Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have seen that problem solved with $4000 in speedlites and FourSquare brackets. ;)

Yeah, me too, that's why that particular example came to mind;-> That's a lot of speedlights and a lot of cable mess and stuff to carry around/setup. Just think of the possibilities if you could do this with one or two E640s! ;)

-Daniel

I am trying to use a Nikon D3, with a Pocket Wizard Plus and an Einstein with the new Pocket Wizard that plugs directly in the top of the Einstein. I am using a third Pocket Wizard to remotely trigger the D3 and the Einstein.

When I do this, I can see the flash go off on the Einstein before the camera's shutter activates. This of course renders the flash useless.

When I have the Pocket Wizard on the camera's hotshoe and depress the shutter using the camera/s shutter release button, the camera activates the Pocket Wizard and the Einstien syncs correct wirelessly. I am shooting in manual mode.

Also, I tried unplugging the new Pocket Wizard from the Einstein and using a third Pocket Wizard Plus directly connected to the sync port on the Einstein obtaining the same results with the other setup.

The delay in shutter activation only happens when I use a seperate Pocket Wizard to trigger the camera. Do you have any suggestions of how to remotely sync the camera and Einstien with the setup I have? 2 Pocket Wizard Plus, one new Pocket Wizard designed to fit into the top of the Einstein, and a D3 Nikon with a remote cable cord to connect the camera to the Pocket Wizard.

Thanks...
Ricky

What is happening is the flash and the camera get the signal to activate simultaneously. The flash can respond faster than the camera, so its job is done before the camera can lift the mirror and lift the shutter.

I cannot speak to the finer points of each Pocket Wizard product, but some products can recieve a signal one one channel, and transmit on another (MultiMax can do this). If your product can do this, PW(A) is set to transmit channel 1 and in hand. PW(2) is set to recieve channel 1, and transmit on channel 2, and is placed in the hotshoe. PW(3) on the light is set to recieve channel 2. When the camera recieves the signal to fire, it lifts the mirror and shutter, then triggers via the hotshoe, signaling the PW(2) to fire the lights at the appropriate time.

If your remotes cannot do this, adding a remote will achieve the same thing. PW(1) in hand transmitting on channel 1, PW(2) plugged in to camera's remote port recieving channel 1. PW(3) in hotshoe transmitting on channel 2, PW(4) on light recieving channel 2.

Of course, you do not have to uses channels 1 & 2, but camera triggering and flash triggering need to be on seperate channels in the same manner.

Thank you! It worked using one for the camera, one for the hotshoe, one for the Einstein and one in hand. I did switch the channels like you described and every shot worked. :D

So has anyone successfully done HSS with Paul C Buff lights?

Not to be pedantic, but "HSS" and "FP" are impossible to do with any studio lighting on the market today. I believe the question you are intending to convey is, "has anyone sucessfully used "HyperSync"(TM) successfully with Paul C Buff lights?". The answer to which I will leave to the user base.

So, I tried HyperSync using a Canon 7D, Einstein E640 w/ Pocket Wizard MC2, and a Pocket Wizard MiniTT1 w/ AC3 ZoneController on the 7D. I took pictures of a clock I own, initially metering using a Sekonic 758DR light meter to set the ambient/flash ratio to my liking. Next, I tried stepping the shutter speed up from 1/250 sec through 1/8000 sec, initially operating the Einstein at full power, but then trying lower power settings (using Color Mode), for the conditions at which the flash duration was longer than the shutter speed. So, what did I find out?

Well, at full power, I could HyperSync all the way to 1/8000 sec successfully. However, there was a slight darkening, which at low shutter speeds, 1/320 sec for example, affected just maybe 20% to 30% of the frame, and as I moved up to 1/1000 sec and higher, affected roughly half the frame, with an effect sort of like a split neutral density filter. So, if, for example, I was outside, shooting landscape, if I take this effect into account, I could use it to my advantage. If, on the other hand, I'm shooting portrait, it would take some effort applying an exposure gradient in Lightroom, etc. to fix. Now, one note for others trying this, as one moves to faster shutter speeds than the T1 time of 1/568 sec, they will need to open up their aperture as they move to faster shutter times to account for the flash pulse loss due to the faster shutter speed.

As I said before, I also tried using lower power settings on the Einstein and obtained an increasingly truncated frame with decreasing power settings, regardless if the T1 time was longer than the shutter speed. In fact, I could only drop the Einstein power to -1/3 stop to keep the full frame.

So, bottom line for my 7D, does Hypersync work? Yes, all the way to 1/8000 sec, operating the Einstein at full power, and adjusting the aperture as previously described. Once again, there is a slight light intensity variation across the frame, top (slightly darker) to bottom (normal) in a landscape orientation.

Will I use it? Maybe, but only if taking pictures in landscape and desiring a split neutral density filter effect. Otherwise, I'd just use a ND filter to reduce the shutter speed to 1/250 and use the flash normally to avoid the exposure gradient.

Results will probably vary, depending upon what camera one uses, but these are the results I obtained using the Canon 7D. :D

Perhaps the longer flash durations of the ABs and White Lightenings would counteract darkness in half the frame?

A B1600, X1600, and E640 all have similar flash durations at full power (as was tested here). In fact Einstein has a marginally longer duration at full. A flash pulse does not have an even output across the frame, rather there is a higher output in the beginning and a trail off of power toward the end. The part of the sensor exposed earliest gets the brightest part of the flash pulse, and the part exposed at the end gets a less intense part of the flash pulse, thus causing a gradation. Had a short duration pulse been used, a black band could have occurred on either side of the frame, or on both simultaneously.