Einstein Users........

[OnTheFly7]

Cyber Commander or Pocket Wizard?

I will be running 10 to 12 Einstein units for both indoor and outdoor events. Rodeo is the primary subject. I really like the Cyber Commander in theory, but its "range" concerns me. The range is listed as 400 feet. As we know, many times these ratings are exaggerated. Some of these arenas are upwards of 300 feet long and 150 feet wide. During timed events, I could be on the far side of the arena. My concern is the range as stated. Whereas PW has a range of 1,600 feet with the MultiMAX II.

Love to hear input from those who have used the CC over any large distances and whether or not you had issues.

Thanks.

 

[Original katomi]

Ido t use the same as you but I did a field test of my u it’s to see if they would do what I wanted
Can you do a tryout before the event
Q are they line of sight or radio
Q what happens if an animal gets between you and the kit

 

[OnTheFly7]

Ido t use the same as you but I did a field test of my u it’s to see if they would do what I wanted
Can you do a tryout before the event
Q are they line of sight or radio
Q what happens if an animal gets between you and the kit

All strobe units will be 15 to 20 feet high, mounted to either light poles or in the stands. No issues with anything getting in the way. All radio transmissions.

 

[Original katomi]

Ok I will stop trying to teach gran ma how to suck eggs
Sounds like you have already addressed all the things I can think of

 

[mrca]

I did a portrait shoot with my bikinied subject on top of a beach dune (ok, didn't have to ask for forgiveness, wasn't caught) with a full moon rising behind her and lit her with w 2 einsteins. I used a d500, a 1. 7 multiplier on a 400 mm 2.8 lens, about 1000 mm. I was easily 200 to 300' away. Fired flawlessly. Had to give her direction by cell phone. My cybercommanders have NEVER failed to fire in tens of thousands of shots. I do have a habit of being heavy handed on the control buttons and break them. Buff gave me abunch of spares as they just press on. Once you have the lights hung 20' up, how important is being able to turn them on and off and to vary power or are you just cranking them to full power. If I recall, you are an electrician, I'm curious, how are you powering a dozen lights up poles? How long do you leave the lights installed? Are you just going for sufficient illumination across the arena or seeking areas with rim or kickers, main and fill? Sounds like an interesting shoot.

 

[OnTheFly7]

After talking to a few other folks, the decision was made and I purchased Pocket Wizard; Flex TT5, AC3 and ten MC2. While I REALLY liked the CC system and the idea, for what I do and potential interference from other media and radios, plus the distance factor, Pocket Wizard was the winner.

For mrca.......

Once the lights are hung, I'll vary power based on the sun. As the sun gets lower, the power comes down. Generally shoot around 1/4 to 1/2 power per flash unit. As for turning them on and off, when it is a timed event (such as bull riding), where 99% of the action is on one end of the arena, I turn the other group of lights on the opposite end of the arena off.

As for how long the lights stay up, in an indoor venue once they are hung, they stay up until the event is over (could be one day, could be 7 or 8). For outdoor events, the lights come down immediately after the performance (even for multi-day performances), due to unknowns with the weather.

Most of my side lighting is run at that 1/4 to 1/2 power. If I run a light for "fill" in the rear, I will drop that power even lower.

How am I powering them.......

This took some thinking. Initially, I was going to run Vagabond Mini's (one battery per flash unit). However, the flash unit recycle times off of the battery are not fast enough. Indoor arenas, I usually just plug into local outlets. However, at outdoor events, you never know what you are running into in terms of available power. I always want to be self sufficient at these shoots. So, I run three, 2000 watt (1600 running watt) inverter generators (not in parallel). Four flash units off of each generator. Each generator runs 9 hours (which can cover 3 full performances usually) on 1.5 gallons of fuel. At $450-$500 per generator, it was cheaper than purchasing 10 Vagabond Mini's.

It is a a ton of work, but a lot of fun!

 

[mrca]

Interesting shoot. Using generators seems to introduce another problem, noise. Where do you position them around an arena and how do you run the power lines? My concern with 10 $500 lights 20' up poles, if a storm rolls in, getting them down or protected has to be challenging. o you have them somewhat protected? But hmm, hurricane season is approaching and a generator might be nice to keep my refrigerator running so I don't lose all the food and on location, it could power my modeling lights, laptop etc.

 

[OnTheFly7]

Interesting shoot. Using generators seems to introduce another problem, noise. Where do you position them around an arena and how do you run the power lines? My concern with 10 $500 lights 20' up poles, if a storm rolls in, getting them down or protected has to be challenging. o you have them somewhat protected? But hmm, hurricane season is approaching and a generator might be nice to keep my refrigerator running so I don't lose all the food and on location, it could power my modeling lights, laptop etc.

They run at 52 decibels.

At outdoor events it is no issue as Rodeo's tend to be loud events anyway. In addition, most of these events run at large fairs so there is a ton of background noise anyway.

If there is a slight chance of rain, I cover the flash units and tape the opening closed (to the reflector). If there is the high probability of rain, I do not bother setting the lights and just deal with what I have. That is when I get creative.

 

[smoke665]

. So, I run three, 2000 watt (1600 running watt) inverter generators (not in parallel). Four flash units off of each generator.

Interesting, I had this discussion with PCB. I was looking at running three AB's off one 2,000 watt inverter, or inverter generator for a location shot. They swore it wouldn't work, not enough wattage. I ended up going with a bigger 3500 watt unit which works fine, but there was a significant difference in cost and more important, weight. If you're running four lights off each unit, then it looks like my initial thoughts were correct.

 

[OnTheFly7]

. So, I run three, 2000 watt (1600 running watt) inverter generators (not in parallel). Four flash units off of each generator.

Interesting, I had this discussion with PCB. I was looking at running three AB's off one 2,000 watt inverter, or inverter generator for a location shot. They swore it wouldn't work, not enough wattage. I ended up going with a bigger 3500 watt unit which works fine, but there was a significant difference in cost and more important, weight. If you're running four lights off each unit, then it looks like my initial thoughts were correct.

I wasn't sure.

After some internet searching, I found someone who was doing something similar off of the 2000 watt Honda generator (also runs at 1600 watts), with out issue.

At 1/4 to 1/2 power, I'm not pulling much power. In a full 8 second ride, I may shoot 8-10 images. Most of the time, it is around 3-6 images per ride. It is not a "spray and pray" type of thing.

 

[smoke665]

At 1/4 to 1/2 power, I'm not pulling much power. In a full 8 second ride, I may shoot 8-10 images. Most of the time, it is around 3-6 images per ride. It is not a "spray and pray" type of thing.

In actual use this is probably more the case. I suspect Pc's power requirement was at full power recycling.