Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hi,

I have seen similar posts, but I am not quite clear if they are asking this question. I have seen the posts discussing and confirming that the Cybersyncs cannot trigger the Sekonic Light Meter.

Is the opposite True?

I thought I had read somehwere (And of course, I can't retrace my steps) that you can "Train" the Sekonic L-358 to learn the signal of the Cybersync transmitter and then trigger the receivers with the light meter.

Thank You for any information that will confirm this one way or the other.

Best Regards,

Mike (A Very Happy Alien Bee's Customer!)

Some Sekonic light meters can trigger Pocket Wizards by design. My Sekonic L-758DR is an example. I'm not clear about what you mean by something being able to trigger a Sekonic meter via radio, as the radio module in the meter is (as best I understand it) a transmitter used to trigger other devices, and not a receiver. That being the case, the Sekonic Pocket Wizard radio module operates in a totally different portion of the radio spectrum than do CyberSync devices, so there is no form of software "training" that can bring the two together. The differences are based in hardware, and are very far apart. The PW (US version) operates in the UHF part of the spectrum, while the CyberSync system operates at microwave frequencies. It's an apples to oranges comparison on a grand scale....

On the other hand, if you have legacy Pocket Wizards (like I have), it is easy to combine the two systems. I can remotely fire my camera, syncing any non PCB flash units with PW's, and also sync my PCB flash units via a CST unit. One PW plugged into the camera motor drive port and PC socket, and the CST mounted on the camera hotshoe. It works like a charm, and the entire mess can be triggered by a Sekonic meter.

Other than that, I can't think of any way that a Sekonic meter with an RF module can trigger a CyberSync device over the air.

A follow up note... The Cyber Commander is a really fine incident flash meter. It is also very handy. Even if you prefer to trigger your camera from a remote position, you can simply use a standard PW in your hand, and rely on the CC for all of your flash metering needs. It is as accurate as your Sekonic, and much smaller to boot. Also, the Sekonic RF module only transmits a short pulsed signal when you press the fire button, so it will only reliably fire your camera if it is in manual focus mode. The pulse is not long enough to allow for reliable auto focus before firing. However, pressing the test button on a handheld PW trigger unit sends a continuous signal for as long as you press the button, and is ideal for remote camera firing with AF enabled.

Voyager

Voyager, thanks for the quick reply.

I think the original information that gave me the idea implied it was the same thing as a learning remote control. You point one remote at the other and it can learn the IR signal. But these are RF signals so that would not apply. But the information you provided makes sense, and either I misread or misunderstood the post.

I have 1 cybersync transmitter, 2 receivers, and 2 PWII's and if I understand you correctly, by placing the transmitter on the hotshoe and using the PWII hooked up to the camera I can use the second PW as a remote trigger. When I trigger the camera, it will essential fire the cybersync transmitter which will also fire the cybersync receiver on my bees.

To top it off, the sekonic light meter will trigger the PWII, which in turn will control it all and acutally add a little more freedom since I can now use the second PWII as an additional receiver.

Am I close? Thanks again for your patience and time.

Regards,

Mike

You pretty much got it. If you have a PW and (as a Canon example) an N3 connector to plug the PW into the camera control port, and place your CyberSync transmitter on the camera hotshoe, you can fire your camera with either your Sekonic, or your other PW, and your CyberSync transmitter will fire in perfect sync. If you use both systems for lighting, you can use the same trigger setup, and use the hotshoe to sync one system, and the camera body PC port to sync the other system. It is also possible to use one PW at the camera to fire the camera listening on one channel, and then trigger remote flash mounted PW's in sync on another channel, while still syncing your CyberSync system from the hotshoe. There are lots of possibilities for combining systems, and keeping what you already own viable while you expand your CyberSync system over time.

Voyager

You can do it like is explained here:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=167