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donkeymusic

donkeymusic

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Hi,

i have my lencarta smartflashes and lastolite hilite set up and at the moment only have limited time to try so from work today i popped into the setup and had a few issues.

Any advice on them would be great.

okay i have a sony a550 with a hotshoe adaptor that connects to a lencarta wireless trigger. How should this appear in settings on the camera? as when i test the trigger it works yet when on the camera and i try to shoot, nothing happens, sure it must just be a setting but couldnt see anything that looked related.

Secondly, i have a vinyl train with the hilite, which is coming out grey, will i need a seperate flash to light the train? ( i have 3 flash heads, 1 inside the hilite, but was thinking i might need a second for this, the third has the diffuser for front lighting)

Next, What power light would be recommended to light the hilite with one flash head, i am using a •Modelling lamp: 150 Watt Halostar from Lencarta and having not yet tested with the flash heads from the front im not sure of the outcome, but test shots with just the hilite lit is showing it to be grey.

Finally, the flash meter, when this is plugged into the flash head, and you test it, that should fire the flash???

any help would be great, trying o get the setup correct so can start attempting portraits.

Thanks
 
If you want a totally even white backdrop and train, then yes, you'll need to hit it with lots of light. The number of lights needed will depend on the power of the lights you're using.

Be sure not to waste any light energy by making sure the light spreads as far as you need it, and no more.

Also the closer the lights are to the surface, the brighter the light will be. Getting them as close as possible, can make a big difference.

Plus the angle of the light relative to the camera will make a difference. For the train, it may work better if the light is positioned in front of the camera, so that it bounces off the train towards the camera, and not away from it. Some experimentation will be needed. Set-up each light on its own, before using them all together, this can make things less confusing.
 
If your radio trigger isn't working then I'm guessing that there is a bad connection between the hotshoe adapter and the camera - either that or the hotshoe adapter is faulty. You say that the flash trigger itself is working when you press the test button, so a bad connection or a bad adapter is all that's left. The camera can't recognise a radio trigger, so there are no settings to display. I take it that you have set the camera on manual with a shutter speed of around 1/125th?

If you only put one head into the Hilite then you'll need to crank up the power considerably, which is very likely to cause its own problems. These things are designed to be used with 2 heads. Meter readings will indicate the power needed, which is slightly above the reading on the subject.

The purpose of the modelling lamp is to indicate the direction and strength of the shadows. The modelling lamp is not relevant when used in the Hilite, just use the flash.

The best way of firing the flash is to use the radio trigger, whether it's to take a shot or to measure the exposure.

Edit:
Secondly, i have a vinyl train with the hilite, which is coming out grey, will i need a seperate flash to light the train?
Click to expand...
Yes, the 'train' isn't lit so will need lighting separately - a big weakness of that particular product.
 
donkeymusic said:
Hi,

i have my lencarta smartflashes and lastolite hilite set up and at the moment only have limited time to try so from work today i popped into the setup and had a few issues.

HAVE FUN!!!!

Any advice on them would be great.

okay i have a sony a550 with a hotshoe adaptor that connects to a lencarta wireless trigger. How should this appear in settings on the camera? as when i test the trigger it works yet when on the camera and i try to shoot, nothing happens, sure it must just be a setting but couldnt see anything that looked related.

Not got a Sony, but don't need to change setting on my camera for the flash to work, sounds like a problem with the connection.

Secondly, i have a vinyl train with the hilite, which is coming out grey, will i need a seperate flash to light the train? ( i have 3 flash heads, 1 inside the hilite, but was thinking i might need a second for this, the third has the diffuser for front lighting)

How big is the Hilite? I'm using the smaller one in landscape & it looks much better with 2 lights inside. Someone suggested one light in the middle on an adapted stand but not tried it yet.

Next, What power light would be recommended to light the hilite with one flash head, i am using a •Modelling lamp: 150 Watt Halostar from Lencarta and having not yet tested with the flash heads from the front im not sure of the outcome, but test shots with just the hilite lit is showing it to be grey.

Hilite shouldn't look grey, just a lovely bright white even without the key light

any help would be great, trying o get the setup correct so can start attempting portraits.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Garry Edwards said:
If your radio trigger isn't working then I'm guessing that there is a bad connection between the hotshoe adapter and the camera - either that or the hotshoe adapter is faulty. You say that the flash trigger itself is working when you press the test button, so a bad connection or a bad adapter is all that's left. The camera can't recognise a radio trigger, so there are no settings to display. I take it that you have set the camera on manual with a shutter speed of around 1/125th?
Click to expand...

it could well be a faulty hot shoe adaptor, as when i used teh hot shoe with the sync lead direct to the camera that didnt work either.

