Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

If you can really get that high with a 5D. I shoot in the studio with my 5D at 1/125, which is what Canon recommends with studio flash.

I have recently found the generation of black bars . . . maximum useable sync speed, can be affected by f stop and lens zoom settings on Nikon D300. As RD Kirk says, this is of dubious concern in the studio - just shoot at 1/125 and you'll never have a problem. It only comes into play when balancing sunlight against flash.

This is new to me....The CC can only adjust in FULL STOP INCREMENTS ??

Really ??

Now THAT doesn't sound too flash.

AB.

(<Groan>, no pun was intended :shock: )

CC adjusts power and modeling in extremely precise 1/10 f stops. Only the meter ISO setting and meter exposure time is in full f stops. The metering itself is in 1/10f stops from f1 to f90 and ISO50 to 3200 and 1 second to 1/1000 seconds.

Studio shooters usually shoot at ISO100, 200 or 400 and at shutter speeds of 1/125 or 1/250. If you shoot in the studio at 1/200 and meter flash at 1/250 there is absolutely no error . . . this only comes into play in mixed sunlight/flash shooting.

One can understand for the price point, it's not meant to be the end-all flash meater for every situation, rather as a 'studio' meter and controller to Einsteins/Remotes (and does it's job very well in these regards :) ) , but just curious...

Is not being able to meter for the flash/ambient ratios due to a physical hardware limitation of CC (where it would require extra parts, etc), or just simply the way it was programmed to function due to codebase/price point? Might this be something that can be addressed via a future update if there is significant demand?

May I suggest to have an option under Advanced Configuration for users to switch:

1/3 increments for ISO
1/3 increments for Shutter speed
1/3 increments for f/stop instead of f+.1

Having an option would allow the best of both worlds. This way people who are used to having 1/3 increments can configure the CC to match their cameras and people who don't need it can leave it alone.

On another note, how do you measure ambient light using the CC? I couldn't find that information on the on-line manual.

We're considering adding some or all of these features in future firmware release. As for measuring ambient light, just scan to a channel that has no light on it and press "Meter". You will have to set the exposure time first, however.

Same thing to determine flash/ambient relationship. First, scan to ALL and press Meter . . . this will give you the total of flash and ambient at the selected exposure time (as all flashmeters do), Then scan to an empty channel and press Meter again . . . this will tell you the ambient. There is no provision to actually calculate the ratio . . . you'll have to do this calculation manually.

Thanks Paul,

I was thinking metering ambient light was something as simple as picking a channel that didn't have any lights configured, but needed confirmation.

BTW, the Cyber Commander is a great product. Even though I only have a single B1600 right now, remotely managing the flash output while not losing the shooting position is fantastic. I'm on the back ordered list for an Einstein and PLM, I can't wait to control multiple lights with this unit.

You and your staff are exceptional people.

Cheers,

Mike

Thanks Paul for considering adding the features in question - it would mean a big deal to not have to have a separate meter

Great tip on the ambient light. Thks

Alex

Remember . . . any flashmeter, while metering flash, of necessity measures flash plus ambient.