PowerMC2 now available for order

The PocketWizard/PCB PowerMC2 is available for order:

http://www.paulcbuff.c​om/pcb2009/einstein.ht​ml

$100 a piece. Higher than I hoped. But I still placed an order for two.

It sounds like they might be shipping now. We'll find out in the next 36 hours or so.

Finally. No more sync cords with PocketWizards on the Einstein.

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Please do tell if the max flash sync speed surpasses at least 1/250. What you read and what people claim seems to conflict. I recall reading 1/8000, now thats a bold lie from what others report.

got my powermc2 today, and i think it's great i can use my pocket wizards with the einstein. in my brief testing, however, i haven't been able to sync past 1/250 on my canon 5dm2. on the pcb forum, someone mentioned that hypersync doesn't work very well below full power on the einstein. i haven't checked into that.

in any case, i have an ac3 zone controller on camera and i'm wondering if anyone has found a way to dial in the complete power range of the einstein remotely, specifically power levels below 1/64.

I did a quick test with my 5D Mark II this morning and it had black bars at 1/320 and up. Latest firmware on everything, but with no tweaks to the offsets. I'll have to read the manual to see if I'm missing anything.

1/320 on a 5dmk2 gives more headroom especially with ND filters.

I'm more use to using the cybercommander having capabilities firing individual strobes for metering purposes with or without my sekonic pw module firing the strobe.

I'm having a "stupid" moment.... IIRC i cannot fire the flex units with AC3 unless I literally press the shutter button. I always use my AC3 for running and gunning purposes with Ettl.

With the PowerMC2 w/ AC3 can you remotely trigger the flash for metering purposes ? (not using the camera's shutter button?) I dont think you can if you want to have remote power changes. I think the only method is putting the lightmeter in the hands of the subject to hold or putting the light meter on a stand. Is there a setting I am missing?

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=FkLqmmnfybs

video above: This is where I'd rather use my cybercommander. Ac3 is much quicker but you cant fire the strobe with the Pw module. I guess I can be a cowboy and visually determine what looks good on the back of my camera or tethered laptop.


Am I missing something?

On my 5d2 with the Einstein at 1/64 in color mode the max sync speed I could get was 1/250, while in action mode max sync speed was 1/200. Anything faster, I was getting 1st curtain clipping. This was with the stock settings and offsets.

With the ac3, I can only get 6 stops of range centered on 1/8 power. I tried adjusting the fec and to see if it would stack, and it didn't.

Because of the IGBT technology the Einstein will do hyper sync only at full power.
Anything less and the IGBT circuit quenches the light just as it does in a Speedlite.
That's where the short flash durations come from at low power settings.

As you move the shutter speed higher curtain shadows from both the leading and trailing curtains show up on the image.

Hmmm, Its been awhile but I think pressing the test button on the mini fired the Einstein.

Mizer, because the Einstein power range is 8 stops and the AC3 has a 6 stop range the PW utility lets you pick where in the 8 stop range you want the 6 stops to fall. No way to get all 8 stops.

I have both ControlTL with powerMC2s and the Cyber Sync system from PCB, including Commander.
It you want to get the best remote control of the Einstein the Cyber Sync is preferable.
If you want to add Einstein to ControlTL then the MC2 is great. The biggest short coming I've found is that, when using a VML to power the Einstein, the MC2 turns the modeling light on with half shutter press, even if you have turned it off on the back of the Einstein.

I've pointed that out to LPA, hopefully they will get it to work the same way it does with Cyber Commander in future firmware update.

Thanks David for your info. I may just stick with the cybercommander.

Jonathan Ocab... any success with the hypersync? I might be ordering two Einstein 640/two PowerMC2s/ two Vagabon Mini so I can keep using my TT5/430EXII combination but I want to know if I will be able to take avantage of the Hypersync... I need that speed to kill some of the ambient light because most of my work is during the day. Any help would be appreciated!

Regards,

The Einstein and Hyper Sync do not live well together. The IGBT circuitry in the Einstein eliminates the tail when power is reduced. Its the tail that makes hyper sync useful. So, anything below full power will deviler curtain shadows, both leading and trailing. Its kind of neat to see how the slit becomes more narrow as the shutter speed is increased. Naturally that is counter productive for real world shooting.

AB800s or AB1600s are better choice for hyper sync.