that's another place where the GUI should be re-worked. There should have been a differentiation between design mode and run mode.

The "flash" screen should be represented by a group which is created in design mode. Then in run mode You'd have the default group of up to 16 lights but any other group (i.e. 2 lights) could be configured (i.e. power) and only the lights in that group would be effected, turned on, etc.

Alternatively and without a total re-write, there should be a way to disable a light from the flash screen.

I use the Cybercommander all the time and it was plug and play for me. Really easy to adjust everything, I just can't understand why others are having so much trouble with it. Also, you can turn the Einsteins on and off directly from the Cybercommander. You can adjust the power of the units globally or individually. I started using the Einstein?Cybercommander/PLM system a few months ago and it works really well for me.

eugen1973 wrote:
I use the Cybercommander all the time and it was plug and play for me. Really easy to adjust everything, I just can't understand why others are having so much trouble with it. Also, you can turn the Einsteins on and off directly from the Cybercommander. You can adjust the power of the units globally or individually. I started using the Einstein?Cybercommander/PLM system a few months ago and it works really well for me.

How do you turn them on and off easily from CC?

The "trouble" i have with it is in bright sunlight and the user interface is poorly designed. Functionally, I love it but I'd love it more if you told me your secret to turning a light on or off with one step (other than ramping its power down to zero)

jzucker wrote:
eugen1973 wrote:
I use the Cybercommander all the time and it was plug and play for me. Really easy to adjust everything, I just can't understand why others are having so much trouble with it. Also, you can turn the Einsteins on and off directly from the Cybercommander. You can adjust the power of the units globally or individually. I started using the Einstein?Cybercommander/PLM system a few months ago and it works really well for me.


Hit the right joystick to the right twice then down until Light Settings then center click then scroll down or up to Power Settings (I think, I am at work now) then the left joystick will turn it on or off. Also, you can turn on or off the modeling light and the optical slave. I have to admit it took me about an hour to figure it out and the manual was not very helpful but once I did it started working very well for me.

How do you turn them on and off easily from CC?

The "trouble" i have with it is in bright sunlight and the user interface is poorly designed. Functionally, I love it but I'd love it more if you told me your secret to turning a light on or off with one step (other than ramping its power down to zero)

cineski wrote: ...I wonder what coating the inside of the 7" with black would do? Then it would just act as a spill kill and let the bare bulb do the lighting. What the heck kind of material or spray would work to coat it with?

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/rust-oleum-12-oz-flat-black-specialty-high-heat-spray-paint-7778830.html

Aha...There is a standby setting under light settings on the setup screen! That's how you can remove a light from the configuration (temporarily) without having to unplug it.

I'm with Eugen1973. I absolutely love the CC with the Einsteins. I do a lot of very fast paced, high pressure location work. I can set up in minutes. It's so quick to adjust and meter a whole bunch of lights. You can stand at your subject and make all of your adjustments without running back and forth from light to light hitting up and down buttons. I can't imagine not using it. When I'm done in the studio I put them all on standby and walk away. You don't even have to go from light to light turning them on and off.

cineski wrote:
I could never get the cyber commander to work. Perfect example of an engineer designing something for artists ;-). Yes, a redesign would be very beneficial with zero doodads and just simple adjustment knobs for 4-6 strobes.




I am often perplexed by the complains from consumers that a product is too rich in features and flexibility.

I think North American has a "Keep it simple stupid" mentality and "good enough" is all we stride for.

Where as Germany or Japanese products tends to focus on the minor details to perfection. The complexity provides flexibility and can have significant potential once you understand the concept behind it. Reading the manual won't make you go blind either.

This is my observation. I don't own a cyber commander and maybe it is garage.

iseeq4life wrote:

I don't own a cyber commander and maybe it is garage.

well duh...Love how people comment on the merits of something they haven't even used.

I love the functionality, user interface is way too busy for such a small LCD panel and it's virtually unusable in bright sunlight. What's so hard to understand about that?!?

If they put the same user interface on a Galaxy S3 or a tablet it'd be wonderful but they need to consider an interface that works better in sunlight too.

jzucker wrote:
iseeq4life wrote:

I don't own a cyber commander and maybe it is garage.

well duh...Love how people comment on the merits of something they haven't even used.

I love the functionality, user interface is way too busy for such a small LCD panel and it's virtually unusable in bright sunlight. What's so hard to understand about that?!?

If they put the same user interface on a Galaxy S3 or a tablet it'd be wonderful but they need to consider an interface that works better in sunlight too.



Maybe I missed iseeq4life's comment on the merits of something here What I did read was a generalization of how North American people settle and then complain.

The CC has dozens of options, settings, groups, channels, metering, etc. It's all controlled by two buttons using up, down, left, right, or in. How much more simple can it get without losing features? For it to be touch screen, it would have to be much larger and more expensive. Everyone would complain about that.

hondageek wrote:
The CC has dozens of options, settings, groups, channels, metering, etc. It's all controlled by two buttons using up, down, left, right, or in. How much more simple can it get without losing features? For it to be touch screen, it would have to be much larger and more expensive. Everyone would complain about that.

Straw-man argument. Nobody asked for it to be a touch screen.

And it's not simple. I'm an engineer and have no problem with it's user interface. However, today did an outdoor session. Right away, I couldn't see the menu because of the bright sunlight. I couldn't even tweak the brightness because I couldn't see the menu. So I go to turn the light off standby. Doesn't work. Turned the flash on manually. Tried to tweak the power from CC. Goes right back into standby. Finally did the shoot without the CC. When I got back indoors and could read the menu, I see that the setup menu was on Modeling Light Mode instead of Standby Mode so when I tweaked the parameter to get it off standby I was actually tweaking the modeling light setting.

Sorry but it's not a good user interface for location lighting. It's a great interface in the studio but the screen is too small.

And you just made my point for me. Dozens of options, settings, channels, metering in a 1x1.5" screen is not good UI design. Anyway with any experience using or developing small devices (as I do for a living) knows that.

The issues you have with the CC are exactly that, they are issues YOU have with it. YOU can't see it. It's too small for YOU. It's not simple for YOU. There's nothing wrong with the CC, it doesn't have problems. I can see it and use it just fine. YOU need to stop posting about issues that YOU have with your equipment and matter-of-factly stating that the fault lies in the equipment. You complained for weeks about modifiers falling off your AB strobes to the point that you sold them. I bought one from you just to prove it was fine (which it is) and now you want to buy it back! Maybe you should take a look through some of your recent history on FM and decide whether photography is right for you? For an engineer, you have a lot of trouble using some really simple equipment.

jzucker wrote:
iseeq4life wrote:

I don't own a cyber commander and maybe it is garage.

well duh...Love how people comment on the merits of something they haven't even used.



Love how people can't interpret information provided to them. My comments were general statements about the consumers in our society.

I gave "cineski" the benefit of the doubt and stated that I don't own a Cyber Commander and it might very well be a garbage product based on a flawed user interface.

From the product specification standpoint, a lot of the Paul C Buff products offer superior performance at similar or even lower cost compared to competitor products. This bucks the trend especially when the products are designed and manufactured in USA. I feel compelled to vouch for them because companies like Paul C Buff is a dying breed.

You sir, as an engineer, lack critical thinking skill and has poor judgement. Shame.

iseeq4life wrote:
jzucker wrote:
iseeq4life wrote:

I don't own a cyber commander and maybe it is garage.

well duh...Love how people comment on the merits of something they haven't even used.



Love how people can't interpret information provided to them.

Your idea of interpretation is rather fluid, dontcha think?