Hi Tom, I think we've been here before. The failings of HSS/FP are
pretty well documented.
That's true. But then, the same can be said for it's successes.
It's pretty straight forward, HSS/FP cannot provide as much fill
light as simply using your maximum sync speed and your flash in full
power output in whatever situation. This includes shooting with
apertures down to f16 or more in bright sun situations. Adding
multiple FP/HSS flash units only catches up with using full flash
output used with max sync speed if you use at least 2 FP/HSS flash
units, and for any advantage at least 3 or maybe 4 would be needed.
There's just no free lunch. But while HSS isn't a panacea, it's still a perfectly useful tool. Pushing standard sync with a digital shutter also loses power right off the top and the harder you push it, the more inconsistent the results become. ND filters are fine too, but you need to be using a fairly fast lens to begin with, especially when plying on more than a couple of stops worth. Once the ND drops the max aperture beyond f/5.6, seeing through the finder becomes difficult and the AF goes south which makes things pretty impractical outside of a studio setting where the filter/s can more readily be swapped into and out of place. Besides, it's a shame having to mount that fast lens, just to be forced into stopping down beyond f/11.
As for controlling bright ambient light with flash, there are drawbacks with any method, but in spite of the problems, they're all capable of producing great results. We just have to pick our poison and stay within the limitations as best we can.
When this can be easily achieved by using 1 (small) 200WS battery
portable, using multiple HSS/FP flash units in this way is pretty
futile both on a practical and cost level unless as the general
direction of this thread has gone, marketing suggests this is the
norm and it encourages speedlight sales.
Yes, it could have been easily achieved with a Quantum type head, as the shutter speed requirements weren't very extreme, I could just have stopped down a bit and shot at standard sync speed. But had there been significant motion, the lower shutter speed might have caused problems with motion blur under the ambient light. Obviously, HSS does away with the burst speed of standard flash, but we're not always trying to freeze spinning fan blades and 1/2000s or threreabouts is fast enough to stop plenty of moving objects on it's own.
As for marketing, well, of course they're going to suggest people purchase lots of Speedlights. The user manuals for HSS capable bodies limit their explanations of it's use to close-up photography for the most part, but that's the engineers talking, not the sales people.
Still, there are plenty of folks that do have a few or more dedicated hotshoe flash units for their cameras, all for any number of reasons. HSS can be one nice way to put them to use.
Of course, as you say - if you chose to utilise a HSS/FP compatible
flash you would need to fire it by IR, which, (as we're discussing)
is unreliable.
Indeed it can be. But it doesn't take long to get to know the types of conditions where it will work perfectly, and those conditions where you'll have to baby things along, trying not get too carried away. Built in RF signalling would be great but it would make for a somewhat larger, considerably more expensive flash head with even greater demands for power. Then too, there's the matter of having to throw the baby out with the bath water each time a flash needs to be replaced for some unrelated reason.
As for Wizards et al, vs RadioPoppers, it just gets back down to what kind of dedicated flash features one wants to hang on to.
--
'Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey!'
Tom Young
http://www.pbase.com/tyoung/ 
