Elinchrom power

[vaizki]

Got my Sekonic 308s yesterday so I played around with it and then tried to get some readings from my D-Lite 2 heads.

I used ISO 100 and shutter 1/125s on the Sekonic and the D-Lite 2 goes from 1.0 - 5.0 on the power setting. Measured from 60cm away (from softbox front) in a dim ambient, got the following readings on 3 different power settings:

1.0 = f/6.3
2.5 = f/11
5.0 = f/22

My understanding is that all Elinchrom heads' power scales are matched, so a 3.0 on a D-Lite 2 is the same Ws/J as a 3.0 on a RX head for example. Flash duration will of course vary.

But my series above shows an almost 4-stop difference between 1.0 and 5.0 settings.. which sounds logical and very handy but my engineer-self is telling me it isn't so easy with the distance and light modifier (reflector / softbox) etc adding variables.

I will experiment more but if anyone can share how this really works, much appreciated. So far all my flash photos have been purely experimentation based and I want to try and start using the Sekonic to get the initial shot right and better understand the relationship between my D-Lite settings and camera settings..

 

[markw08]

There are really too many variables to determine relationship between camera and lights....

Basically you set your camera to the settings on your light meter...

So if you measure the light in front of your subject at ISO100 and 1/125 the ideal aperture would be F8... so you adjust your lights to that setting of F8...

Ensure your meter is set to flash mode...

The thing you need to know is the ratios of the other lights for fill, hair or background lights in stops difference from the main light at F8...

Hope that helps...

 

[Tyke Tiler]

I will experiment more but if anyone can share how this really works, much appreciated. So far all my flash photos have been purely experimentation based and I want to try and start using the Sekonic to get the initial shot right and better understand the relationship between my D-Lite settings and camera settings..

No terve Jukka! Tervetuloa foorumille!

Sadly though, I can't really help when it comes to Lightmeters and implementing them, I have never used one

I do play about with GN ratings though:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_number

 

[HoppyUK]

Got my Sekonic 308s yesterday so I played around with it and then tried to get some readings from my D-Lite 2 heads.

I used ISO 100 and shutter 1/125s on the Sekonic and the D-Lite 2 goes from 1.0 - 5.0 on the power setting. Measured from 60cm away (from softbox front) in a dim ambient, got the following readings on 3 different power settings:

1.0 = f/6.3
2.5 = f/11
5.0 = f/22

My understanding is that all Elinchrom heads' power scales are matched, so a 3.0 on a D-Lite 2 is the same Ws/J as a 3.0 on a RX head for example. Flash duration will of course vary.

But my series above shows an almost 4-stop difference between 1.0 and 5.0 settings.. which sounds logical and very handy but my engineer-self is telling me it isn't so easy with the distance and light modifier (reflector / softbox) etc adding variables.

I will experiment more but if anyone can share how this really works, much appreciated. So far all my flash photos have been purely experimentation based and I want to try and start using the Sekonic to get the initial shot right and better understand the relationship between my D-Lite settings and camera settings..

Your tests sound about right.

The Elinchrom power guide is only a very rough indicator of relative output. It just means that if you have two different model Elinchrom heads, as is quite common, then setting for setting they should be approximately the same. It just helps with set up, but it's not intended as any kind of guide to exposure.

As you say, distance and type of light modifier makes a huge difference. Distance particularly, especially if the lights are close (inverse square law).

 

[Kris]

Mine are bang on across the range.

Consistency between flashes and within the same flash is a major reason to buy Eli.

 

[vaizki]

Yea so it is just as simple as I suspected..

5.0 gives me full 200Ws
4.0 gives me 100Ws = half power = 1 stop less light
..
1.0 gives 12.5Ws

And that's all there is to it. What is (was) a bit confusing is that the setting scale is 0.1 and not 1/3rds or 1/2s like with a "normal" stop/aperture-scale. My bad and I will now remember that 4.0 is half power, not 2.5 .. :bonk:

A big Elinchrom flash will go higher on the scale (like 7.5 for a 600Ws one) but will probably not go down to 1.0 as they can't choke it down that much.

So much math in photography, but now I need to take some pictures and lose the calculator..

And thanks for the welcome Tomas, for a "nut finnish" you write it pretty well And yes I've had my share of GN.. but there's all that E-TTL magic that usually handles it for me on hotshow flashes...