Godox CellsII N

This isn't even listed on Godox website.

So you know it's old.

This is based on the 433Mhz frequency as opposed to their 2.4GHz ones.

I got a pair of these so I can do hypersync on my Sunpak 120J.  I was confident that I can hook it up all right.  Alas, that didn't work out exactly I hoped.

Even my old Neewer is on the 433 frequency but they don't talk to each other.  And I can't attach the CellsII to my 120J through any cables provided.

In the end, the best I can do is to attach my Neewer transmitter to the Godox CellsII receiver and the Neewer receiver attached to the female sync cable to the 120J.  Through that I was able to sync to 1/1000 with almost no banding.

The thing is I can sync to 1/8000 of a second with no banding if I use an optical slave.

To be able to use hypersync is good when I need to shoot high speed under bright sunlight.

I ordered a Pocket wizard cable male mini 3.5mm to household plug to streamline the connection and also to hope the sync may work better.

This is a bit crazy but I can't help myself.

EDIT:
What I thought and what actually is can be vastly different.  Initially I thought I would get all the features of my Nikon branded SB-800 to work remotely (the hot shoe connector on the transceiver is only single pin so that sort of give away there is no other communication to the flash except to fire). As there is no user manual on the company's website and the one I found is for Canon ... so it's a bit difficult to confirm things.  I believe this CellsII-N would control Godox's own Wistro strobes, like the AD180 or AD360 or similar models but branded differently.  The good news is the trigger is still hypersync capable with varying degrees of success depending on how high the speed you go and the trigger connection.  Waiting for my eBay PocketWizard 3.5mm to HH to trigger the flash directly from the CellsII N

Flash

Godox is stirring up the market place the past 5 years that you can't help but notice them.

Profoto is, I heard, threatens to sue Godox for something something.  We will see.

I got a set of 433Mhz trigger from Neewer which is I think just another name from Godox.  It comes with a transmitter and 2 receiver.  After years of very occasional use, I changed the little battery inside the transmitter.  The set has been quite good, it's not like well built or 100% fool proof but it works.  The battery door is not so well closed so sometimes there is bad connection.  But other than that I am happy with the purchase.  Now most of what Godox makes are 2.4Ghz so I don't think I can use the existing cheapo 433Mhz receivers.  The price of those running of 433Mhz is definitely cheaper but then you feel like you are not future proofing your purchase.

My SB-800 can do high speed sync, that's the trick sync by pulsating the flash above the sync speed of the camera.  Then of course I have a pair of Sunpak 120J, which can't do no Nikon high speed sync.

The question is can they all do hypersync, that's by timing the flashing output and make sure of the long duration assuming they are long duration of the manual flash full output?

It seems to be there is a high chance that they can IF the trigger supports high speed sync.

That's if the trigger supports high speed sync then it will probably most likely can do higher sync when the flash is set at manual and full power.

I haven't got the change to test it on my gears as of now, my set of trigger is just a pure trigger, there is not other magic.

For the past five years of so, Godox has been cranking out models after models and it certainly gaining traction in the market place.  Consumers are happy but not so much from the big name strobe manufacturers.

I am interested to see if I can break the x-sync barrier by using hypersync or high speed sync by using remote radio trigger.

macOS 10.14.5 and APFS

Previously my macOS was on the older file system.  Finally I got the OS updated to 10.14.5 and then moved it to APFS.  I had to put back the old video card so I can access the boot up option menu.

I actually updated it to 10.14.5 first so I could have left it alone but then I felt like to update the file system to APFS as chances are the next subsequent update may also work against me if I am on the old file system.  The software update from macOS simple won't find update on the old file system.

The macpro3,1 2008 is on it very last leg and I don't know how long it can last.  The next OS can be in the offing and totally obliterates this model.  I mean this is on borrowed life already as Apple's Mojave officially doesn't support this old model.

iPhone for Video

I usually carry dual DLSRs with 16-35 and 70-200 for events.  I seldom take video.

Then sometimes without any warning I got asked to take some video.  I could have used my D810 for video but then number one it would screw up my setting for stills even I have another camera.

So my video equipment of choice is whatever iPhone I am carrying and shoot it using Filmic pro which gives me some controls I feel I need.  Would I invest in Beastgrip, I absolutely, because I am such a sucker.  I would buy the anamorphic lens and whatnot.  But then I don't have any more money.  So I have to put everything on hold.  I even have problems getting some hard drive.

Youtube Ad Remover ad

I couldn't think of any ad that's more meta more ironic in an earnestly non ironic way.

I am a some what believer of the free market in the sense that I don't necessarily object to junk mails whether those put through your front door or your electronic inbox.  Sometimes I even voluntarily subscribe to some mailing lists.  But there should be a fine line between spam and scam.  I draw the line on scam.

For Youtube video, I just click skip or if sometimes when that's not available you just have to sit through it.  I totally get if it's free you are the product kind of thing that's the business model of Youtube and Facebook.  Ad is a business model that feeds a sizable workforce.

4K 60fps Youtube

You have fast Internet connection and you think you can play some UHD 4K from Youtube with no problem.  Wrong.

I don't have the very specifics but I can't really play Youtube 4K on my Mac in most or all cases I tried.  (I know I should say all cases but let's keep it not scientific)*

The video just stutters.  It has nothing to do with my connection speed.

I think it's because Youtube uses the V9 codec or something something that Apple doesn't support.

If you run the Safari browser it doesn't even try, the video just gives you 1080p as the best option.  When uses Chrome, it lets you play with 2160p with stutter every 2 seconds or so.  1440p is fine though.

So that's the state of Youtube 4K on a Mac.

I no longer have any "convenient" access to a PC to test it out.

*The only uploader whose 4k video can play smoothly is Filmic Box, so I don't understand, I don't think they lie as the Settings does show it's 4K 2160p.  So I don't understand.  But all else plays stuttering.  This only applies to using the Chrome browser; Safari still falls back to 1080p and doesn't bother with 4K not even try.

update:  I think using Chrome on Mac, I can play 2160p (probably at 30fps) but it stutters at 2160p60fps.

update: I got the chance to play 2160p60fps on my 2012 MBP and it plays flawlessly.  So I stand corrected.  It "must" be something else.  I was playing it on a 2008 MACPRO3,1 with the GTX 770 GPU, the rig isn't meant to be running the latest greatest OS X so this defect of playing the 2160p60fps maybe a small price to pay.  Safari does still lower the playback to 1080p60fps.

Streaming News from Youtube

Perhaps when they do the news they don't have streaming in mind.

I don't see any of those Youtube video from CNN are date stamped.  CNN has a habit of running the BREAKING NEWS on its crawler so almost all the news material is breaking news and you just don't know how current they are by looking at the screen and the screen alone.  I just wish they would date stamp all the material on screen.  Without live TV, streaming is the next best alternative.  Though I lose the sense of how current the material I am watching.

No matter, I think making perviously broadcast material available on Youtube for streaming on Youtube is great as it's a free service.