Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

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Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:25 pm

Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:17 pm
Posts: 3

I am investing in a 3 light set up with 800 AlienBees and my question is, to fire all three strobes together, are there automatic sensors or do I need equipment to get them to fire together? I am brand new to studio lights so thanks for any help!!




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Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:23 pm

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Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:43 am
Posts: 5266

All of our lights have integrated slave eyes which will fire when they see the flash from any other flash unit. This is good for indoor studio type work, but less good for outdoor work or work with other photographers, as the light may not bounce as needed out doors, and other photographers could set off your lights if they use a flash.

The basic means of triggering one light would be to use the included sync cord that connects to your light on one end, and the camera on the other. Keep in mind not all cameras have the PC flash connection on them (and fewer models include this every cycle). In this case, a hotshoe adapter would provide this connection by being installed in the hotshoe of the camera. http://www.paulcbuff.com/hsa.php You will need to check your manual for one of the following terms or similar: PC terminal, flash connector, x-sync (connection), etc. This is typically on the left side of the camera and ususally under a cap or rubber flap, and kinda looks like a snap. (*if you let me know the model of camera, I can probably tell you for sure).

Alternatively, you can use a radio remote system, like our CyberSync system to trigger the first light: http://www.paulcbuff.com/cybersync.php (I suggest the CST and CSR for a basic set up). These have the advantage of removing the tether between camera and light, freeing you from that as a trip hazard, and a further distance to operate. This is my recommended set up.

Lastly, you can use the camera's built in flash or accessory speedlight to trigger the flash, but the flash must be manually controlled. Leaving the flash in TTL (and even some settings in the manual mode) will cause the flash to fire multiple times, triggering the studio flash to fire too early.

To more reliably trigger multiple lights, you can place a receiver (ex. CSR) on multiple or all lights. Having one on each light prevents other photographers from triggering your light with their flash(es).

It is possible to run multiple PC cords from the camera to multiple flashes if needed, provided you have the right cabling.




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Thu Aug 28, 2014 12:34 pm

Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:17 pm
Posts: 3

Thank you for your response!! That helped a lot. So with the CyberSync I can just buy one transmitter and one receiver and then fire the other strobes with the integrated slaves?




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Thu Aug 28, 2014 5:11 pm

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Joined: Tue Dec 08, 2009 11:49 am
Posts: 1432

Yes - that how the VLX video was made, on Einsteins and AlienBees. https://www.youtube.com/user/paulcbuff




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