A New Bare Bulb Flash Arrives

elv wrote in post #16129879
How is Jim mounting the CL-TX to the camera?

The only other option I can suggest is to use a Phottix Strato II under you're on camera flash, to fire the Cheetah Lights, and keep the CL-TX in pocket to adjust power levels when needed.

This is a problem faced with a lot of systems at the moment, including the Canon 600EX-RT. You need to mount another transmitter somewhere to fire some manual lights as well (or use a pass through hotshoe).
.

When I use my 580EX on camera, I use pocketwizards to fire the Cheetah lights. One pocketwizard gets plugged into a modified base on the 580EX and is rubber banded to the flash. The other PW is attached to the Cheetah lights sync port.

Ulysses01 wrote in post #16127441
It really depends upon the application.

Yes, that it does and maybe I should have prefaced my statement with "personally" but I still think somebody might want to consider it. It was versatility of "toolbox at disposal" that was more of my guidance. In other words, if tied up money is not an obstacle and E640 would still get enough use having both allows one to reach for whichever one will be best fit for the situation, never ending up having to say "I wish I didn't sell my E640".

elv wrote in post #16129889
This looks great thanks David. I'm sure there would be many times this power would come in handy, especially using the HSS mode.
.

Elv, I think anyone owning two 180s or 360s should get one of the brackets, just for that one time when they need just a bit more. Either because they have to move the light farther away or because then need a bit more shutter speed to deepen the background.

If I had the add-on cross member it would be interesting to see what 2 360s and 2 180s could accomplish.

450 Ws in H mode is a lot of photons.

jcolman wrote in post #16130086
When I use my 580EX on camera, I use pocketwizards to fire the Cheetah lights. One pocketwizard gets plugged into a modified base on the 580EX and is rubber banded to the flash. The other PW is attached to the Cheetah lights sync port.

And that is precisely why i can't go with this solution. That's fine if you want to mess around with wires, triggers and rubber bands. (Not knocking it, if it works for you, great.)

But i need a more seamless, integrated solution. I want to replace ALL my canon flashes and fire all 3 CL360's from the master on my camera hot shoe. Just like with the Canon RT system... but with better IR focus assist beam.

Something i can't live without while photographing dancing and such...

YN-622c.
One on the camera has AF assist. Plug one into each Cheetah Light. There are three groups available to control how they are fired.

Use the CL-Tx to change power on the lights individually by assigning each one to a different number on the dial of the CL-Tx.

You do have to attach the YN-622c to the Cheetah Light with a short able. PC connection with screw locking collar to mini-jack. Available from Lon at Flash Zebra.

Works like a charm and also supports H mode if you need or want to use it.

If you want to put a Cheetah Light on the YN-622c that will work up to X-Sync speed. That light is in group A.

The YN-622c AF assist beam is probably better than the one on the 600EX. At least I see it clearly in the view finder while I don't remember ever seeing the Canon beam unless its really dark.

ZoranC wrote in post #16130118
In other words, if tied up money is not an obstacle and E640 would still get enough use having both allows one to reach for whichever one will be best fit for the situation, never ending up having to say "I wish I didn't sell my E640".

Yeah, I think you're right. It's usually better to have the gear on hand than to not. That said, at least in my case, I really think the Einstein was simply not the light for ME in the long haul. I'll have to see how my decisions on lighting evolve. At least for now, I'm still keeping the Einsteins around.

Though I've never wanted to do this, Nikon appears to be a little easier than Canon in terms of mixing speedlights with CL-xxx's. I posted something close to the following elsewhere in this thread, but to save time this is what works with a Nikon D4...

1. Place a PW MiniTT1 with a CLS-compatible speedlight (e.g. SB-910) in the camera's hotshoe
2. Set the SB-910 to Master Mode, and set its zone to anything, i.e. TTL, Manual, ---, etc
3. Place the remote CL-xxx in a hotshoe adapter, and connect the male end of the adapter cable to P2 on a FlexTT5
4. Select a Zone (A, B or C) for the remote FlexTT5
5. Set the selected Zone from Step 4 to Manual on the SB-910
6. Happy shooting (even up to max shutter speed as long as the CL-XXX is set to 1/1)
7. Focus assist on the SB-910 is active, though it's rarely needed when using a D4

An AC-3 zone controller or SU-4 can be used in place of the SB-910 if desired.

One of the downsides, of course, is that PW's are fairly pricey.

jcolman wrote in post #16130086
When I use my 580EX on camera, I use pocketwizards to fire the Cheetah lights. One pocketwizard gets plugged into a modified base on the 580EX and is rubber banded to the flash. The other PW is attached to the Cheetah lights sync port.

