Sekonic L-358 question

[jjd228]

Wow. Actually makes even less sense with a lens of that quality.
Where the hell is 4.5 coming from?
Gotta think about this a bit.

4.5 is a half stop between 4 and 5.6
http://oberphotographytips.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/aperture-table.jpg

On that chart 4.5 is a half stop AND a 1/3 stop.
It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping! It's both!!

All my Nikons go to 4.8 on 1/2 stop setting,and 4.5 on 1/3 so I guess I'm lost on this one.

That chart doesn't match what I'm seeing at all! My camera/lens set to 1/2 stop increments goes like this:

1.4
1.8
2
2.5
2.8
3.5
4.0
4.5
5.6
6.7
8.0
9.5
11.0
13.0
16.0
19.0
22.0

 

[timor]

Wow. Actually makes even less sense with a lens of that quality.
Where the hell is 4.5 coming from?
Gotta think about this a bit.

4.5 is a half stop between 4 and 5.6
http://oberphotographytips.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/aperture-table.jpg

On that chart 4.5 is a half stop AND a 1/3 stop.
It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping! It's both!!

All my Nikons go to 4.8 on 1/2 stop setting,and 4.5 on 1/3 so I guess I'm lost on this one.

Yeah... The other one is better.

 

[astroNikon]

I'm by far not an expert at this, but
・ You can set shutter speeds from 30 minutes to 1/8000 seconds. After 1/8000 the shutter
speeds of 1/200 and 1/400 can be set. (page 11)

another solution I read and now use is use ISO 400 and you will get usable shutter / aperture settings.

I may be way off as I'm only a newbie on these light meters
weird little devices. You wonder "why"

 

[jjd228]

I actually just spoke to Canon. This lens simply doesn't stop at 4.8. Just how it's made they said.

 

[beachrat]

I wish I had my gear in front of me so I could see if the numbers in my head are right.
I don't want to give bad info like that chart I just looked at.

 

[beachrat]

I actually just spoke to Canon. This lens simply doesn't stop at 4.8. Just how it's made they said.

Well that solves that mystery.

 

[jjd228]

I actually just spoke to Canon. This lens simply doesn't stop at 4.8. Just how it's made they said.

Well that solves that mystery.

Yup but thanks for the help. Just happy to know nothing is broken. Now I'll just have to change the shutter speed or iso until the meter gives me an aperture I can actually use

 

[WayneF]

Wow. Actually makes even less sense with a lens of that quality.
Where the hell is 4.5 coming from?
Gotta think about this a bit.

4.5 is a half stop between 4 and 5.6
http://oberphotographytips.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/aperture-table.jpg

I see it says that, but it is incorrect. Half stop is 4.8. Third stops are 4.5 and 5.0.

It is easily computed: f/stop = sqrt(2)^(stop number + fraction) where stop number is 0 at f/1 (so f/4 is stop number 4).

The half stop is sqrt(2)^(4+0.5) is 4.7568.

The third stop is sqrt(2)^(4+0.333) is 4.4898.

One can set a meter or camera to half stops, but seems like the lens could be constructed with its own stops in its own way. Does the lens have an aperture ring and detents on it?

 

[timor]

I don't want to give bad info like that chart I just looked at.

Sorry about that.

 

[WayneF]

Wow. Actually makes even less sense with a lens of that quality.
Where the hell is 4.5 coming from?
Gotta think about this a bit.

4.5 is a half stop between 4 and 5.6
http://oberphotographytips.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/aperture-table.jpg

On that chart 4.5 is a half stop AND a 1/3 stop.
It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping! It's both!!

All my Nikons go to 4.8 on 1/2 stop setting,and 4.5 on 1/3 so I guess I'm lost on this one.

In defense of sloppy nomenclature though, there are many approximations in the markings. Nikon does the same thing for shutter speeds 10 second and 20 seconds, which are both half stops and third stops. Nice round numbers, but half stops will actually measure 11 seconds and 23 seconds.

And AFAIK, all cameras do it for 30 seconds, which literally can only be 32 seconds (in sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 seconds). It is marked 30 seconds, but it times at 32 seconds.

The camera shutters do know to perform the correct value in every case, but the marked numbers for just for the public.

 

[beachrat]

4.5 is a half stop between 4 and 5.6
http://oberphotographytips.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/aperture-table.jpg

On that chart 4.5 is a half stop AND a 1/3 stop.
It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping! It's both!!

All my Nikons go to 4.8 on 1/2 stop setting,and 4.5 on 1/3 so I guess I'm lost on this one.

In defense of sloppy nomenclature though, there are many approximations in the markings. Nikon does the same thing for shutter speeds 10 second and 20 seconds, which are both half stops and third stops. Nice round numbers, but half stops will actually measure 11 seconds and 23 seconds.

And AFAIK, all cameras do it for 30 seconds, which literally can only be 32 seconds (in sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 seconds). It is marked 30 seconds, but it times at 32 seconds.

The camera shutters do know to perform the correct value in every case, but the marked numbers for just for the public.

All true,but it would drive me nuts knowing that when I bump my exposure a 1/3 or a 1/2,it reads the same.
I'm an anal retentive obsessive compulsive nut with stuff like that,and I like knowing the formulas to plug the numbers into so it makes sense to me.

 

[WayneF]

All true,but it would drive me nuts knowing that when I bump my exposure a 1/3 or a 1/2,it reads the same.
I'm an anal retentive obsessive compulsive nut with stuff like that,and I like knowing the formulas to plug the numbers into so it makes sense to me.

It bothered me a little too, but we can't set both 1/3 and 1/2 stop scales. We can only see the one selected set at a time. And we really don't care what the markings say... the actual important thing is that each stop be 2x or 1/2 x the previous, and thirds and half should actually be their corresponding divisions.

For example, shutter speeds run 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and then switch to 1/15 and 1/30 and 1/60, and then switch to 1/125, 1/250, 1/500 second. In the early days, I puzzled how that could work, why they were not all 1/2 the next.

And of course, they are, I was being too literal. Those are just rounded markings. The actual values used obviously are necessarily the 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512 scale.

 

[wickie44]

I know this might sound newbie ish but if my light meter gave me an aperture I couldn't use I'd use the nearest would it make that much of a difference?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WayneF]

I know this might sound newbie ish but if my light meter gave me an aperture I couldn't use I'd use the nearest would it make that much of a difference?

Probably not much difference. Not sure the deal with That lens, but the difference between a half stop and a third stop is only 1/6 stop (2/6, 3/6, 4/6).

 

[beachrat]

Yeah the difference in exposure wouldn't be much at all.
And if you're metering strobes,and they're already pretty close,you could just move them in or out a bit to get it exact anyway.
Not that big a deal.