Optical Slaves

[arigram]

I've seen many different optical slaves for flash units, but I am not sure which one to trust. After reading some reviews regarding cheap and expensive units, I am more confused that decided as they often are either negative or mixed.
For example, this Seagull one
http://cracklecdn.zoovy.lg1.simplecdn.net/img/goshotcamera/W320-H320-Bffffff/lighting/accessories/seagull/syk_4_flash_remote_controller_front.jpg
is very cheap but is accused of not working most of the time.

I have Pocket Wizards and they are my main workhorses, but I only have two receivers and can't use more flash units as most handheld flashguns don't have have a slave mode. I've found myself in a collaborative photo session where we needed to control flashguns.

One last thing to note is that the unit should also have a PC input.

[TheFlyingCamera]

I've seen a lot of people using the Wien (pronounced Wine) slave units. They make a wide array of pieces - look on the B&H website to see if they have something you're looking for.

[jeffreyg]

I have a couple of Wien slave units that have pc connectors that are reliable. Model#WHSD in th B&H catalog.

[Mike Wilde]

I have the slaves your post photo shows. I buy them off the *bay every few years. I tend to fry mine from time to time when I pull out some of my old pack and head flash rigs. One I have runs at 580V on the synch cord, so that is likely why they die.

I was at the theatre taking photos of a production for a local troup last wednesday, and that was the night they seemed to act up. I ahve not yet had time to test them since.

Fortunately I had enough long synch cords and a 3 into 1 connector so I could wire the two flash packs directly to the camera, and still have a terminal to plug my manuall tripper into for making flash measurements to set the right aperture.

At the time I thought "This would be the time to say that I should have spent the money on the radio slaves."

[lightwisps]

I have a set of OPUS studio strobes that came with a very compact OPUS slave unit. Have used it extensively for a couple of years and it has been faultless.

[jtzordon]

I've used with wein slaves with no problems. No real heavy usage, though.

[arigram]

Thank you all, I'll check those units out. Although, they are rather expensive...