Hey all! I know I dropped off the earth for a few weeks there. I had a few things to catch up on after all the work over the summer. My October and November wedding season has been slammed also, but I've got the rest of this year and into March next year all set asside to get the poppers out the door. It's been a TON of work, but very rewarding. It's coming together.
Full update news in print PDF on the website:
http://radiopopper.com/pdf/radiopopper_news_01.pdf
- We've released the official pricing.
- We made the product even better.
- We got the manufacturing and distribution monsters locked in their boxes.
- We've got a ship date.
And the original press release if you missed it:
http://radiopopper.com/pdf/radiopopper_press_release_v1.pdf
Feedback welcome!
Full Version: RadioPopper - NEWS 01!
Kevin.
We need photos or schematics of what the popper looks like while in use on the camera.
You are talking to a lot of people who have chosen to be photographers because they are visually stimulated! Lots of colorful photos/schematics!
I can't wait! Woot!
We need photos or schematics of what the popper looks like while in use on the camera.
You are talking to a lot of people who have chosen to be photographers because they are visually stimulated! Lots of colorful photos/schematics!
I can't wait! Woot!
Awesome! I can't wait.
QUOTE(Ryan J @ October 23 2007, 11:41 PM) 
We need photos or...
.... bottom of page 3, left column.
Pictures will be out when it's time. Suffice to say it's small and it interfaces in a very clean way with the master and slave flash units. Everyone who has seen it has commented on the smart approach we used to interface a single unit with multiple different types of flash.
You'll get pictures before the store opens. I promise.
Cool.
Kevin -
I know you've been discussing this (i think) but the fact you'll be able to use your ETTL, and high speed sync is SO COOL! This WILL change everything!
Please keep us in the loop - I want one of the first batch.
I know you've been discussing this (i think) but the fact you'll be able to use your ETTL, and high speed sync is SO COOL! This WILL change everything!
Please keep us in the loop - I want one of the first batch.
Cool. Congratulations Kevin! I'll be waiting to hear how the "other" cameras come out in testing.... I use a fuji with nikon flashes.
Awesome! Not that I'll be able to afford one when they come out, but it will be great to see what people can do with it!
Now you just need a blog like Fong!
Dude, I was just about to throw down for some Pocket Wizards last night because I HATE my ST-E2 transmitter, it just never fires when I'm shooting into the sun....You've got my attention! I'm going to hold off on the PW's. Hopefully we can get some reviews before next wedding season!
Congrats kevin! I'm sure it feels GREAT to see this come this far. Can't wait to see them in action.
Dude it is awesome to see this all come together for you, congratulations.
Thanks for listing the price. This is a bit more than I was hoping for, but I am sure this will be worth every penny.
I will use my STE-2 and cheap Chines radio transmitter for now and just grin through their inconveniences knowing that these problems will soon be over.
Thank God I have a Canon!
I will use my STE-2 and cheap Chines radio transmitter for now and just grin through their inconveniences knowing that these problems will soon be over.
Thank God I have a Canon!
I'm still in!
So...you put the popper on your flash. That flash then becomes EITHER the transmitter or receiver? It cannot do both? Then the receiver units are always receiver units? Also, once the popper has been attached to a flash, is it possible to remove it?
VERY COOL PRODUCT!
Cory
VERY COOL PRODUCT!
Cory
Awesome.
I pray the roll-out goes smoothly for you my friend!
The cat's finally out of the bag, eh Kev? Great job, brother. :)The cat's finally out of the bag, eh Kev? Great job, brother.
That's great news Kevin! Keep up the fantastic work!
Awesome, Kevin. It really looks like things are coming together for ya.
Congrats.
s
Congrats.
s
Please yell loud and clear when Nikon is fully supported, and which body/flash combinations are cleared for takeoff. I suppose you'll have to get your hands on a D3 and D300 pretty fast.
Sounds awesome!! Congrats Kevin!!
Can't wait! Sounds very nice.
next season should be a lot easier than this one!
ken
next season should be a lot easier than this one!
ken
Looks awsome,
Congrats Kevin!
john
Congrats Kevin!
john
Congrats, Kevin, glad to see things are working out!
I echo Cory though--more details on the whole transmitter/receiver thing? And on how it hooks up to your flash if you're not using synch cords? Or did I miss something?
I echo Cory though--more details on the whole transmitter/receiver thing? And on how it hooks up to your flash if you're not using synch cords? Or did I miss something?
QUOTE(Tish @ October 24 2007, 03:15 PM)
Congrats, Kevin, glad to see things are working out!
I echo Cory though--more details on the whole transmitter/receiver thing? And on how it hooks up to your flash if you're not using synch cords? Or did I miss something?
I echo Cory though--more details on the whole transmitter/receiver thing? And on how it hooks up to your flash if you're not using synch cords? Or did I miss something?
It hooks onto your flash somehow and reads the transmissions it sends out. I think it's permanently attached to the flash.
Another question that I had was if it blocks the red focus-assist beam. Kevin?
Cory
Holy crap you're fast!
This is looking fantastic. I'm looking forward to relegating my TTL cords to backup status.
Marc
1. The unit will not block the focus assist beam. It will mount to the side or top of your flash with double sided tape or velcro. There's no perminant mod to your flash required. The signal will be "picked up" by a thin fiber-optic cable which can be cut or routed as needed for any type of flash. We've got a reliable source of very high quality raw cable for a very low cost. It's the same exact cable used to make the $50 Monster cables for home audio gear. Our supplier actually ships the raw cable to Monster. The pickup optic will be easily user replacable and cheaply replaced should anything bad happen to it.
