Mixing Pocket Wizard & Cyber Commander Systems?

I have Alien Bees in my smaller studio now, but I'm setting up another large studio to primarily shoot speed and pontoon boats. So far I love the Einsteins with the Cyber Commander system. These boats are complicated to light and have tight spaces with many nooks and crannies. I believe the best way to light these are with a combination of these strobes and off camera flash units (Similar to Speedlights). I'm open to suggestions on alternatives over the use of small battery operated flashes, but my real question is can I mix the Pocket Wizard with the Cyber Commander system? I'd like to do this so I can control the output of both the stobes and flash units... Once I get the lights into position I need to get on a man lift and position the camera. It would be nice to adjust both the Einstein and Speedlights output without getting off the man lift.

I have not purchased any of the studio lights at this point until I hear a few opinions:

1. Are off camera flash units (Speedlights) the right way to light small areas where I can't fit an Einstein, diffuser & vagabond unit?

2. What system can I use to allow control over both the Einstein and off camera flash units (Speedlights)?

3. What brands/models of off camera flashes work best with these recommended systems?

FYI, All I have at this point is my Nikon D810...

Thanks in Advance,
Jay

Example:

PocketWizard has an control unit for the Einstein E640 and I don't know if this unit will also control other Einsteins. http://wiki.pocketwiza​rd.com/index.php?title​=PowerMC2

You don't need to have all Speedlights and you can also look for simple slave flashes that only need four penlights and as soon as they see a flash the also flash. You can't control the output other than by covering it but then it can't see the trigger flash that good.

mmmfotografie, Thanks for the response... Yes, I believe Pocket Wizard can control Einsteins but not fully. From what I understand they can only control about 1/2 the stops plus no control over modeling lights etc... My hope is to have a benefit of remotely controlling the Pocket Wizard for the Speedlights and Cyber Commander for the Einsteins giving me the benefit of both. I believe I'll use 2-3 Einsteins and 2-3 Speedlight in any given shot.

The Cyber Commander and Cyber Syncs is a great system but it is almost impossible to see the Commander display out in bright sunlight. If you plan to just use them in a studio this will not be an issue or you could use an old Hoodman loupe to view the display when needed. The older Hoodman loupes were designed for the smaller screen DSLR's back in the day such as the 5Dc and they cover the Cyber Commander screen almost perfectly. I am not sure which Pocket Wizard's you are referring to but if you plan to use the Cyber Commander with Einsteins then you already have full control of them plus a lot of features that you are not going to find in others systems but I would suggest buying a Cyber Sync transmitter to trigger your Einsteins so that you can keep the Commander close at hand to make flash adjustments and use as a light meter.

There are a variety of ways that you could go for integrating and controlling small shoe flashes depending on how much you want to spend and what features you think you will need. If you want the full meal deal of TTL and HSS then you will need a TTL system like the Yongnuo YN-622n or Phottix Odins for Nikon and Nikon compatible ITTL Speedlights. You would use one of their respective receivers to trigger your Cyber Sync transmitter unless you will be using only 1 or 2 Einsteins and then you could trigger each of them with a separate receiver if you so choose. If you are just needing manual flash control then once again their are several systems that would work with your Nikon such as the Cactus V6 which can control the Manual flash output of a variety of shoe flashes or the Godox CellsII-n which you could then use a variety of shoe flashes such as the V850 (TT850), V860N, Wistro 180 or 360 (rebranded by other distributers) and control their Manual flash output with an FT-16 transmitter.

One thing to note is that a flash system like Godox, that can use a separate remote transmitter to adjust flash power, could then be triggered using Cyber Sync Receivers and a CS transmitter thus bypassing the need of another radio trigger system. Also if you have a transmitter with a pass through hotshoe then you might even be able to mount and trigger the Cyber Sync transmitter directly from the camera without the need for a separate receiver. Just something to keep in mind as I do not know all the capabilities and features of the different options that are out there.

I am sure there are more systems that will do what you want to do but I am not a Nikon user so I cannot think of any more Nikon compatible ones off the top of my head. One system that should work and deserves mentioning because it offers some unique features as well as being one of my favorite systems, is the Yongnuo YN-E3-RT/YNE3-RX combo. Although it is designed to work with the Canon Wireless RT system the YN-E3-RT transmitter has a Legacy Trigger feature (turned on/off in the CF) which allows it to work with non Canon Cameras while still controlling and triggering Canon compatible Wireless RT Speedlites in Manual flash mode. With the addition of the YNE3-RX receiver you can expand to those Canon ETTL compatible Speedlites that are non RT such as most of the older EX Speedlites or third party ones such as the Phottix Mitros+ as well as others but too many to mention them all here. The YNE3-RX will also trigger strobes with a sync cord or you could mount the CS transmitter in the hot shoe which would then trigger your Einsteins. Unfortunately I do not have anything but Canon Cameras to test the remote triggering of Einsteins to make sure they would sync properly in the Legacy mode, when triggered with a CS transmitter, when using a non Canon camera.

