Pocket Wizard AC3 / Sekonic L-478 series...
Not that I needed any further proof that I wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but...
I have been playing around with my Einstein mono lights and PW triggers, specifically the PowerMC-2 units that go with the Einstein's together with the ac3 zone controller (the one that sits on top of a Flex or Mini) and my new Sekonic light meter. The ability to change the power on the lights from camera position, or for that matter from any position is truly great, BUT... The ac3 and L-478 only have 6 stops of adjustment whereas the Einstein's have more than that, and they are set to use the top 6 stops of power on the Einstein. Close in with a Softbox and shooting wide open I was getting way too much light and was having to adjust the power down on the back of the Einstein's manually. Kinda sucks right? I thought that kinda defeated the point of the zone controller and light meter's ability to adjust power remotely. Well, here is the DUH moment... wait for it... When you plug the PowerMC-2 unit into the PW utility there is an advanced options check box that when checked allows you to adjust a big slider that is labeled FEC. By using that slider you can customize where the 6 stops of control you have will be. You can set it to use the upper 6 (default setting), the lower 6, or anywhere in between.
I'm not sure if any of you are using these particular pocket wizard products or not or why I jumbled up in my head what FEC might mean (for some reason I was thinking that it meant that it would add to or subtract from the flash setting I had selected like exposure compensation does on a camera instead of changing the setting that appears on the back of the Einstein like it does) but anyway, using this feature you can set up different PowerMC-2 units however which way you like, label them, and have the full range of power available depending on which PowerMC-2 you pop in. At the moment I have 3 Einstein's, two of which just arrived yesterday (Hooray!) and set up the 3 PowerMC-2's that attach to them as follows:
2 of them are set to use the top 6 stops of power and 1 is setup to use the bottom 6 stops of power. That way depending on what I'm doing I can select the right PW and get the needed control. As this configuration overlaps in the middle, I have the full range of power.
Anyway, enough longwindedness. Hope that helps and perhaps saves you some time. Though you did just lose a few minutes reading this and that is probably all it would have taken most of you to figure it out on your own. :huh
I have been playing around with my Einstein mono lights and PW triggers, specifically the PowerMC-2 units that go with the Einstein's together with the ac3 zone controller (the one that sits on top of a Flex or Mini) and my new Sekonic light meter. The ability to change the power on the lights from camera position, or for that matter from any position is truly great, BUT... The ac3 and L-478 only have 6 stops of adjustment whereas the Einstein's have more than that, and they are set to use the top 6 stops of power on the Einstein. Close in with a Softbox and shooting wide open I was getting way too much light and was having to adjust the power down on the back of the Einstein's manually. Kinda sucks right? I thought that kinda defeated the point of the zone controller and light meter's ability to adjust power remotely. Well, here is the DUH moment... wait for it... When you plug the PowerMC-2 unit into the PW utility there is an advanced options check box that when checked allows you to adjust a big slider that is labeled FEC. By using that slider you can customize where the 6 stops of control you have will be. You can set it to use the upper 6 (default setting), the lower 6, or anywhere in between.
I'm not sure if any of you are using these particular pocket wizard products or not or why I jumbled up in my head what FEC might mean (for some reason I was thinking that it meant that it would add to or subtract from the flash setting I had selected like exposure compensation does on a camera instead of changing the setting that appears on the back of the Einstein like it does) but anyway, using this feature you can set up different PowerMC-2 units however which way you like, label them, and have the full range of power available depending on which PowerMC-2 you pop in. At the moment I have 3 Einstein's, two of which just arrived yesterday (Hooray!) and set up the 3 PowerMC-2's that attach to them as follows:
2 of them are set to use the top 6 stops of power and 1 is setup to use the bottom 6 stops of power. That way depending on what I'm doing I can select the right PW and get the needed control. As this configuration overlaps in the middle, I have the full range of power.
Anyway, enough longwindedness. Hope that helps and perhaps saves you some time. Though you did just lose a few minutes reading this and that is probably all it would have taken most of you to figure it out on your own. :huh
Sports, Dance, Portraits, Events... www.jasonhowardking.com
0
Comments
PS its not 6 stops. More like 2 stops in 1/3rd increments
Actually it is 6 stops. It goes from +3 all the way to -3 in 1/3 stop increments. And the PW PowerMC 2 units are specifically deigned for the Einstein units. Are you using a similar setup? How did you approach it?
http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/transmitter_receiver/powermc2/
Okay...i will start over..i have the l478, tt5/tt3. and am not using the ac3 and 3 580exIIs. I have been putting the system though its paces but have noticed a few glitches.
like you when up close to the softbox there is nothing I can do to bring the pwer down...I even set the speed light to manual @ 1/128th and still was getting f25. In the power screen I moved the slide all the way down and it metered to f16 and overall to f11...
Also while in the power screen sometimes I can meter the lights and the exposure appears under the slider but usually I get the f followed by 3 dashes ---: f--- . something isn't right.
and lastly, i cannot get into the hardware screen. pushing and holding menu and pressing the power button should work it doesn't....
I will have to fire up the utility program and look at what you are seeing in the advance section.....
ANYIDEAS?
BTW, nice website dreadnote!!!
I always end up answering my own questions but this should benefit someone out there.
New Light meter: L-478dr- pretty shweet so far-sorta.
Problem: documentation SUCKS hypo through a staw.
Camera: 5Dm3, TT1; (3)-580EXIIs with TT5s
Issue: whilst in Power screen for control TL, the "f" values would not appear under each slider when metering with dome down.
Solution: meter one zone at a time and the "f" values magically appear; it is nice to be able to see all the zones at once for light ratios after you've metered all the zones but they only are visible while in the power screen. you just have to meter the active zone and turn off the others while metering. THEN, for the overall metering, you go back out to the measurement screen and take a reading dome out.....BAMMMM!! ( the f-values in the power screen disappear until the next measurements).
ISSUE: I couldn't get the key light low enough no matter what I did until I discovered how to reset the meter. The user manual gives instructions on how to do this, Sekonic Tech support gave the same instructions except they left out one TINY DETAIL: the meter must be turned off to enter the %^$%^# hardware screen.
SOLUTION: Once in the HW screen, I reset the meter to factory specs and life seemed to me moving towards normal. [hold menu button then press power button]
NEW ISSUE: Mixing PWII (photogenic StudiomaxII monolights as KEY) and Flex TT5 + 580EXIIs (as fill and hair)-so they all fire together.
PW have 4 channels in trigger only STANDARD triggering
TT5 use control TL ( channels 1-16)
SOLUTION (DUH!!): Standard and Control TL must be on the same channel DUH.....Words great!!!