Flash meters
- Thread starter grandpaw
- Start date
I don't have a studo but I do have an SB900, SB800, and a SB600 that I thought I might play around with. That is probably a real good meter but a little steep just to play around with to see if I am interested in getting into this type of photography.
Fred Kingston
Senior Member
The Sekonic 308 is about $225ish... and at the bottom of the Sekonic line, price-wise... B&H Photo has a $48 meter, but it doesn't seem to get consistently good reviews...
If my L-358 went missing or broken, I'd replace it in 2 minutes....
If my L-358 went missing or broken, I'd replace it in 2 minutes....
I use a Sekonic L308S, and think it is great. It may not have the little frills of the L-358, which IMO seem very unnecessary. I can't think why I would need more. The L308S is easy to use, and it reads the flash to set its level, what else could we need it to do? 
One possible exception.. the L308S is Shutter Preferred only. So if you might use it for regular photography in daylight, you might prefer Aperture Preferred, I would. But I don't, because my camera meter does that fine, so I only use my meter for flash. Flash is Shutter Preferred by definition, so it does exactly what it should.
We can do one light trial and error, but we do need a flash meter for multiple lights, to set the their levels relative to each other. For a one stop ratio, maybe we set main light to f/8, fill to f/5.6, and background to f/8. Then you know what you have, but in particular, you can repeat the setup next time very easily, and very exactly, very quickly.
One trick. Set it to read in tenth stops. You can only set the camera in third stops, but we know 1/3 is 0.3 and 2/3 is 0.7, so that's easy. We can set the lights to tenth stop precision, but the big deal is we can do the math in our heads. How much is 1.3 stop less than f/10? It is about f/6.3, but who knows that? But if we read this as f/5.6 plus 3/10 stop vs. f/8 plus 6/10 stop, then we easily know 1.3 stops in our heads, immediately. Totally trivial to do in our heads.
One possible exception.. the L308S is Shutter Preferred only. So if you might use it for regular photography in daylight, you might prefer Aperture Preferred, I would. But I don't, because my camera meter does that fine, so I only use my meter for flash. Flash is Shutter Preferred by definition, so it does exactly what it should.
We can do one light trial and error, but we do need a flash meter for multiple lights, to set the their levels relative to each other. For a one stop ratio, maybe we set main light to f/8, fill to f/5.6, and background to f/8. Then you know what you have, but in particular, you can repeat the setup next time very easily, and very exactly, very quickly.
One trick. Set it to read in tenth stops. You can only set the camera in third stops, but we know 1/3 is 0.3 and 2/3 is 0.7, so that's easy. We can set the lights to tenth stop precision, but the big deal is we can do the math in our heads. How much is 1.3 stop less than f/10? It is about f/6.3, but who knows that? But if we read this as f/5.6 plus 3/10 stop vs. f/8 plus 6/10 stop, then we easily know 1.3 stops in our heads, immediately. Totally trivial to do in our heads.
Flash is something I have never really got into but something that I need to get into. I once bought a grab bag of camera goodies off of shopgoodwill for 10 bucks...amongst the stuff was a NIB Sekonic L136...it brought big bucks on Ebay...probably best camera related score I have ever made. Wish I still had it look it up very very cool very very desirable to the Leicaphiles.
AxeMan - Rick S.
Senior Member
Amazon.com: Sekonic L-358 Flash Master Light Meter: Camera & Photo If you want to fire radio triggers with this one there is an add on you must buy, also I think the add on is for Pocket Wizards only.
I just fire my flash by hand and take my readings. A bit more pricey, but does a lot.
I just fire my flash by hand and take my readings. A bit more pricey, but does a lot.
Back in college we learned metering on the Quantum Calcu-Flash meters. They were inexpensive but consistent and a great learning tool. You could probably find a used one for less than $100. Wein also made some very, very basic meters that were good for learning.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Not so. I use a short synch cord from my L-358 PC socket to my RF transmitter in the "cord" mode and it works perfectly with my receivers.
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I recently went through the process of selecting a meter and radio triggers. I'm lucky as my friend is a rep so I played with all of the Sekonics and Pocket Wizard triggers before choosing. He would loan them for weeks on end which was great.
I ended up narrowing it down to the Sekonic 478DR and 758. The 758 had a spot meter which I liked but the unit was bulky. I ended up getting the 478DR as it's smaller and in addition to firing the flash (SB900 in my case) mounted to a Pocket Wizard Flex it can also set the power output via the touch screen display. I found that sync cables are a pain and sometimes I cannot physically reach my flash to trigger it.
Having said all of the above I had a clear idea where I wanted to end up and why. The combination is expensive even when you get it at mates rates so you would need to know it's going to give a good return. On that basis and as stated previously I would go for a 308 if I was just testing the water. If you need to upgrade in the future you will get most of the cost back if you sell it.
I ended up narrowing it down to the Sekonic 478DR and 758. The 758 had a spot meter which I liked but the unit was bulky. I ended up getting the 478DR as it's smaller and in addition to firing the flash (SB900 in my case) mounted to a Pocket Wizard Flex it can also set the power output via the touch screen display. I found that sync cables are a pain and sometimes I cannot physically reach my flash to trigger it.
Having said all of the above I had a clear idea where I wanted to end up and why. The combination is expensive even when you get it at mates rates so you would need to know it's going to give a good return. On that basis and as stated previously I would go for a 308 if I was just testing the water. If you need to upgrade in the future you will get most of the cost back if you sell it.
Last weekend I went to a studio lighting class and the instructor used a flash meter to get the settings. It got me wondering if I needed one so I thought I would ask here for some input. It seems there is a lot more to this than I thought and with the price it is I will need to learn a lot more about this before making a decision. I just purchased a Nikon D600 and a 24-70 F2.8 Tamron lens several weeks ago so I need to hold up on this a little while at these prices. I also need to get a lot more knowledgeable about exactly what these do and how much I think it will get used. On the bright side, I was talking to a buddy of mine about this and he gave me a starter meter that works fine that I can play with and learn from. The picture below is what he gave me. I will be watching a lot of YouTube videos and doing research on this. Thanks everyone for your input on this and I welcome any of your thoughts on the subject.
LouCioccio
Senior Member
I have the Sekonic L358 and its really worth it. If you can catch Joe Brady on the web he really and I mean really explains how to use this meter outside, inside and using a flash and ambient light.
Here is an example that I did outside speed light on light stand with the plastic clip on diffuse no soft box (although you can use a soft box). Outside and one inside using 3 speed light and the meter!!!
Here is an example that I did outside speed light on light stand with the plastic clip on diffuse no soft box (although you can use a soft box). Outside and one inside using 3 speed light and the meter!!!
Then this link to a manual possibly may be of help to you.
Honeywell / WEIN Flashmeter instruction manual, user manual, PDF manual, free manuals
(click the PDF link right above picture)
The meter was sold under different names. There were different models, there could be some small difference in the features?
Adorama still sells later models of it
wein flash meter : Buy or Learn at Adorama
Note the first text page (with header "Description") mentions a 1/3000 second flash limit. That implies it probably works with speedlights from Full power to 1/4 power, but might not be accurate from 1/8 power on down?
It is an incident meter. It is held extremely near the subject, and aimed at the camera lens, to read the light hitting the subject, at the subjects location. For ratio, you can aim it at each light, and set them for ratio, but final exposure for the aperture, the dome should be aimed at the camera.
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Thanks Wayne, that helps a lot.