Jim, thanks very much for weighing in on how you're making this work. David mentioned you had a thread with images illustrating how you put all of this together. I'll see if I can find that thread, as well. I'm a visual guy.

symbolphoto wrote in post #16130193
But i need a more seamless, integrated solution. I want to replace ALL my canon flashes and fire all 3 CL360's from the master on my camera hot shoe. Just like with the Canon RT system... but with better IR focus assist beam.

Something i can't live without while photographing dancing and such...

B, I think at least in these respects, you and I are on the same page. The desire for a decent AF assist light is one reason I've been trying to figure out how to get an on-camera flash to work seamlessly with the Cheetah Light system, with less futzing around.

U, well that's the thing that non-wedding photographers have a hard time wrapping their head around... understandably. When i go to a wedding, i don't want to think about the gear. I don't need another item to have to worry about. I need to put the batteries in, turns it on, set it and forget it. (For the most part).

I don't mind changing power regularly (I shoot in manual mode on my flashes all the time). But i don't want to have to mess around with cables, extra triggers, extra batteries etc. I'm done with that.

.02

dmward wrote in post #16130265
YN-622c.
One on the camera has AF assist. Plug one into each Cheetah Light. There are three groups available to control how they are fired.

Use the CL-Tx to change power on the lights individually by assigning each one to a different number on the dial of the CL-Tx.

You do have to attach the YN-622c to the Cheetah Light with a short able. PC connection with screw locking collar to mini-jack. Available from Lon at Flash Zebra.

Works like a charm and also supports H mode if you need or want to use it.

If you want to put a Cheetah Light on the YN-622c that will work up to X-Sync speed. That light is in group A.

The YN-622c AF assist beam is probably better than the one on the 600EX. At least I see it clearly in the view finder while I don't remember ever seeing the Canon beam unless its really dark.

This is interesting... for sure. But still seems like a little more than i want to deal with. I'm going to give this some consideration though. Man, if that beam is just built into the CL360, then i'm in business!

Not knocking the CL180 or CL360, but man... if you are going to go through the trouble of putting any beam system in there, why not go with the standard IR pulse system? I say it's 95% there, i just want my 5% lol....

Ulysses01 wrote in post #16130572
Jim, thanks very much for weighing in on how you're making this work. David mentioned you had a thread with images illustrating how you put all of this together. I'll see if I can find that thread, as well. I'm a visual guy.

Here you go

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1315936

symbolphoto wrote in post #16130972
This is interesting... for sure. But still seems like a little more than i want to deal with. I'm going to give this some consideration though. Man, if that beam is just built into the CL360, then i'm in business!

Not knocking the CL180 or CL360, but man... if you are going to go through the trouble of putting any beam system in there, why not go with the standard IR pulse system? I say it's 95% there, i just want my 5% lol....

The 5% that's missing is the extra control pins and firmware that are used to sense the half shutter press needed to activate the AF light. Probably the thinking was that if someone wants to use the 180 as a manual flash on camera then having a switchable AF assist light was a benefit.

I made an interesting "discovery" yesterday afternoon.
A while back I found and ordered an S mount to Elinchrom mount adapter on eBay. I ordered one and when it arrived spent a couple frustrating hours trying to mount the Elinchrom ring onto the front of a Cheetah Speed Pro Bracket. That didn't work and I kind of forgot about the adapter.

Then yesterday I had a thought how would the Cheetah Light work with the adapter mounted on the Speed Pro Bracket. So I gave it a try. First I mounted the adapter, then mounted the light and slide it into the throat until the locking screw hit the upright. The result was less than satisfactory;

Nice thinking David. It look good and lets hope the mount will not get to hot and melt.

BigIronCruiser wrote in post #16130460
Though I've never wanted to do this, Nikon appears to be a little easier than Canon in terms of mixing speedlights with CL-xxx's. I posted something close to the following elsewhere in this thread, but to save time this is what works with a Nikon D4...

1. Place a PW MiniTT1 with a CLS-compatible speedlight (e.g. SB-910) in the camera's hotshoe
2. Set the SB-910 to Master Mode, and set its zone to anything, i.e. TTL, Manual, ---, etc
3. Place the remote CL-xxx in a hotshoe adapter, and connect the male end of the adapter cable to P2 on a FlexTT5
4. Select a Zone (A, B or C) for the remote FlexTT5
5. Set the selected Zone from Step 4 to Manual on the SB-910
6. Happy shooting (even up to max shutter speed as long as the CL-XXX is set to 1/1)
7. Focus assist on the SB-910 is active, though it's rarely needed when using a D4

An AC-3 zone controller or SU-4 can be used in place of the SB-910 if desired.

One of the downsides, of course, is that PW's are fairly pricey.

Can the CL-xxx be used in the hotshoe of the FlexTT5 rather than a hotshoe adapter plus cable? Does this work for HSS?