Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

My Cybersyncs will not trigger the shutter on my Canon G11. I am using a Pocket Wizard CM-E3 motor drive cable and the CSRB receiver. I have more than one CSRB and they work with my other cameras so it's not the receiver. Could it be too short a pulse from the Cybersync or perhaps a polarity issue? The Pocket Wizards fire the shutter with this cord but the Cybersyncs will not. I love the Cybersyncs and hate to think I have to buy more PW's rather than use what I have.
Sunday 1/31/10- I reversed the polarity on the cord and it still no joy.

You can check for sure when the tech folks get back in the office, but I don't think the cybersync system was ever intended to trigger a shutter (PW's do this, I know).

Brian

Brian, There seems to be a common misconception that Cybersyncs won't trigger shutters. They do and I even saw a reply from Paul Buff on the Fred Miranda forum concerning this-

"As for not being able to trigger cameras from CyberSync, to my knowledge you can trigger any camera with CyberSync that you can with PW. Where did info to the contrary come from?"
They work with other cameras I have, just not the G11.

I could swear I read here or FM just a week or so ago, the same question was answered "no".
I bought a G10 for my wife last year, and read about the changes from G8-G9-G10... Canon seems to add and remove features at will. Was its ability to be triggered remotely "lost" in the G11 or earlier versions? (I wanted to use the G10 for time-lapse movies, but that handy feature was lost in the G10 :x

Brian

This isn't "cast in concrete", but my observation has been that when triggering any camera I own in AF mode (Canon 40D, 50D, 7D), neither the CyberSync system (CC triggering a camera linked CST), nor the Sekonic 758DR (triggering any PW receiver) seem to be suitable for the task. Both transmitters appear to send out a fixed length RF trigger pulse, and the camera simply cannot lock focus and shoot in the time offered by the pulse. I also have a G9, but it doesn't offer a port for remote triggering, so I have only used it with a CST to sync flash units from the hot shoe, which works fine. I wasn't aware that the G11 even had a remote trigger port. The G9 only has a sub USB port, and a mono audio port. Canon doesn't mention a remote trigger port for the G11 on their website. Only a video out, audio out, and a sub USB port. Where is the E3 remote port located on the G11? Is it possible that you have mistaken the audio out port for a remote port, or did Canon just fail to mention the E3 port on their spec page for the G11?

On the other hand, all of the cameras other than my G9 trigger just fine with either setup in a studio setting, where the camera is set to "manual focus" mode. Press the button on the remote unit, and the camera fires.

Anytime I need to utilize the AF feature of a remote triggered camera, I have to use a hand held PW that triggers another PW connected to the camera trigger port. As long as I press the test button on the hand held PW, it transmits a continuous signal to the camera linked PW, and the camera can take as long as it needs to achieve AF lock before firing. When it does fire, a CST mounted on the camera hot shoe will reliably sync my flash units.

Voyager

Hey Voyager,
Thanks for the input. The G11 has an E3 remote port located below the HDMI port on the right side of the camera (page 166 of the User Guide). I am using C1 mode with manual focus so it's not related to the camera not being able to get a focus lock.
The G11 shutter fires perfectly every time with the Pocket Wizards.

That news helped me justify bumping the G11 up on my camera budget list. I like the G9 overall, but the G11 has a sweet grip (relative to the 9), and rave reviews about sensor performance in general. The G9 is very competent at ISO 80 or 100, but shadow noise becomes a three headed monster beyond that if the scene has much more of a highlight to shadow EV spread than near flat..... Having a remote trigger port on the G11 tips the scale for me.

I hoped that your issue was tied to AF timing as I described, but as it worked out, your reply helped solve my indecision about selling my G9, and going for the G11. Thanks! I'll be keeping an eye out for the real solution to your trigger problem. Keep us posted.

Voyager

The CyberSync system was designed to be a flash trigger. The ability to trigger shutters is not very different, and should be doable with most cameras. However, it would be next to impossible to test every concievable camera with a remote jack. That being said, i have not heard of a newer camera that will not work. I have an older (c. 2002-2004) Minolta D5 and D7Hi that wont work. My guess is a longer close time is required. My first suspect would be to reverse polarity, but you have tried that. My second guess would be a close time issue, especially if you are using the same cord on a DSLR. I would suspect this is related to shutter lag (though the G11 should have a negligible shutter lag, but it could be enough longer than a DSLR to be an issue).

TS

The G11 shutter fires every time with the Pocket Wizards. I guess they have a longer close time.

Thanks.

Hello, did you ever find a solution to the problem.
I just got a Flashzebra cable No00092 to trigger the shutter of the G11 and csrb/csrb+ but it doesn't work for me.