New to strobes and need some assistance

[Dean Pascoe Williams]

Hi. I need assistance demystifying the world of wireless triggers .
I use:

• a range of 35mm, medium and large format cameras,
• a sekonic L608 flash metre linked by sync cord to....
• Bowens gemini series strobes
• a very cheap ( but effective) ' IShoot' transmitter on camera
• ditto an 'IShoot' receiver on strobes

My questions

• How do I trigger the light metre wirelessly? There is an expensive Sekonic transmitter that I can apparently fit into this light metre but will this work with my el cheapo receiver? Is there a cheaper option?
• Can you mix and match transmitters and receivers?
• What is a 'Pocket Wizard'?

As an older generation I'm finder the jargon somewhat overwhelming . If someone is kind enough to reply to this post please assume you're talking to a technically somewhat challenged individual.

Thanks in advance
Dean Williams
Adelaide
Australia

 

[LiamG]

I'm hardly a strobe expert, but I can answer some of this. Pocket Wizard is a brand of wireless transmitter/receivers just like your 'IShoot' but potentially more reliable. They make all kinds of fancy TTL metering transmitters, but for us in the film world, it boils down to their basic products: generally what you'd see as a PocketWizard Plus (ii, iii, X, doesn't really matter). These are technically "transceivers" so the transmitter/receiver are identical units- which is kind of convenient at least, you just throw them in your bag and don't have to worry about which goes with the camera or the flash, any one will do. For your Sekonic, you could buy an expensive dedicated PocketWizard module that would transmit in the same range as the other PocketWizard system devices. Unless you feel like you have reliability issues with what you already have, or really want your L608 to go wireless, these probably wouldn't offer much of an upgrade over your current devices.

In general, you can't mix brands of transmitters/receivers- they're (hopefully) designed to not interfere with each other, so if you use PocketWizard, you're stuck with those, the same likely goes for your 'IShoot.' For this reason, you probably can't trigger your current receiver with your Sekonic no matter what module you put in there, because it won't be compatible- you'd have to switch to a bigger brand of wireless triggers, e.g. PocketWizard.

 

[Adrian Bacon]

Hi. I need assistance demystifying the world of wireless triggers .

My questions

• How do I trigger the light metre wirelessly? There is an expensive Sekonic transmitter that I can apparently fit into this light metre but will this work with my el cheapo receiver? Is there a cheaper option?
• Can you mix and match transmitters and receivers?
• What is a 'Pocket Wizard'?

As an older generation I'm finder the jargon somewhat overwhelming . If someone is kind enough to reply to this post please assume you're talking to a technically somewhat challenged individual.

1. Put your Sekonic L608 into wireless flash metering mode. The burst of light from the flash will trigger it to take an incident reading. The L-608 has three metering modes: wired, wireless, and radio. The simplest and easiest is wireless, and has nothing to do with radios. Any flash of light will trigger it to take a reading. It's very accurate. You don't need to have it attached to anything. In the wireless mode, push the reading button on the meter, then trigger the flashes. It will take a meter reading. It will generally sit there and "watch" for a flash of light for a minute or so after pushing the reading button, and doesn't auto reset after the first flash, so you can take a reading, adjust the flash power, trigger the flash again, etc. Convenient for quickly setting up.

2. Not generally, unless they're from the same manufacturer and designed to work within that eco-system.

3. A Pocket Wizard is a brand of generic wireless flash trigger transcievers. For example, a PocketWizard PlusX (my preferred radio trigger) is a very simple transceiver that can act as both the transmitter and receiver. You get two, one goes on the hot shoe of your camera, the other plugs into the sync port on your flash. Turn the dial on each so that they're both on the same channel. Push the test button on the one on the camera, it should trigger the flash. If your other flashes don't have optical sensors to fire when another flash goes off, then you'll need to buy additional pocketwizard plusX units for those as well. Attach them to the sync port, turn the dial to match the same channel as the rest and it will fire when the test button on the camera unit is pressed, or when you take a picture. Very basic, and reliable.

3a. From there, to meter, with the L608, put it in wireless mode, put it where you want to take a reading from, press the meter button on the meter, then, push the test button on the pocket wizard on the camera. The flashes should fire, the meter should take a reading. If you have the iShoot trigger system already, and if it works for you, the camera unit should have a test button that should fire the rest of the flashes. It basically does the same thing as the PocketWizard PlusX. The PocketWizard PlusX is one of many models that PocketWizard produces. It's the least expensive and simplest. When it comes to triggers, if you're just starting out, or shooting with film and just need something that can fire the strobes when you take a picture, simple and basic is better. If your iShoot system works for you, I'd use it.

I am a very heavy studio strobe user, and use the Sekonic L308 in the wireless meter mode and with PocketWizard PlusX triggers. It works perfectly.

 

[rbrigham]

• How do I trigger the light metre wirelessly? There is an expensive Sekonic transmitter that I can apparently fit into this light metre but will this work with my el cheapo receiver? Is there a cheaper option

Hi Dean

to trigger your flashes from your meter assuming your not able to trigger from your camera because your not near it
just unplug the camera trigger or use another spare one and plug it into your meters pc sync socket
then every time you take a reading the flash will fire

good luck

robin

 

[M Carter]

to trigger your flashes from your meter assuming your not able to trigger from your camera because your not near it
just unplug the camera trigger or use another spare one and plug it into your meters pc sync socket
then every time you take a reading the flash will fire

I'll give this a strong second. It's a pain to have to run back to the camera, and you need a camera with a self-timer (or an assistant). You can just take the transmitter from the camera's hot shoe and trigger it while using the meter in wireless mode, or you can attach a PC cord from the transmitter to the meter and trigger it with the metering button.

I have a regular gig shooting 8' square abstract paintings for an artist, so I have to setup a huge copy-light setup and check every square foot of the art for even illumination - that would really suck without wireless triggering.

Keep in mind though, some older cameras and meters won't fire the cheap Chinese triggers - RB67 shutters rarely work with them, and I have a spotMeter F that doesn't. In that case, a Pocket Wizard or the old Quantum slaves always work for me. I think some flash circuits have too much resistance (ever seen the flash synch bits in an RB shutter?)