The only reason that I mention this system is that most of the systems only allow for control of 3 groups and most do not have the capability to turn those groups on/off or at the least not very quickly and easily. Using the <Gr> mode on the ST-E3-RT you have control of 5 groups plus you have the capability to turn each individual group on or off quickly and easily. One other feature about the <Gr> mode in Legacy is that possibly you can expand control beyond Manual flash to Auto Flash by setting a group to Ext A mode (I say this with the disclaimer that I have no way of testing it with a non Canon camera and that this capability would only be available for use with an RT Speedlite with External Metering capability). Holding the transmitter in my hand and testing this feature the flash does change flash output as the FEC is changed but I am going to leave it at that. Of course setting one of the groups to ETTL would not work because there is no ETTL communication between a non Canon camera and the YN-E3-RT transmitter.

You can use the CyberSync Receiver Plus (CSRB+) to trigger speedlites, but you won't be able to adjust their power from the Cyber Commander.

With PocketWizards, you can manage power for three zones using the AC3 ZoneController with the PowerMC2 tiggers for the Einsteins and FlexTT5 triggers for the speedlites. You'll also need another FlexTT5 (or FlexTT1) on the camera with the AC3.

I forgot to mention another option I believe agv8or is stating is you can adjust the power of the Einsteins using the Cyber Command and inexpensive CyberSync CSXCV receivers, and then fire the Einsteins through a sync cord using whatever speedlite system tiggers you buy into.

pat.kane wrote in post #17767507
I forgot to mention another option I believe agv8or is stating is you can adjust the power of the Einsteins using the Cyber Command and inexpensive CyberSync CSXCV receivers, and then fire the Einsteins through a sync cord using whatever speedlite system tiggers you buy into.

I never said this. No sync cords of any kind are required. Einsteins have their own receiver that plugs directly into the Einstein. I suggested that the OP buy a separate Cyber Sync transmitter to use to trigger the Einsteins and to not use the Cyber Commander for this purpose but rather use it only for adjusting flash power, adjusting modeling lights, as a flash meter, setting Groups etc... The Cyber Sync transmitter can be triggered directly from the cameras hot shoe when using the Einsteins by them selves or if using a shoe flash system with it's own radio triggering system that you would put the Cyber Sync transmitter directly in the hotshoe of a receiver and when the shoe flashes are triggered then so would be the Einsteins. Rather elementary way of integrating two or more radio trigger systems to sync together.

Rand, sorry for the confusion. I had to re-read what you wrote a few times to understand what you stated. I get it now--trigger the Einsteins with a CyberSync transmitter mounted in the hotshoe of the 3rd party system being used to control the speedlites.

So I'll add what I stated in my post as yet another option available to the OP.

I own two Einsteins and use CyberSyncs. I use the CC off camera to adjust power and the much smaller CyberSync transmitter on camera--two actually, one for both bodies.

I then had a need for an on-camera flash (for fill and more importantly, AF assist) while using the strobes, so I couldn't use the CyberSync system. Instead, I used the PocketWizard FlexTT5 on camera with a speedlite mounted to it, and a FlexTT5 with sync cord to trigger the Einstein as I did not own the PowerMC2 at the time.

Lots of options available.

pat.kane wrote in post #17768006
Rand, sorry for the confusion. I had to re-read what you wrote a few times to understand what you stated. I get it now--trigger the Einsteins with a CyberSync transmitter mounted in the hotshoe of the 3rd party system being used to control the speedlites.

So I'll add what I stated in my post as yet another option available to the OP.

I own two Einsteins and use CyberSyncs. I use the CC off camera to adjust power and the much smaller CyberSync transmitter on camera--two actually, one for both bodies.

I then had a need for an on-camera flash (for fill and more importantly, AF assist) while using the strobes, so I couldn't use the CyberSync system. Instead, I used the PocketWizard FlexTT5 on camera with a speedlite mounted to it, and a FlexTT5 with sync cord to trigger the Einstein as I did not own the PowerMC2 at the time.

Lots of options available.

That is better put and more succinct than my description.