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Re: [OM] A brief report on Alien Bees radio slaves

Subject: Re: [OM] A brief report on Alien Bees radio slaves
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 19:31:54 -0400
I forgot to mention that you also need an umbrella bracket/adapter.  I 
have Manfrotto units like these
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546375-REG/Manfrotto_by_Bogen_Imaging_026_026_Swivel_Umbrella_Adapter.html>
but the much less expensive Impact unit will work well too
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/298709-REG/Impact_3117_Umbrella_Bracket.html>

Although only illustrated on the Manfrotto, both units include the 
required male and female threaded studs required to mount a hot shoe (or 
my homemade bracket) on top and attach to a tripod or light stand on the 
bottom.

Chuck Norcutt


Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> OK, I see some construction and performance detail is in order here.  :-)
> 
> If you look carefully at the bottom side of the outer ends of my simple 
> aluminum bracket in the T32/umbrella photo
> <http://www.chucknorcutt.com/gear/Umbrella%20adapter%20mounted%20on%20tripod%20%232.jpg>
> you will see an extra hole drilled on each end.  Those two holes allow 
> for another pair of T32s to be mounted upside down and outboard of the 
> first pair (they need to be outboard in order to leave enough space to 
> operate the locking handle on the umbrella adapter).  Four T32s are 
> about 1/3 stop more powerful than an AB800 with slightly less falloff at 
> the edge of a 28mm field of view.
> 
> But four T-32s are kind of cumbersome.  Two work pretty well and are 
> only 0.7 stops less power than an AB800.  Both have about 1/2 stop 
> falloff at the edge of a 28mm field.  It also helps to resolve what I 
> feel is the Achilles heel of the T-32 relative to other flash units.  It 
> only has two manual power settings, 1/4 and full.  But with a pair of 
> units you can have 1/4, 1/2, 1, 1-1/4 and 2X.  That, along with 
> adjusting the flash distance a bit, will give you what you need.
> 
> As pictured, the two T32s are setup to allow triggering via TTL cord 
> plugged into the TTL autoconnector T20 on the right or via PC cable 
> plugged into the hot shoe adapter on the left.  Not shown is that the 
> flashes are normally connected via a TTL autocord T 0.3 meter running 
> between their TTL sockets on their left sides.  Triggering via a TTL 
> cord using a TTL capable OM will give TTL flash control from the pair. 
> Triggering from the PC cord connector fires both flashes (which must be 
> in manual mode) but with no exposure control.  It's not possible to take 
> advantage of the flash's normal auto mode since the auto mode sensor 
> only sees the inside of the umbrella and not the subject.  It would 
> work, however, if you took away the umbrella.  You might consider using 
> ceiling bounce for diffusion without the umbrella.
> 
> I've only had the CSRBs for two days and so far haven't used it for 
> anything other than a few test shots with a T32 and Canon 540EZ to make 
> sure they work.  But connected to my paired T32's I would use a single 
> hotshoe/miniphone connector.  Both flashes can be tied together with the 
>   0.3 meter autocord so if either of them fires the other will too.  The 
> dual hot shoe arrangement is not required.  But, if I was using other 
> than T32s, I still wouldn't use the dual hot shoe arrangement, at least 
> behind an umbrella.  In this closeup of the umbrella adapter bracket
> <http://www.chucknorcutt.com/gear/Homemade%20bracket%20&%20various%20hotshoe%20adapters.jpg>
> you can see two optical slaves which can be had at any camera shop or on 
> ebay very cheaply.  Attach one flash unit to the hot shoe trigger 
> adapter.  Mount the second flash on the optical slave with the slave 
> lens facing into the umbrella.  When the first flash fires the second 
> flash will also fire when it sees the first flash reflected off the 
> inside of the umbrella.  Even without the umbrella the second flash 
> might be fired by the optical slave if the room was not too large.  The 
> simple little optical slaves are quite sensitive.
> 
> Chuck Norcutt
> 
> Robert Burnette wrote:
>> Neat idea, Chuck. I have three T-32s, but I have never used them with
>> an umbrella as you have. It is easy to get tunnel vision when it
>> comes to photography equipment use. Do you use the the DSY-HS (two
>> hot shoe to one miniphone plug) cord with the T-32s and the CSRB or
>> do you have a better arrangement?
>>
>> Curiosity question: Would the T-32s and an umbrella work on auto mode
>> as TTL flash with an OM-2 or an OM-4 if the OM connectors cords are
>> used? I have the OM autoTTL multiconnector and a couple of TTL
>> connector cords. Hmmmm. I may need a CSRB unit too.   ;o)
>>
>> Robert
>>
>> Chuck wrote:
>>
>>> I purchased the battery powered receivers since I use radio slaves
>>> with portable flash units as well > as the Bees as shown here 
>>> <http://www.chucknorcutt.com/gear/Umbrella%20adapter%20mounted%20on%20tripod%20%232.jpg>
>>>
>>> When that photo was taken I was using cords.  The shoes have since
>>> been changed to favor Paramount hot shoe to miniphone connectors
>>> which will plug directly into Pocket Wizards or the Alien Bee CSRs.
>>>
>>> <http://www.paramountcords.com/products.asp?cat=70>
>>>
>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>
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