Shortly after buying my 5400xi flash I went to 4 different camera stores in two cities trying to buy the Minolta OC-1100 Off Camera Cable. None of the stores had one in stock. In every case the store clerks told me that I did not need one because the flash could be used off camera in the wireless mode. Not one of them knew why the cable existed or why one would use it.
The answer is simple: In wireless mode the present Maxxum cameras limit you to 1/60th sec. synch speed or slower. The cable allows remote flash with the camera¹s higher synch speeds. This is useful for outdoor shots in bright sunlight where the higher synch speeds are needed and you wish to have the flash off camera. In the grasshopper shot the higher synch speed allowed the background to go very dark because it is underexposed.
photo ©Gary Walts 1996
There is another use for the off camera cable that is not immediately obvious. You can use it in conjunction with the off camera shoe to attach it to the WIRELESS REMOTE FLASH CONTROLLER. Why would you want to do this? The answer: To get the Wireless controller OFF the camera's hotshoe so you can hand hold it at a much higher angle and aim it in a direction other than straight ahead. This way the signal it emits can be detected by some of your flash units that are positioned such that they may not detect the signal. This is very handy for when you have a flash behind the main subject for backlighting.
It has been my experience that the remote flash units can often be hid from view and still fire correctly when the controller is mounted on the camera hot shoe. However, when one of them does not fire I attach the cable and away I go, success in lighting.
Let me also add that I often place the remote flash units somewhere BEHIND me. They still fire.
Check back to this site. I plan to have samples of these to show you. Please be patient with additions to this site. They slowly but surely arrive as my time permits.