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 If you mated a studio strobe and a portable TTL hot-shoe flash, the result might be something like Quantum's popular Qflash T4d ($560 street). Battery- or AC-powered, the 26-ounce T4d looks equally at home softboxed on a lightstand for portraits or bolted to a flash bracket for run-and-gun-style event photography. Moreover, with the proper TTL adapters, it's compatible with the latest SLR flash AE systems (E-TTL II, iTTL, etc).
For all its strong points, how ever, the T4d lacks one significant tool: wireless TTL exposure control. For that, you need Quantum's newest Q: the T5d ($580 street). With the new hot-shoe TTL adapters and FreeXwire transmitters and receivers, your Canon, Fuji, Nikon, or other popular SLR can control one or more T5ds, wirelessly, with preset lighting ratios, via radio signals that travel up to 500 feet—even through walls and around corners. You also get more power than with a normal hot-shoe flash, plus faster recycling, softer light output due to both the parabolic shape of the Qflash reflector and the included diffuser disk, and various Quantum exclusives.
For readers unfamiliar with the Qflash system, here are a few of these exclusives: “Sensor Limit Control” lets the user set a subject distance range beyond which the Autoflash sensor ignores. If, for example, you set a subject distance limit of 10 feet, the flash's AE system will ignore anything beyond that. This, of course, is great for situations where a distant background is much lighter or darker than your flash-lit subject. The Qflash accepts a number of power sources, including three different Turbo batteries, select Lumedyne and Norman powerpacks, and AC power. The manual explains all aspects of flash operation and gives informative insights into studio lighting. Finally, Quantum is one of those rare companies that offer live telephone support for their products.
The Qflash system fits together logically, if expensively (about $1,500 complete, street). For a quick test drive, we slid one end of a new TTL hot-shoe cord (D12w) onto a Fujifilm FinePix S3 DSLR and the other end into Quantum's compact FreeXwire transmitter (FW9T). We then put the T5d and Turbo 2x2 battery on a lightstand, attached a FreeXwire receiver (FW8R), and aimed the rig upward to bounce its powerful output (GN 320 at 100mm and ISO 100) off the ceiling. Next, we posed our model and fired off 20 shots. The Qflash recycled instantly and our exposures were close to perfect.
Our impression: Master it, and Quantum's new Qflash is an exciting and multi-faceted tool that can propel your photography to new heights.
What's Hot:
Wireless TTL exposure control.
High power.
Multiple power options.
What's Not:
No support for high-speed flash syncing.
Expensive.
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