What to buy for studio portrait lighting?
Hsiao-Tzu Ni
I am interested in buying some lighting equipments for portrait and
macro shooting. Can anyone give me some suggestions on brands,
power, flexibilities, color accuracy, durabilities, and costs?
Thanks
Oleg Volokhonsky
At least two, preferably three heads.
Power pack supporting all the heads, getting at least 200W/s
per head.
Three stands.
Softbox(though that you can build yourself.)
I assume you already have a 105 or 90mm macro, tripod.
Of course, you can get by using tungsten lights, non-dedicated close focusing
lens. The above set-up would be more flexible. Costly, too.
--
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Bob VELKOV
Can anybody explain to me, how exactly does the flashmeter work?
Given GN and speed of film it calculates the f-stop, but how does
it know the distance between camera and object? If you have to enter
all this stuff, isn't it easier to calculte the f-stop by youself?!
Whatfor is the connection via cable between camera and flashmeter
(minolta flashmeter IV)?
Thanks a lot in advance ...
--
Bob VELKOV
AUSTRIAN CENTER FOR PARALLEL COMPUTATION
Department for software technology and parallel systems
Bruenner Strasse 72
A-1210 Vienna, Austria (no kangoROOS)
tel: +43 1 392647-210
fax: +43 1 392647-224
e-mail: b...@par.univie.ac.at
Mike Rosenlof
Bob VELKOV <b...@par.univie.ac.at> wrote:
>
>Can anybody explain to me, how exactly does the flashmeter work?
>Given GN and speed of film it calculates the f-stop, but how does
>it know the distance between camera and object? If you have to enter
>all this stuff, isn't it easier to calculte the f-stop by youself?!
>Whatfor is the connection via cable between camera and flashmeter
>(minolta flashmeter IV)?
>Thanks a lot in advance ...
>
I'll explain how my Minolta _auto_meter IVf works. The _flash_meter IV
does a little more, but this is fine for an example.
I enter the film speed and the shutter speed then choose the mode I want
to use. In all cases it's used as an incident meter, meter at the
subject position pointing toward the camera.
Cord mode:
Plug the strobe sync cord into the meter push the "measure" button
on the meter. The meter fires the strobe(s), and all light landing on
the sensor is integrated over the length of the shutter speed. The
f-stop is calculated and displayed. The shutter speed time
integration means that if I choose an 8 second shutter speed, the
f-stop is not displayed for 8 seconds after hitting the button.
Cordless mode:
Push the measure button on the meter, then use some other method
to fire the strobe(s). The meter senses the light increase and
integrates from that time onward over the shutter speed duration.
Ambient:
No flash sensing involved, just like a continuous light meter. I
really don't remember if it integrates over the shutter speed duration
or gives an instant reading.
The meter does other things and these are the basic operating modes,
but should answer Mr. Velkov's question. It is considerably easier
and more accurate than guide number calculations, especially with
multiple strobes or with bounce, diffusers, or reflectors.
--
mike rosenlof (206)455-5932
mi...@neopath.wa.com NeoPath, Bellevue Washington USA
Sevo Stille
>Can anybody explain to me, how exactly does the flashmeter work?
Flash meters are like a normal exposure meter, but with a defined exposure time
for their SBC sensor. Basically, they start cumulative metering when the flash
is released and stop after a pre-defined gate time.
The Minolta FM IV is more intelligent, it measures both the flash intensity and
a time slice of ambient exposure without, and thus can calculate ambient/flash
relations for any selected time.
>Given GN and speed of film it calculates the f-stop, but how does
>it know the distance between camera and object?
It does not need to, as it does not calculate anything from the GN.
>If you have to enter all this stuff, isn't it easier to calculte the f-
>stop by youself?!
All you have to enter is the film sensitivity and either shutter speed or
aperture, depending on the selected mode.
>Whatfor is the connection via cable between camera and
>flashmeter (minolta flashmeter IV)?
There is no camera<>flashmeter cable. The FM IV has a infrared LED to transfer
its time/aperture to the top-class Minolta SLRs. Its two cable connectors are
used for external sensors (the 2.5 mm socket on the left side) and to release
the flash in the "CORD" mode (the flash cord connector).
Sevo