Sekonic with Hensel/Elinchrom

[caled0n]

I am fairly new to studio photography.
I am going to buy my first kit and I am of course unsure which one to choose.
My budget is about $3-4000.

One factor that is important is how to use my Sekonic L-358 with the monolights (Elinchrom BX/Ri 500/500 To Go / Hensel Integra Pro Plus) the easiest way.
Both of these kits come with their own transmitter, and the monolights have build-in slave recievers.
Can someone please take me through it, step by step?
What is the easiest way to do this?

Should I buy another Elinchrom/Hensel transmitter and trigger the lights with this transmitter's test button while taking a reading with the Sekonic?
Should there be a sync cable involved?
Should I buy a Pocket Wizard? The L-358 does not have a PW built in, but is compatible with it, isn't that right? What would this set-up look like?

I would really appreciate your tips and answers.


If you have other ideas on other kits you think I should spend my 3-4000 on, let me know.

 

[caled0n]

Or of course the Sekonic connected to the camera with a sync cable...

 

[tirediron]

Or of course the Sekonic connected to the camera with a sync cable...

Don't you mean connected to the strobe?

 

[joealcantar]

If they are ready with their wireless circuitry I would just get the trigger designed for them. You can basically set up the lights and hold both the meter and the trigger in your hand and fire the strobes and let your meter take a reading. Someone mentioned a cord which is fine but for a little over a hundred bucks you can fire it wirelessly.
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Elinchrom EL-Skyport Universal Radio Slave Transmitter EL 19351 if you are buying a kit believe this comes with it.
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ilovephotography.com -- How to use the Sekonic L358 -- Step by step instruction manual
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Shoot well, Joe

 

[caled0n]

Well, both kits kome with a remote trigger system, with recievers built into the monolights.
(Elinchrom: Skyport. Hensel: Strobe Wizard)
The thing is: this would either way be connected to the hotshoe of the camera.
I'd like to avoid taking it off and on the camera every time I have to do a meter reading.
Should I get an extra transmitter ($120), so that I have one on the camera and one in my hand whild doing the reading, or is there an easier way?

(I guess I could also buy a Canon remote trigger and take an actual picture, which would set of the flashes...)

An option would, like I said, be to connect the meter to one of the strobes and set the two others to slave.
But wouldn't this mean that I have to set them manually back to "Radio Reciever" before taking the actual picture, or how does that work?
Also, would I need to unplug the sync cable in the first light in order for it to understand that it now should react to the remote transmitter?


I have also considered buying the kit without the transmitter / built-in recievers and spend my money on Pocket Wizard Trancievers instead.
These are not very cheap, so if I do that, could I get away with buying two PW's, attatching one to the hot shoe (transmiter) and one to one of the strobes (via sync cable) and set the two other lights to slave (sensor) and then take the reading directly with the Sekonic (Oh yes, and I'd have to buy a transmitter unit for the Sekonic as well.)


I would appreciate all your answers and opinions, it's a big investment, especially the fact that I sort of have to choose a system already now...


Kjetil, Norway.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

I think two things need a bit more separation:

The Skyports have receivers built into your lights so will need the transmitter. That transmitter will sit atop of your camera and you won't even know its there. So you need to get that to fire the lights and that will round out your lights for intergrated firing when you take your shot with the push of the shutter button on your camera. With the transmitter, you can set your lights individually at your camera as a group. So for instance if a light is set up high and you have it positioned just right, you can adjust it 'remotely' at the transmitter to increase or decrease output if it needs tweaking.

For for Sekonic, for metering/meauring the output of your light(s) at your subject (or even background) you will plug the cable (that comes with the Sekonic) from the meter into the port on the back of your (main or light that is most convenient for you to attach it to...the cable is pretty long).

That's the set up.

Now, for metering, assume a portrait shoot, you will face the meter at your camera, or at your light, depending on what you are measuring, and press the button on the Sekonic. That will fire the light(s) you have set to fire, and the meter will record the meaurement so you can set or confirm your f/stop. You can leave this meter/cable plugged in for the duration of your shoot, it doesn't interefere with anything; just roll it up and move it under the light stand for tripping.

If you have the Skyports built in you do not need anything related to Pocket Wizards, you just need the Skyport Transmitter and you do not need to do anyhting more with your Sekonic either.

I have Elinchroms (RX), Skyports, and the L-358. In my set up, I need to have the external receiveivers in addtion to the transmitter, with what you are looking at the receivers are already built into your lights, nice.

I love everyhting I have and it all integrates very well and it works much less complicated then it may sound.

I think I covered all your questions, if not ask away.

 

[caled0n]

Thanks a lot, GeorgieGirl!

Quote:
"Now, for metering, assume a portrait shoot, you will face the meter at your camera, or at your light, depending on what you are measuring, and press the button on the Sekonic. That will fire the light(s) you have set to fire, and the meter will record the meaurement so you can set or confirm your f/stop."

But you won't ba able to fire all the lights with your Sekonic, right?
The Sekonic is only plugged into one of them, say, the main light.
What if I want to take a reading of the background or kicker light?
Do I need to unplug the Sekonic and plug it into the other lights, one by one?

I do know that I can set these lights to "optical slave" - was this what you meant?
Do they act like optical slaves automatically?

I'm waiting for my Sekonic to arrive, but the guy I bought it from on eBay says it does not contain a sync cable.S
uppose I have to buy one separately.
Could you (or anyone) guide me to the right product on for instance B&H (link)?

And also: Do you prefer Elinchrom to Hensel?
Which lights/kits (3 strobes) would you recommend for a budget of $3.000 + ?

 

[joealcantar]

I believe the trigger has a sub-mini port below the group switch that you can utilize.
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Shoot well, Joe

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Let me dig in a bit more here with you... and again, if you have any other questions please ask...

