Sony FA-WRC1M Wireless Radio Commander

Sony FA-WRC1M Wireless Radio Commander
Anybody found any details about this?
The brief description on the B&H site says it supports 5 Groups. That suggests that Sony is going to extend its Group feature from 3 to 5.

dmward wrote in post #18070864
Sony FA-WRC1M Wireless Radio Commander
Anybody found any details about this?
The brief description on the B&H site says it supports 5 Groups. That suggests that Sony is going to extend its Group feature from 3 to 5.

http://helpguide.sony.​net/ilc/1620/v1/ja/pri​nt.pdf + translate.google.com

deejjjaaaa wrote in post #18071078
http://helpguide.sony.​net/ilc/1620/v1/ja/pri​nt.pdf + translate.google.com

It takes some time to work through the translation.
Apparently Group mode has been added.
In Gr mode Groups A-C can be TTL or manual and Groups D, E are manual only.

Considering this, it seems the Godox Group mode for Sony offers more flexibility.

dmward wrote in post #18071451
It takes some time to work through the translation.
Apparently Group mode has been added.
In Gr mode Groups A-C can be TTL or manual and Groups D, E are manual only.

Considering this, it seems the Godox Group mode for Sony offers more flexibility.

can you suggest a reasonable scenario where you need for example 5 different groups of flashes/strobes operating each one in _TTL_ mode ?

deejjjaaaa wrote in post #18071463
can you suggest a reasonable scenario where you need for example 5 different groups of flashes/strobes operating each one in _TTL_ mode ?

Wedding receptions, events in large rooms.
Essentially, any time when 5 lights are used in a setup.
Many people claim TTL is inaccurate, I've found, through experience, that I can use it interchangeably with manual mode in just about any situation.

If I'm going to have some of the groups in TTL then I prefer to have them all in TTL.

dmward wrote in post #18071467
Wedding receptions, events in large rooms.
Essentially, any time when 5 lights are used in a setup.

so you want to be able to switch some of them totally off or switch back on - hence you want them all in separate groups, instead of putting all 5 in one group, right ?

deejjjaaaa wrote in post #18071541
so you want to be able to switch some of them totally off or switch back on - hence you want them all in separate groups, instead of putting all 5 in one group, right ?

Correct. It's about having absolute control of each and every light in the room, all from the camera position rather than walking over to any of the lights to adjust them from close quarters.

Having this type of control is huge.

deejjjaaaa wrote in post #18071463
can you suggest a reasonable scenario where you need for example 5 different groups of flashes/strobes operating each one in _TTL_ mode ?

As David points out in an event, such as a wedding reception, it would not be too hard to have 3 or more Groups of flash units set up around the room. The main reason behind using TTL, in such a situation, is that the distance from the stationary "off camera" flash units to the subjects is constantly changing. Even if you are using an "on camera" flash more than likely the distance between the subjects and the flash is changing. You take a picture of a person 3 feet away from Group A flash and then you pan to a couple that are 10 feet away from Group A, TTL will compensate for this. If you are using multiple Groups of flash and turning them "on" and "off" as you move around the room while shooting in different directions, the last thing you need to worry about is trying to create a proper Manual flash exposure. TTL is the only way to go in such a situation whether using just one Group or 5 Groups.

agv8or wrote in post #18071609
TTL is the only way to go in such a situation whether using just one Group or 5 Groups.

Welllll... maybe it's more accurate to say it's the "easier" way to go.

I know plenty of event photographers who stick with manual mode on their remote lights even in that scenario. It's only recently that I trusted the CheetahStand X Series lights' TTL to start using it on a regular basis this way. Overall, I'm happy. It's not perfect, but neither is all the hard work you have to go through in Manual mode.

deejjjaaaa wrote in post #18071541
so you want to be able to switch some of them totally off or switch back on - hence you want them all in separate groups, instead of putting all 5 in one group, right ?

That's the goal.
I had a wedding Saturday with the reception in a long narrow room with windows on both long walls.
The sun was coming through the windows on one side. There were posts supporting the roof that divided the room into thirds with the middle third open as a dance floor.

Because Godox for Sony only support three groups plus the Master when using a v860IIs on camera I had to put the four off camera lights into two groups. With the on-camera speedlite as a fill.
I would have preferred to have each off camera light in its own group.

Hopefully, Sony will do a camera firmware update to get the 5 Groups working and then Godox can extend its group feature to include 5 Groups with TTL for all of them.

Ulysses01 wrote in post #18071615
Welllll... maybe it's more accurate to say it's the "easier" way to go.

^ Not everyone thinks TTL is the bee's knees..

fotopaul wrote in post #18071734
^ Not everyone thinks TTL is the bee's knees..

Yeah... I don't use it often. I know some swear by it, but I'm happy with Manual mode 90% of the time. Either way what really counts is that the photographer knows what he's doing for consistency in either mode.

Once again, the comments have gotten off the topic to a TTL love/hate debate.
My ordinal question was if anyone had more detailed information about this announced Sony device.
My answer to a question was that I found the ability to control 5 groups useful. I further lamented that the two additional groups were Manual only. And, that I hoped that Godox would be able to implement 5 Groups that covered both TTL and M control.

I am hoping for the more complete implementation because it makes sense to have a controller with those capabilities. Whether one chooses to use TTL or M control is, hopefully, based on circumstances and experience.

Here is an image from the reception last Saturday.
A light stand, with AD600 pack on it, is in the background.
Another light is camera left in across the dance floor from the on in the picture.
Two more are behind the camera left and right.

This image has no processing in Lightroom. All the lights were in TTL mode.
The four AD600s were in two groups with the lights diagonally opposite in the same group.
There was a v860IIs on camera acting as the controller.
Group M (on camera) was set to -.7FEC. Group A was -.3 FEC and Group B was -.7FEC.
Metering was set to center weighted. On the A7 the same metering method is used for both ambient and TTL metering.

Having 5 groups would enable me to control each of the lights independently which is preferable.

dmward wrote in post #18072442
Group M (on camera) was set to -.7FEC. Group A was -.3 FEC and Group B was -.7FEC.
Metering was set to center weighted. On the A7 the same metering method is used for both ambient and TTL metering.

Having 5 groups would enable me to control each of the lights independently which is preferable.

Hosted photo: posted by dmward in
./showthread.php?p=180​72442&i=i116553943
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

and did you fire all 5 units (master speedlite and 4 strobes) all the time then while shooting in this single room ?