Ordered AB lights/acc - how does this work?

chicodawg · January 31, 2007

I have placed my first order on B&H for misc items to setup for studio/location photography.

I ordered the Sekonic L-358 light meter and sync cord, sold separately. I also ordered 5-in-1 reflectors, extra Canon battery and CF cards...blah blah blah.

I'm on Alienbees ordering 3 of the AB800 lights/heavy-duty stands/umbrellas, etc. I also added the wired remote to control the lights in one location.

According the info for the sync cord, the sync cord connects the meter to the camera and flash (it's like a Y-adapter). How or where do I hook-up the Alienbees wired remote?

My guess:

1. The 3 AB800's hook to the wired remote using the phone cables.
2. The wired remote end that would normally connect to the camera, now connects to the Sekonic sync cord (Y-adapter thingy).
3. One end of the sync cord connects to the camera and the other end connects to the L-358.
4. I use the wired remote to set the AB800's, then the L-358 fires the AB800's to read the light.
5. I adjust the camera and take the photo - assuming my subject hasn't walked out by now.

Is this right? :dunno

PS: I wasn't sure if 3rd-party umbrellas were compatible with AB's stands. But, I read AB's stands and umbrellas were not very good.

Thanks for help (as always)!
Mike

ziggy53 · January 31, 2007

chicodawg wrote:

I have placed my first order on B&H for misc items to setup for studio/location photography.

I ordered the Sekonic L-358 light meter and sync cord, sold separately. I also ordered 5-in-1 reflectors, extra Canon battery and CF cards...blah blah blah.

I'm on Alienbees ordering 3 of the AB800 lights/heavy-duty stands/umbrellas, etc. I also added the wired remote to control the lights in one location.

According the info for the sync cord, the sync cord connects the meter to the camera and flash (it's like a Y-adapter). How or where do I hook-up the Alienbees wired remote?

My guess:

1. The 3 AB800's hook to the wired remote using the phone cables.
2. The wired remote end that would normally connect to the camera, now connects to the Sekonic sync cord (Y-adapter thingy).
3. One end of the sync cord connects to the camera and the other end connects to the L-358.
4. I use the wired remote to set the AB800's, then the L-358 fires the AB800's to read the light.
5. I adjust the camera and take the photo - assuming my subject hasn't walked out by now.

Is this right?

PS: I wasn't sure if 3rd-party umbrellas were compatible with AB's stands. But, I read AB's stands and umbrellas were not very good.

Thanks for help (as always)!
Mike

Mike,

For any kind of interior work, where you are the only source of flash, I suggest you hook up only 1 monolight to the camera, and set the other lights as slaves. You save a lot of time wiring and a lot of frustration figuring out why the lights aren't firing when the connections go sour.

You won't have as much trip hazard as well.

The light meter can be connected individually to each head for setup using the PC/1/4" "phono plug" cord. (Lots of ways to do this actually.)

For wedding or outdoor work, I highly recommend radio wireless units to give you better control and mobility.

As far as umbrellas, most mount onto the monolight, not the stand. Usually only the monolight head mounts to the stand's "stud".

ziggy53

Scott_Quier · February 1, 2007

chicodawg wrote:

I have placed my first order on B&H for misc items to setup for studio/location photography.

I ordered the Sekonic L-358 light meter and sync cord, sold separately. I also ordered 5-in-1 reflectors, extra Canon battery and CF cards...blah blah blah.

Since you have ordered the ABs, you didn't need to order the sync cord. The ABs each come with a sync cord, 15' long, to connect between the camera and the AB strobe.

chicodawg wrote:

I'm on Alienbees ordering 3 of the AB800 lights/heavy-duty stands/umbrellas, etc. I also added the wired remote to control the lights in one location.

According the info for the sync cord, the sync cord connects the meter to the camera and flash (it's like a Y-adapter). How or where do I hook-up the Alienbees wired remote?

