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Claborne - CameraNinja.com    says:

Alien Wizards Review
by Chris Claborne, The Camera Ninja.

I just received my CyberSyncs(TM) from alienbees.com a few days ago and what follows is my review of what I call my
&quotAlien Wizards&quot (AWs). The system is comprised of a transmitter that sits on
the hot shoe of the camera and receivers for each flash. The web-site says that
a single receiver can fire multiple flashes from a single receiver but they
don't recommend it (and I say at the price, why not just pop for another
receiver if you really need it). Another way to go is slave if you have only
occasional need.

Currently the AlienBees.com web site has them listed as follows transmitters
are $59/ea, receivers are $69/ea. Compare that to Pocket Wizard at $150 and I
saved over $300, less than half the cost to do the same thing with just three
flash units (imagine if I had 6 or more). This is why you will see me recommend
getting a receiver for everything you need.

I jumped at the chance to use this system after becoming extremely frustrated
with my &quotPoverty Wizards&quot, aka cactus triggers / eBay triggers. My &quotPoverty
Wizards&quot were a fantastic frustration generator. They sucked! I spent money on
lithium batteries for the entire system, did a hardware mod to the transmitter
to add an antenna to it and they still sucked. I held my mouth just so... and
they still wouldn't fire consistently. They were not reliable in the least. I
was working with a range between 2 and 10 feet and there was no formula that
worked reliably at any range (closer was worse). Reliability is really
important because they had the uncanny ability tomis -fire when my subject had
the perfect expression or pose and I was always wondering if they fired on every
single picture. Who needs that kind of distraction?

Before you start flaming me I will say that I've have seen a lot of pictures
taken by some great artists with the &quotPoverty Wizards&quot and have seen a lot of
posts from people stating that they are fine. Hardware mods to the transmitters
have worked really well for some but my personal experience was quite the
opposite. The value proposition of theAWs really should fill a huge hole in the
market. OK, back to the AWs.

The &quotAlien Wizards&quot are brand new and I ordered them just like anyone else. In
fact, I ordered them the day I saw the news article on
strobist.com/.
I don't have more than a hundred or so cycles on them so I I'll update this
review if anything changes.

The documents describe them as follows:


&quot CyberSync (TM) CST1 Transmitter, CSRB receiver (the &quotB&quot at the end
designates the battery driven version) are 2.4 GHz digitally encoded devices
for remote firing of photographic flash units from cameras fitted with a
standard &quothot shoe&quot or flash sync connection. Data is digitally encoded as a
256 bit highly secure word validity verification for complete freedom from
false firing from interference signals. &quot


Other Key Points


Battery life for the receiver is approximately 200 hours and
the transmitter is 2 years.
Receiver can act in &quotrepeater&quot mode allowing you to extend the
range
Using the repeater can add additional latency of 1/2000 to
1/4000 second.
Usable range is documented up to 350' and 150 when obstacles
such as walls are between the transmitter and receiver. (author tested to 240
feet before he ran out of room).
If you lack a hot shoe on your camera, the transmitter has a pc
connection for input.
The voltage presented to the camera by the CST1 is
approximately 3 volts DC and according to the documentation &quotis thus safe for
use with any camera&quot.
Cables include sync cord for standard 3.5mm mono phone jack for
connecting output to your flash unit's sync input. A sync cord is included,
with adapters to fit the 3.5mm or 1/4&quot phone jacks used on most flash units.
The multiple frequencies (16 settings) allow freedom from
interference from other nearby photographers using CyberSync(TM) or other
equipment operating on the 2.4 GHz band.
Does not support camera TTL commands (who does?) They
recommend setting the sync speed slower than your camera's maximum sync speed
but I had no problems syncing at 1/250 second on my Nikon D300 They state
latency of typically only 1/4000 second.
CRSB receiver is powered by two AA batteries.



Image below show what comes in the box, cables, transmitter, and receiver
(Manuals and registration not shown). Each unit is sold separately and each
receiver comes with cables shown.






Just so you know it works, the image below shows the receivers driving a Nikon
SB-800 and a n old Sunpack 433D. The 433D doesn't have a PC cord input so I
used a generic hot-shoe mount with PC cord.







Bellow are my likes and dislikes of the system (ordered by by most important
first).