Thanks a lot, GeorgieGirl!

Quote:
"Now, for metering, assume a portrait shoot, you will face the meter at your camera, or at your light, depending on what you are measuring, and press the button on the Sekonic. That will fire the light(s) you have set to fire, and the meter will record the meaurement so you can set or confirm your f/stop."

But you won't ba able to fire all the lights with your Sekonic, right? All your lights will fire. The Sekonic triggers the light it is attached to by virtue of the cable connection so it is firing the light it is connected to. The other lights that are set to be 'on' for your shoot are fired as a result of their slave capabilites.


The Sekonic is only plugged into one of them, say, the main light. Yes, correct.
What if I want to take a reading of the background or kicker light? If you want to take a reading at your BG, you place the meter at the BG and face it at the camera and fire...you could do the same at various points of your BG so you can measure for even-ness if that is what you want to achive (for example) . If you want to measure the level of light on your subject , to determine or confirm lighting ratios, face the meter at the light you want to measure, and turn the dial on the meter dome so it isolates that light for meaure. This you have to tweak light by light and overall while you are setting up.
Do I need to unplug the Sekonic and plug it into the other lights, one by one? No, as descibed above you plug the Sekonic in the one light and the rest fire as well as long as they are slave 'on'.

I do know that I can set these lights to "optical slave" - was this what you meant? The lights can be set to optical slave and will need to be for metering since the shutter button on your camera is what triggers the transmitter atop your camera to fire the lights. For metering/measuring, the Sekonic is firing the light its cabled to and the slaves are reacting to that fire. See item #9 in the diagram for the eye on these lights. So at the camera the shutter puts the Skyports in charge of the fire of all the lights (assuming all built in Skyport receivers), and at the meter, the Sekonic puts one light in charge of firing with the slaves following to fire the rest.

Do they act like optical slaves automatically? Yes if you have the switch for the eye set to on.

I'm waiting for my Sekonic to arrive, but the guy I bought it from on eBay says it does not contain a sync cable.S
uppose I have to buy one You know what, I may have misspoken...a synch cord comes with the light, not the meter. Its an in-the-box item.
Could you (or anyone) guide me to the right product on for instance B&H (link)?

And also: Do you prefer Elinchrom to Hensel? I was drawn to the Elinchrom so that was my choice and I have no regrets. At the same time I had selected my RX lights the BX RI's were coming out and I kind of missed that boat. They appear to be very nice, the pricepoint is good, the only concern would be for the cooling fan, so research comments on that and check for overheating issues and make sure you are sure of recyling times if they are critical for your work. The RX's that I have I have had no issues with at all but its a bit of a diffent build and they operate nearly the same. No matter what, assume $$$ for the reflectors you may want as they are extra, and I'd purchase some extra bulbs to have on hand, when I was setting a softbox on I broke the bulb and had to wait until the new one arrived. For Hensel, I have no experience with them so I can't comment on them.


Which lights/kits (3 strobes) would you recommend for a budget of $3.000 + ?

I like the BX RI's. If I was not already commited with what I had at the time I'd definitely look at these. I did a bit of reseach when I was looking for a 3rd light for my set up as the pricing was so favorable in the BX RI's, but decided in the end not to mix the lights due to the recylcing times and took another RX. So if you want three BX RI right now, or even four, they are in your budget with money to spare and you can get a rebate now on them too.

 

[caled0n]

Wow, thanks.
You're a life saver. I REALLY appreciate it <3
The only concern about BX/Ri is the Flash duration, but I guess I will have to move to a high-end system for that.

Where is that rebate? B&H?

Kjetil

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Wow, thanks.
You're a life saver. I REALLY appreciate it <3
The only concern about BX/Ri is the Flash duration, but I guess I will have to move to a high-end system for that.

Where is that rebate? B&H?

Kjetil

Yes $30.00 per light.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Yes. $30.00 per light.

 

[caled0n]

Which Elinchrom set would you have bought today? The BR/Xi, the 300 or 600 RX?
Does the overall performance drop if you later on mix monolights with packs, for instance Ranger rx Speed?

Again: thanks!

 

[caled0n]

Huh?
$30?
Which light is that?
URL address pleeease

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Which Elinchrom set would you have bought today? The BR/Xi, the 300 or 600 RX?
Does the overall performance drop if you later on mix monolights with packs, for instance Ranger rx Speed?

Again: thanks!

From what I know about the packs, and there are some good tests that I found on YouTube for them, I think its all about duration and recycle times for the packs, and it appears they work very well in that regard. I don't know more about the lights or the packs beyond that. To your question, if I had to do it all again, I would still select what I did, and I have the 300RX. I bought 2 of the three I have on e-bay and did very, very well on winning some bids and I bought them at different times as I wanted to learn lighting on a light by light basis. The other I bought from B&H when the pricing was much less than it is now. The pricing on the B&H site is more for the 300RX than the 600RX, so I think somehting might be off on that. I happened to notice that today when I was looking at what's in the box for you. I know I have bought what I need, more than I need as far as I can see into the future, so I am content. I have a set up in my basement, and I am only a hobbist. You may have completely different needs and goals, so you have to match the lights and the power of them perhaps differently that I did. You might want to start a new thread if you want guidance/insight/feeback on that topic based on what you ambitions are.

Huh?
$30?
Which light is that?
URL address pleeease

Here is the URL for the BX RI and you can see the rebate listed. Its in the form of a prepaid Visa card. The 500 has a rebate to of $40.00 but it appears to be out of stock. Both are manufacturer rebates so not unique to just B&H I imagine.

Elinchrom Style BX 250 Ri Compact MonoLight EL 20460.1 B&H Photo