Question about ABs and light meter

[Jnichols]

I bought the digibee pkg from alien bees - haven't played with them just yet. I was going through some threads and saw that an incident light meter would be needed to get correct exposure from the strobes. The question is do I need one? I was asked to take pictures for a daycare in the near future and am wondering if I need to invest in a light meter. :dunno

Thanks so much.

[Blurmore]

Unless you are shooting film....I'd say..no. I use AB's for digital and rarely use a meter. But if you want to look slick and not have to shoot test exposures untill you get the light power right, then you might want a meter. For the most part on my AB 800s half power at ISO 100 equals f5.6-8 in a softbox 10 feet away. There is something to be said for using a meter instead of test exposures, brides start to look at you like your half nuts when you are constantly saying "the first is for exposure", and rugrats may not sit still for more than one exposure, so do your tests on an adult.

[Jnichols]

Great - that is exactly what I intended on doing. Thank you so much for your advice. I typically take test shots for exposure.

[Lee Massey]

Hi,

IMO, I would prefer to have a light meter. That being said, I don't believe that a light meter is an absolute necessity. If you don't have the money for a lightmeter and you have sufficient time to complete adequate testing before hand then I would imagine that you can get away without a light meter.

Thanks,

Lee

I bought the digibee pkg from alien bees - haven't played with them just yet. I was going through some threads and saw that an incident light meter would be needed to get correct exposure from the strobes. The question is do I need one? I was asked to take pictures for a daycare in the near future and am wondering if I need to invest in a light meter. :dunno

Thanks so much.

[Bob Bell]

I shoot a lot with strobes either in studio or location and you definately need a flash meter. I prefer Minolta but Sekonic and Gossen are also very good. A good flash meter will let you do averages for exposure which is a lot more accurate than a body can do.

The other thing you should do is rent a color meter. I have heard that Paul C Buff heads color shift as you use them. Its a good thing to know if your's is doing that and by how much.

A good flash meter also has ambient metering which is very useful for wildlife photography so there is a benefit :)

[dancinkate]

I don't use one with my AB but it WOULD be nice not to have to test so many times. I think my husband's retinas are completely burned out at this point. :rofl

[Blurmore]

I shoot a lot with strobes either in studio or location and you definately need a flash meter. I prefer Minolta but Sekonic and Gossen are also very good. A good flash meter will let you do averages for exposure which is a lot more accurate than a body can do.

The other thing you should do is rent a color meter. I have heard that Paul C Buff heads color shift as you use them. Its a good thing to know if your's is doing that and by how much.

A good flash meter also has ambient metering which is very useful for wildlife photography so there is a benefit :)

No such animal as a Buff head, all AB WL PZ units are monolights, self contained, mostly fancooled AC lights. I have used PCB lights for 5 years with film and digital and have noticed NO shift even after hours of use. I have also used more expensive photogenic, and broncolor monolights and have found the PCB units to be equal in everyway, and fall off a 16 ft lightstand and keep flashin tough.

[Bob Bell]

No such animal as a Buff head, all AB WL PZ units are monolights, self contained, mostly fancooled AC lights. I have used PCB lights for 5 years with film and digital and have noticed NO shift even after hours of use. I have also used more expensive photogenic, and broncolor monolights and have found the PCB units to be equal in everyway, and fall off a 16 ft lightstand and keep flashin tough.

So I guess the monolights aren't flash heads? Monolights are traditionally classified as strobes just like AC and power pack strobes.

Anyway, Do you use use AWB or do you set the color temp in your body? AWB will mask some of the shift. In product or advertising shoots accurate color reproduction is critical.

I doubt very much that AB or WL have the same ability to keep consistant color such as Profoto and Elinchrom. I'm not saying they are a bad product at all, just that you need to meter them to see what they do instead of assuming they stay at 1 temp.

[Blurmore]

So I guess the monolights aren't flash heads? Monolights are traditionally classified as strobes just like AC and power pack strobes.

Anyway, Do you use use AWB or do you set the color temp in your body? AWB will mask some of the shift. In product or advertising shoots accurate color reproduction is critical.

I doubt very much that AB or WL have the same ability to keep consistant color such as Profoto and Elinchrom. I'm not saying they are a bad product at all, just that you need to meter them to see what they do instead of assuming they stay at 1 temp.

I may have been splitting hairs on the classification. Heads to me are something which is powered and or controlled by a pack, and monolights are a different and more field usable animal. I use Custom WB, shooting a card for each exposure combination. AWB is for kids birthdays and nothing else. I'm a social photographer, and I don't use AB's for commerical or product photography. So I can say that for location and studio portraits PCB's do not exhibit shift or not enough to be noticable for portraits. I do however, know one of mid-atlantic's top food photographers who uses PCB lights for location work. I agree that PCB equipment can't be as accurate shot to shot for exposure or color as Elinchrome, but is more than adequate for portrait work and you can have a 3 light system including stands and modifiers for what a single Elinchrome will run you.

[Jnichols]

I think eventually I will invest in a good light meter - at this point though, testing will have to do. Thank you all for such great advice.