Likes


Reliable. I've tested to 240+ feet with 100%
reliability. Reliability was the first thing I tested. After my experience
with the &quotPoverty Wizards&quot / cactus / eBay triggers, this was paramount.
I shot at 3 frames per second with 100% reliably from 240 feet
(6 frames per second induced misfires and I am not sure what the max frame
rate is) I used the camera to test reliability and not the test button on the
transmitter because of the way the test button works can possibly induce
errors.


Cost. I am interested in doing some for hire
business but the cost of Pocket Wizards was ridiculous, Nikon camera cords are
a major pain and impossible with my current stash. At ~$69/unit this really
is an enabler for me and with the cost of all the goofing with cords and
wasted time, frustration, and customer satisfaction packs some major ROI.


Passed the drop test. Because they are so
small, they seam to slip out of your hands (maybe it's just me). The trigger
was dropped first. The seem on the trigger split a little but snapped right
back into place and it continues tofunction . The drop test on the receiver
compressed one of the battery terminals flat requiring a field-repair. A
quick repair (bend it back) and it was operational a minute later (don't drop
them!)
I will caution you, they are not rock solid. They feel a little cheep but I'm
not expecting industrial hardened FLUKE meter like armor.


Nice and small. I can still ware my baseball
cap and they don't scare the customers. They fit nice in the bag. The Pocket
Wizards seams very large by comparison.


Range. I'm doing mainly portrait now so ~50+
feet would be fine, 240 feet is great. They have a repeater mode that will
will future-proof them (because as soon as I say I don't need the big range...
I will have an assignment that needs it :). The repeater also can get you out
of situations where the flash may be behind a wall or other obstacle.


They shipped with everything I needed. They
came with batteries loaded in everything, and two different types of of sync
cords for each receiver. I use the standard PC cords to drive my two Nikon
flash units and a cheap Sunpack (via shoe mountpc). I was able to use them
right out of the box.


Works with my equipment. The transmitter
works with my Nikon D300 synced to 1/250. via a
off-the-shelf The receivers drive my two Nikon strobes (SB-26, SB-800) and a
cheap Sunpackpc cord hot shoe. I don't see why they wouldn't work with just
about anything out there including studio equipment. I've already seen posts
from Cannon drivers on the net that state compatibility.


They take normal batteries. The transmitter
takes a standard button cell and is rated to last two years. The receivers
take 2 AA cells. AlienBees documentation says that Alkaline,NiMH , Li, or
other rechargeable batteries should work fine. I've tested with Alkaline and
Li. There are no chargers, funky batteries or goofing around with these guys.


Nice and light (pun intended)



DISLikes
To be honest
there is little to dislike about the Alien Wizards so far. Below are the nits
that I have in order of priority.



Button on receivers are easily pressed when in
my case. Once pressed, they stay on for 1 hour. I would like
to see this fixed. I have no idea what would happen if the button stays
pushed while in the bag but I can guess that they would stay on all the time.
One solution is to remove a battery while packed. I am working on putting my
three receivers and a trigger in a small Pelican case with a small piece of
foam to hold them but not press the buttons but this is turning out to be a
bulky solution. If you have 6 receivers, I think Pelican has a perfect case
for you, it holds them perfectly.


No strap. (I use Velcro on everything but I
would have preferred that they come with straps) to hang on equipment. This
seams like an easy addition.


Channel selector, could use some improving. I'm not suggesting
that they implement full digital command screen on the back like a PW, it's
over-kill and I don't what to pay the price or the space for it.



In the Paul C. Buff CyberSync(TM) manual they show a &quotCyber Commander&quot that
mounts on the camera hot shoe. It shows a LCD with all kinds of buttons.
Hmmm. I wonder what that is? Nothing on their web site.

Conclusions:
The AlienBees CyberSync(TM) system are a great value, are reliable and come
ready to work out of the box. I think the system will work very well for me and
a lot of strobists out there. I highly recommend them over the &quotPoverty
Wizards&quot and cost conscious Pocket Wizard wanna-bees. :) I have very little
experience so far with this new system but what I do have, I really like. I
hope Paul is really successful and my guess is that he will have a hard time
keeping these in stock. At time of writing, the battery driven receivers are on
a 2 week back-order.


-------------------
Chris Claborne is an armature photographer, professional geek for a Fortune 500
company, pilot, and party animal living in San Diego.
Posted at 10:29PM, 16 July 2008 PDT (permalink)