2. Each unit is either a transmitter or a reciever, not both. In reality - I'm not sure why it would matter though. You'll always be shooting with one in "transmitter" mode and the rest (however many slaves you have) in "recieve" mode. As pocket wizards can trigger your camera, I guess I can see where having a unit capable of both could be a benefit, but for the use of 99% of people - I'm not sure why you would need anything other than a transmitter plus however many receivers.
3. These units will be small - about the physical size of 3 "AAA" batteries side by side. This means they'll attach with a very small piece of velcro and stay put - which means you can very easily swap them between different flashes to serve as masters.
Regarding the dropping of the standard PC-synch / "dumb trigger" triggering function....
Oh boy we got some flames over that one. I wish folks could chill a bit and see what's coming. I've though this thing out a little further down the road than many people are giving credit for.
We were able to set up manufacturing in a way that we will essentially own and have full control of our own robotic assembly equipment. This means we can bring variations of this product to market literally within a week or to with no startup costs. We've also established some agreements with our testing lab as we'll be doing lots of testing in the near future (using the same lab for the 20 or so certifications that will be required for all the countries of export). Long story short - we're going to be in position to very inexpensively bring similar products to market as soon as this one takes off.
So, rather than build a single product with every function, let's build a serries of perfectly suited niche market products.
We're going to have a very solid patent on the manufacture of any product that repeats light signals to trigger flashes, and it'll be 3 to 4 years (likely) before Zigbee transmitters are built into new Canon and Nikon gear. This means we're going to have a monopoly on this market with a product of this function until it is eventually obsolete. We're offering it at what I consider to be a very reasonable price and expect it to sell very well. I've done the math and it represents enough profit that we don't need to be stingy.
All that to say I'd like to give a little back to this business and we're going to need some tax deductions here. I expect to release a few followup products in the next year. Including....
.... a super inexpensive but highly reliable "standard studio strobe radio trigger". We're going to design these things to be mass produced very inexpensively - containing a very simple radio transmitter, a very simple 10 cent computer chip and a very inexpensive antenna, and we're going to sell them at a $1 markup, or maybe a $5-ish markup and give 100% of those proceeds to a charity. My guess is they'll go for about $15 to $25-ish each. Solid, reliable, FCC certified legit USA built radio triggers for less than a tank of gas. They'll be similar to the ebay triggers except they won't be crap - they'll actually work, and as the product just represents a tax write off and a "donation to the business" we don't have to mark them up, and they'll be used for good publicity to sell more of our primary product - the current version RadioPopper. We can draw all the profit we need off the product we won't have any competition for.
So please don't anyone get too dis-hearted about the cancellation of that feature.
I'm thinking ahead a bit on this stuff.
2. Each unit is either a transmitter or a reciever, not both. In reality - I'm not sure why it would matter though. You'll always be shooting with one in "transmitter" mode and the rest (however many slaves you have) in "recieve" mode. As pocket wizards can trigger your camera, I guess I can see where having a unit capable of both could be a benefit, but for the use of 99% of people - I'm not sure why you would need anything other than a transmitter plus however many receivers.
3. These units will be small - about the physical size of 3 "AAA" batteries side by side. This means they'll attach with a very small piece of velcro and stay put - which means you can very easily swap them between different flashes to serve as masters.
Regarding the dropping of the standard PC-synch / "dumb trigger" triggering function....
Oh boy we got some flames over that one. I wish folks could chill a bit and see what's coming. I've though this thing out a little further down the road than many people are giving credit for.
We were able to set up manufacturing in a way that we will essentially own and have full control of our own robotic assembly equipment. This means we can bring variations of this product to market literally within a week or to with no startup costs. We've also established some agreements with our testing lab as we'll be doing lots of testing in the near future (using the same lab for the 20 or so certifications that will be required for all the countries of export). Long story short - we're going to be in position to very inexpensively bring similar products to market as soon as this one takes off.
So, rather than build a single product with every function, let's build a serries of perfectly suited niche market products.
We're going to have a very solid patent on the manufacture of any product that repeats light signals to trigger flashes, and it'll be 3 to 4 years (likely) before Zigbee transmitters are built into new Canon and Nikon gear. This means we're going to have a monopoly on this market with a product of this function until it is eventually obsolete. We're offering it at what I consider to be a very reasonable price and expect it to sell very well. I've done the math and it represents enough profit that we don't need to be stingy.
All that to say I'd like to give a little back to this business and we're going to need some tax deductions here. I expect to release a few followup products in the next year. Including....
.... a super inexpensive but highly reliable "standard studio strobe radio trigger". We're going to design these things to be mass produced very inexpensively - containing a very simple radio transmitter, a very simple 10 cent computer chip and a very inexpensive antenna, and we're going to sell them at a $1 markup, or maybe a $5-ish markup and give 100% of those proceeds to a charity. My guess is they'll go for about $15 to $25-ish each. Solid, reliable, FCC certified legit USA built radio triggers for less than a tank of gas. They'll be similar to the ebay triggers except they won't be crap - they'll actually work, and as the product just represents a tax write off and a "donation to the business" we don't have to mark them up, and they'll be used for good publicity to sell more of our primary product - the current version RadioPopper. We can draw all the profit we need off the product we won't have any competition for.
So please don't anyone get too dis-hearted about the cancellation of that feature.
I'm thinking ahead a bit on this stuff.
Cool, Kevin! Can't wait.
Cory
Cory
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