up to 1200 feet* with the aid of a flip-up antenna.The unit feature a two-position channel selector that is factory programmed to the PocketWizard classic channel one and two. Using the included software and USB port, you can program either channel to any of the PocketWizard system’s 32 digitally encoded channels and four zones. A special Learning Mode enables simple, in-the-field programming of all channels. Compatible with the following: Canon DSLR Cameras: 1Ds MKIII, MKII; 1D MKIII; MKII; 1DMKII N; 5D, 5D MKII; 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D; Rebel XT/350D, Rebel XTi/400D, Rebel XS/1000D, Rebel XSi/450D Canon Flash Units: 580EX, 580EXII, 430EX, and 430EXII
Customer Reviews:
No problems with 5D MKII and 580 EXII
My Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 and Flex TT5 arrived yesterday with Firmware Version 5.0 and have been working just fine with a 5D MkII and 580EXII. The TT5 came with a special shoe and a metallic-lined sock to go around the strobe, both designed to deal with electronic noise from the 580, but neither were needed. Maybe I was just lucky to get a noise-free strobe, or maybe Canon has licked the problem. Whatever, the PW's have been firing off the strobe every time.
The form factor is excellent. The Mini is hardly noticeable on top of your camera, and the TT5 locks neatly onto the strobe shoe. I ordered an ETTL cord at the same time as the PW's, figuring I'd use it for handheld off-camera lighting, and the radio units for greater distances. What a waste. The Pocket Wizards are much more convenient than the cord.
Nothing But Trouble 
I've had my FlexTT5 combo for quite awhile now and I have had nothing but problems. Only twice have I used them with great success. My first ouch was while walking with a 1DMKII on my shoulder with a TT5 and 550 EX mounted. I was less than happy as my camera got light and I noticed the 550Ex and TT5 laying in the grass. The units worked and I just used the one with the broken foot as the off camera unit.
Used these once since than with no problems (only a handful of exposures), put them away and recently took them out for some basketball, beautiful, perfect everything. A few weeks earlier I was having problems with consistenty yet finished my assignment. A week later, it was fire once, misfire once. Updated firmware, thought I had the problem licked and was way wrong as I had to resort to my off camera cord. Spent a few hours with firmware, online and checking settings and realized that trying to fix a pair of radios was kind of silly so I had a third unit overnighted from amazon.
Updated firmware and settings and headed out on a more critical than usual assignment. I was being laughed at by my such objects because my flash was just not working, tried everthing and went to cord to get the job done.
Left the TT5's in my bag for a few weeks and used the cord because I couldn't afford failure. Today I sat down to troubleshoot my babies and one TT5 wouldn't even power up, yet was able to update the firmware kind of, I couldn't reset because batteries provided zero power. Was unable to get the other 2 to work and sit with $600 worth of plastic.
I'm used to being on the cutting edge and teaching others, this has been very disappointing to say the least.
The rating of one is because there is no lower.
Why didn't canon do this?
I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5, but some of what I read made this worth a try. What really attracted me was the 2nd curtain flash sync with radio wireless. To my surprise, they worked better than expected -- After upgrading the firmware to 4.374 BETA.
The one negative aspect was that I had to upgrade to the beta firmware to get the feature I wanted. Upgrading itself was painless. It took me 5 minutes to upgrade all 4 units. Once upgraded, these units delivered everything I wanted and quite a bit more.
Most simply explained, the Mini/Flex combo allow any flash you want to use to be perfectly synced with whatever exposure you want, from a 30 second exposure with a 2nd (rear) curtain flash all the way to their advertised 1/8000sec (if supported by your camera). No matter what setting I used, my flashes were always perfectly timed - all using the default settings from the beta firmware. I'd like to emphasize that this works with any flash you want -- You're no longer limited to Canon speed lights, and you get a wider range of timing control.
To my surprise, 2nd curtain sync works much better with the Mini/Flex than it ever did using my canon speed light. My club/event shots where I drag the shutter to capture motion blur all have the subject solidly frozen at the end of the exposure where as my canon 580 on its own had occasional blur after the flash. One feature I especially liked is this works with a light on the camera, and one in hand -- This means you can get more flexibility and lighting control at parties and events than with the default canon speedlights. In a more controlled environment, the Mini/Flex combo become even more transparent.
I'm far from being a photography expert, but I can say my experience within 5 minutes of using the Mini/Flex combo was worlds better than using canon's speed lights and wireless. My ratio of keepers and amazing photos while using flash has greatly increased.
It might be good to note that with exception to AF and sync timing, I keep my camera and flashes in full manual mode. Your experiences may vary.
--- Update ---
PocketWizard now includes Firmware v5.0 out of the box as well as a soft-shield. No more need to upgrade to beta firware, it should work out the box for most purposes (unless you like to tweak).
The soft-shield is for flashes that put out a lot of RF interference such as the Canon 580EX II. The interference can reduce the effective range of the wireless signal.
I've also tested my FlexTT5 in various conditions, including 30 second exposure to 1/4000 second exposure and pulled off some amazing shots. The 1/4000, F1.8, 100 ISO shot that was called "impossible" by a pro friend of mine - clearly not. Will see if I can post some samples. After 2 months, my satisfaction has only increased with these units.
Amazing!
These worked right out of the box! I did what a lot of people do when getting a new product...we didn't read the manual. But it worked regardless! Then I finally read the manual because I wanted to do some custom configurations. This was where I had a bit of trouble because the online manual (a MUST to download) was extremely technical. it took me a while to get that info into my head.
I found out one of my FlexTT5 units didn't work. it was frustrating until I opened up the Pocket Wizard Utility and corrected a configuration. Yup, it was definitely user error.
We tested these out in the busy NYC streets and it worked great beyond 150+ feet! It was placed in between cars and it worked!
I think Pocket Wizard is working out the kinks of these units. So far I haven't had any problems with them at all. Hypersync looked pretty good at 1/8000 in bright sunlight!
I will be buying another FlexTT5 since I just purchased another 580EX II.
Don't need TTL, but Like the Trim Design 
I realize that the point of these new pocket wizards is that they can use TTL information to control the settings of Canon flashes and thereby do more than the basic pocket wizards, which just trigger remote flashes and strobe lights. However, I don't want or need the TTL feature. I mostly use strobe flashes. I only occasionally use a Canon flash, remotely. When I do, I manually set it the Canon flashes and use my Pocket Wizard MultiMAX transceivers. So if the TTL features isn't working as well as some reviewers here say--even after the firmware upgrade--it doesn't really matter to me. For simple flash triggering, it works fine.
If you have the same needs as do I, consider my reasons for buying this pocket wizard: I bought one of them because I needed another pocket wizard flash trigger and decided that the design for the FlexTT5 has a more minimal profile. It looks slicker and it's not as nerdy as the other models. With the MultiMax, it looks like I have a small walkie-talkie attached to the top of my camera. I don't mind my MultiMax transceivers attached to my strobe lights, but I wanted something more trim for my camera. As for cost, the FlexTT5 is about eighty dollars cheaper that the MultiMax and has all of its features. It's also only fifty dollars more than the PocketWizard PLUS II, which is limited in features.
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