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Showing posts 26 - 28 of 28, (reverse)
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 04/29/2009 12:26:48 AM · #26
You need a transmitter on the camera and if you want all radio then one on each receiver. If your going PW's then they are all transceivers now (unless you buy oldies). They have the newer models out as well that can (definitely maybe if your canon) give extra functionality if your using hotshoe strobes.

Personally - If you looking for alienbees, then I would have a more serious look at the cybers... PW will not let you remote control the bee's where as the cyber commander and some plus receivers will - kinda handy sometimes.
 04/29/2009 01:26:29 PM · #27
Originally posted by sacredspirit:
Alright how do sync cables work?

Is it possible to use all cables, and completely forget about remote triggering?

...I'll be set-up in an 10x20 room anyway.


There's a sync terminal on your camera or you can get a hotshoe to PC adapter that will give you one. Then you just need a PC to whatever sync connection your strobes have (e.g. my speedotrons have a 1/4 monoplug) to trigger multiple lights, you'll need to use Y adapters and run cables to each light to hardwire them all together. It's not subject to radio interference, nor does it require line of sight. It does increase the number of cables running around your workspace and, since your camera is physically connected to the strobes, you might wind up restricted by the length of your cable.

You might also consider some combination of triggering schemes. For example, you could use a cable to fire your main light and the optical slaves to trigger the rest. In a room that size, there will be plenty of light bouncing around to trigger the optical slaves. You'll probably only run into issues if you go on location in a wide open space.

Another advantage to cables is that it's easy to build a manual trigger for the strobes to trigger the strobes if you needed to, say... you needed to do multiple pops to get enough light on your subject etc.
 04/29/2009 04:00:16 PM · #28
Originally posted by sacredspirit:
Chromy, or BD, no offense, but I'm not going to pay to attend a seminar for lighting. I have books, and I have DP.

The rest is hardknocks learning, probably not the best way I'll admit that. The most gratifiying to my skewed sense of life though.


Attend a seminar. Do you know what a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio looks like, in person? Should a rim light be the same or different exposure than the main or fill? Know what feathering the light is? Can you see the difference between rembrandt and look, short and broad lighting? I too have books and it makes sense, sort of, till you see it in person. 10 minutes with a model and a knowledgeable instructor is PRICELESS. Seriously.

Originally posted by sacredspirit:
Another question, for Chris this time, or well anyone who knows.

Above Profate says he has 4 PW's, why would you need 4? I was under the impression 1 would fire all the strobes at once. If it doesn't plz fill me in.


One on camera and one on a flash (and one for backup...). If you have a large softbox or shoot thru umbrella on a monolight the light is hidden behind the modifer and may not see the flash to trigger it. This can occur in lots of ways - snoot a light to make a spot-lite-like deal and it won't be able to trigger other lights as it's light output is too focused.
Or I used 6 last saturday - had 3 shooting stations so each one needed a camera PW and a flash PW.

If you plug a PW (or any cord) into a monolight it disables the optical trigger. So now what you can do is put a PW in each light and turn off that light by turning off the PW or changing it's channel (and the modeling light will stay on) or changing channels - this is handy at wedding receptions for example).

Now you can run a wire from your camera to the closes light and use optical to trigger the rest. When you want to measure the light you need to unplug the wire from teh camera and plug it into the meter. The end will wear and get loose ( in like 4 sessions) and then fall out of the camera, etc. It also sucks to be tethered IMO.
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