using the camera's lightmeter to meter strobes? I'm skeptical. They're constantly reading and averaging... whereas the flash meters probably notice the quick spike in light intensity and only meter while the strobe is on (~1/500th of a second). You could meter off the modeling lamps to try and find the relative difference in light intensity across the scene, but you'd still have to guess&check with the histogram to get your exposure in the ballpark. I "meter" my strobes with the histogram... never owned a light meter. Watched someone on a paid job use one with his 20D and strobe set and didn't see any magic happening (i.e. following the histogram would have been more productive).
Histograms/previews are the new polaroids.
For me, I think a separate lightmeter would only be useful if I wanted to thoroughly standardize how I shot and be very reproducible.
I think the flashmeter advantage is that you don't need to always go back to your camera to check the histogram. If you have the wireless module, you can trigger the flashes while staying with the model.
Also, you might want to meter some specific regions to see how contrasty the shadows will be.
Pay attention to the battery status meter on the Sekonic... it is there for a reason. :) When it starts reading "not full", keep a spare battery with you. It will still work for quite a while before it actually quits completely, to give you a chance to find/buy a new battery.
As for doing flash metering with a reflective meter (i.e., your camera)... sure, you set the strobe at your best guess, then take a shot with the camera. Check the histogram and the review for blinking highlights. Adjust the strobe power as needed. Take another shot. Repeat until it looks right.
I prefer to use a flashmeter though. Measuring incident light makes even more sense when you're dealing with a controlled light source. The L-358 can also tell you the balance between ambient light and strobe light. You can do ratios (e.g., main vs fill) with it, whereas a reflective meter cannot, at least not without a lot more trouble with grey cards or Expodiscs and stuff like that.
Yeah , well I had a spare battery. I bought it the first day I bought the Sekonic. Unfortuately they gave me the wrong one. I remember the guy saying , "use this one, its on sale...".. <> Dumb though, I never noticed the battery meter.. another simple lesson learned :) thks
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Histograms/previews are the new polaroids.
For me, I think a separate lightmeter would only be useful if I wanted to thoroughly standardize how I shot and be very reproducible.
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Also, you might want to meter some specific regions to see how contrasty the shadows will be.
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Thanks for reminding me!
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It really freaked me out initially.
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As for doing flash metering with a reflective meter (i.e., your camera)... sure, you set the strobe at your best guess, then take a shot with the camera. Check the histogram and the review for blinking highlights. Adjust the strobe power as needed. Take another shot. Repeat until it looks right.
I prefer to use a flashmeter though. Measuring incident light makes even more sense when you're dealing with a controlled light source. The L-358 can also tell you the balance between ambient light and strobe light. You can do ratios (e.g., main vs fill) with it, whereas a reflective meter cannot, at least not without a lot more trouble with grey cards or Expodiscs and stuff like that.
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I bought it the first day I bought the Sekonic.
Unfortuately they gave me the wrong one.
I remember the guy saying , "use this one, its on sale..."..
<>
Dumb though, I never noticed the battery meter..
another simple lesson learned :)
thks
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