Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I apologize if this is somewhere on forum but I can't fid anything.

Problem: When I shoot above 1/100th of a second on my Canon 5 d mk II
using mini tt1 and ac3 zone controller with a PW Power MC2 I keep getting a slight black bar at the top edge of my frame. The sync speed is 1/200th of a second so not sure why the banding is occurring. Any thoughts, changed the battery in the mini tt1 but didn't help. Everything is up to date as far as firmware. Used 3 different MC2's but nothing seems to work. Using power tracking with center aperture and iso first shot...

Try using the sync cord by itself. Do you get the banding at the same shutter speed? The specified x-sync for the 5D series is 1/200 with speedlights, though the manual also recommends 1/30 to 1/60 of a second for studio lights. I think that is a bit extreme, but it is widely known that the 5D series rarely, if ever, actually achieve 1/200 with a studio light. Typically it is 1/160 to 1/180. If the standard sync cord gets you in this range, it would seem the remotes are introducing a delay (or these remotes may even fire too early, if set a certain way). If this is the case, contacting Pocket Wizard would probably be your best source of accurate information. 802-658-0038 x572

Check to see whether you're using Standard or CTL channels. With my Nikon gear, 1/250 works fine with MiniTT1's and MC2's when using CTL channels, but I have to shoot at 1/200 or less to get rid of the black bars when using Standard channels. It's an idiosyncracy with the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 units when using Standard channels.

since you are using pocketwizards you might have to check the software to make sure you don't have a setting that limits the sync?

the cybercommander syncs perfectly with the canon 5d II at 1/200 (to correct the original thread title)