The sync cord is a straight cord, connecting between the strobe and the light meter OR the camera, not both at the same time. No Y-connector needed or desired.

chicodawg wrote:

My guess:

1. The 3 AB800's hook to the wired remote using the phone cables.
2. The wired remote end that would normally connect to the camera, now connects to the Sekonic sync cord (Y-adapter thingy).
3. One end of the sync cord connects to the camera and the other end connects to the L-358.
4. I use the wired remote to set the AB800's, then the L-358 fires the AB800's to read the light.
5. I adjust the camera and take the photo - assuming my subject hasn't walked out by now.

Is this right?

PS: I wasn't sure if 3rd-party umbrellas were compatible with AB's stands. But, I read AB's stands and umbrellas were not very good.

Thanks for help (as always)!
Mike

Like Ziggy says, you don't need the wired remote unless you have a lot of distance between the various strobes and the camera. It's a convience thing and, as Ziggy says, comes with it's own perils.

The strobes are designed to be optically triggered by a flash. So, connect your sync cord to one of the strobes (the one closest to camera position is usually best) to fire the "master" strobe. This will trigger the slaves.

What I have found works VERY well is to set the power output of the strobes, using the light meter (each strobe seperately). In my studio, to trigger the strobes, I mount my external flash on my camera, set the power output to 1/128 and set the flash to manual mode (setting it to manual eliminates the pre-flash, which would trigger the strobes as well), pointed away from the subject. What's this get me?

No cords between the camera and the strobes
All the strobes are slaved to the external flash
The external flash provides enough light to trigger the stobes, but that light is somewhere between 5 and 8 stops less than the light incident on the subject. It has NO impact on the exposure.

This will not work with the on-board flash as there is not way that I know of to set it to manual mode and/or eliminate the pre-flash.

spider-t · February 2, 2007

You're getting a lot of good info here. I'd just like to add that the folks at ABees are very helpful for these types of questions. And they answer their phone. Give them a call if you still have questions about how to setup and what you'll need.

best of luck!
Trish

chicodawg · February 2, 2007

Thanks Ziggy, Scott and Trish. Very good information, as usual.

My understanding of the AB wired remote was that it just controlled the lights (power settings) so you don't have to go to each light and set them - you can set up the lights from the camera (example). The lights connect to the remote using phone cables.

With this remote, I wasn't (still not?) sure how the Sekonic hooks up with all this. I figured the "Y" adapter (if that's what it is) would hook to the light, camera and meter at the same time. (maybe I should call it a "why?" adapter!

)

I think (hope) it will all come together when everything arrives.

spider-t · February 3, 2007

chicodawg wrote:

Thanks Ziggy, Scott and Trish. Very good information, as usual.

My understanding of the AB wired remote was that it just controlled the lights (power settings) so you don't have to go to each light and set them - you can set up the lights from the camera (example). The lights connect to the remote using phone cables.

With this remote, I wasn't (still not?) sure how the Sekonic hooks up with all this. I figured the "Y" adapter (if that's what it is) would hook to the light, camera and meter at the same time. (maybe I should call it a "why?" adapter! )

I think (hope) it will all come together when everything arrives.

When I was shooting wired, I would plug the sync cord into the light meter, walk over where my subject would be and do my metering. Then I'd pull out the sync cable and plug it into my camera for shooting.

I can't think of a situation where I would need both my camera and my light meter plugged in at the same time.

I think you're right about calling it a "why" cable. :-)

-Trish

Scott_Quier · February 3, 2007

spider-t wrote:

When I was shooting wired, I would plug the sync cord into the light meter, walk over where my subject would be and do my metering. Then I'd pull out the sync cable and plug it into my camera for shooting.

I can't think of a situation where I would need both my camera and my light meter plugged in at the same time.

I think you're right about calling it a "why" cable. :-)

-Trish

chicodawg · February 7, 2007

Ha!

Christmas in February! It has been fairly cool outside.

My orders came in this week. Between Alienbees and B & H, I'm going to be a busy bee (ugh, had to, sorry) testing all this stuff this weekend!

I have not taken the why-adapter out of the box, yet. Following everyone's help in this thread.

Thanks! I hope to post some "test subject" photos soon.

Mike

Ordered AB lights/acc - how does this work?

Comments