Thanks, Paul. I really appreciate the time you take to give us this information. It\'s been invaluable to me. I have to say that I absolutely love that you actually address customer suggestions and requests, often stating why something is not economical, reasonable, or possible to do. For example, that you actually were willing to tell me (us) that the reason there isn\'t an Einstein ~1280/2560/ZeusenStein is that it would require a fairly large reworking of the design and that expected volume is very low on such a light - too low to justify the expense. Getting information like this (rather than a complete lack of response that is more typical) is both amazing and wonderful.
So, striving to be on-topic: I\'ve been using my Einsteins/CC setup for just over a week now. Flawless power adjustment of lights 20 feet up on booms and stands is amazing. I didn\'t actually realize just how much of a change it would be.
Last weekend I fine-tuned the output of a hair light that was ~18 feet up using the Cyber Commander, while other people were using the multiple light setup concurrently. This allowed this high-volume, large-lineup commercial service shoot to go on uninterrupted, but with subtle improvements as time went on. Really much more of an improvement than I expected.
One thing that I hadn\'t quite realized is just how easy it is to set up for a specific power setting - by f/stop, rather than by watt-seconds. I had anticipated getting full WS setting control from the CC, but to be given the ability to meter a light, get f/16, and then set the light simply to f/8 rather than setting it to 1/4 power makes things so simple. I\'m going to be lending/renting out my setup, and while I had previously thought that the Cyber Commander would never go out due to its expected complexity, I\'m pretty sure I can write up a 1-page document to send out with it that will make things very, very simple for people to use.
The new mount-holding method is great. Quite impressive grip ability once closed. I can\'t see having an issue with it at all except in one odd circumstance: When using a large asymmetric softbox, with a lot of weight off to one side. This will cause the entire ring to slip and spin. I think in that admittedly rare circumstance I can easily resign myself to using a little tape to hold it in place.
My only issue with the CSXCV module is the exposed pins when not attached to the Einstein. This is a fairly minor issue, but I was hoping for a connection design more similar to Secure Digital, where contacts touch, but there are no pins to be bent. It isn\'t likely to be a major issue to me, but I do anticipate eventually bending a pin or two.
Overall light quality is wonderful. Very, very even coverage with all the modifiers I use (softboxes/octoboxes up to 7\'/various reflectors/BD). It\'s very nice to not bump the flash tube and modeling light, and instead simply leave a small streak of skin oil on the frosted dome that safely burns off.
I\'m going to have to see if I can repair and try out my Balcar Quad-Fiberoptic unit with these.