I wasnt on manual nor was i on 1/125th, would that make a difference at this stage?

If you only put one head into the Hilite then you'll need to crank up the power considerably, which is very likely to cause its own problems. These things are designed to be used with 2 heads. Meter readings will indicate the power needed, which is slightly above the reading on the subject.
Click to expand...

so i would be best with two heads in the hilite and one out front?

The purpose of the modelling lamp is to indicate the direction and strength of the shadows. The modelling lamp is not relevant when used in the Hilite, just use the flash.
Click to expand...

Ah i had them on the lamp, so really i would just set to slave and fire as a flash?

thanks
 

sorry i meant the train looks grey not the hilite itself
 
donkeymusic said:
it could well be a faulty hot shoe adaptor, as when i used teh hot shoe with the sync lead direct to the camera that didnt work either.

I wasnt on manual nor was i on 1/125th, would that make a difference at this stage?
Click to expand...
It shouldn't make any difference to whether or not the flash fires, but it is essential to set your camera to manual, all is explained in this articleon setting up your camera for studio flash in the Lencarta Learning Centre



so i would be best with two heads in the hilite and one out front?
Click to expand...
Yes



Ah i had them on the lamp, so really i would just set to slave and fire as a flash?
Click to expand...
You can leave them on if you like, what I'm saying is that the modelling lamps don't affect the exposure
 
donkeymusic said:
that would potentailly see me needing a fourth flash?
Click to expand...
Yes, if you feel that you need a second light on the subject. But see what you can achieve with just one light and the reflector supplied, the trick is to use the minimum possible number of lights - especially when you're just starting out.
 
in your previous thread you state i would need 2 flashes in the hilite and one out front and then one on teh trail, this would mean i would be looking at 4 lights, thinking that maybe the flash heads are not powerful enough to light the hilite as an individual.
 
No, I didn't say that you NEED 2 lights inside the Hilite thing, what I said was that it is designed for use with 2 lights and that the lighting will be uneven if you only use one. Some people on this forum have said that they are satisfied with the results with just one light - try it and see whether you are.

It has NOTHING to do with the power of the lights - your Lencarta flash heads have far more power than you need for the purpose, it is about even lighting, not power.

BTW, some people say that 2 hotshoe flash guns are good enough for the Hilite, if they are right then a couple of cheap flash guns (and the means to trigger them) will save you a lot of money
 
have ordered a new hot shoe adaptor then will have a pay around, until i can do that i am just guessing at results.

thanks for your help and the returns form.
 
I have a 8x7 Hilite which I light using a pair of 180Ws £50 ebay lights.. ( cheap enough if they get broken by drunk party goers..

Out front my key light is high and quite central and I have another low to light the train..

Hope this helps...

Jez
 
JezSutton said:
I have a 8x7 Hilite which I light using a pair of 180Ws £50 ebay lights.. ( cheap enough if they get broken by drunk party goers..

Out front my key light is high and quite central and I have another low to light the train..

Hope this helps...

Jez
Click to expand...

dont suppose you have a photo handy showing how you light the train?

thanks
 
okay next question relating to flash meter, i attach this to the one of the flash heads and have tried the other two but they dont fire when i use the flash meter.

any ideas?

cheers
 
donkeymusic said:
okay next question relating to flash meter, i attach this to the one of the flash heads and have tried the other two but they dont fire when i use the flash meter.

any ideas?

cheers
Click to expand...
It sounds as if you haven't got the flash sensors turned on
 
I'm not familiar with your camera but you may have to tell it to use an external flash. My Fuji bridge camera won't fire a hotshoe trigger unless I tell it to use external flash.

Both Nikons are fine without any menu adjustment.

Have a look through the menu and see if there is one for external flash.

Andy
 
Hi mate,

Not sure how relevant this will be to you.

I had some issues recently trying to get my Sony A300 to fire my wireless triggers. Regardless, the camera detected that it wasn't a genuine Sony flashgun attached and had to choose the 'WL' mode for it to work. I took the trigger to pieces and found that only 2 of the 4 pins were actually connected.

I also had a problem (probably not related) with the Sony flashgun, it would only fire wirelessly if I put the flashgun onto the camera and half pressed. This would prime the flashgun with the TTL settings, White balance etc. Only then would it fire.

Sonys :shrug:
 
donkeymusic said:
where would i do that??

thanks
Click to expand...
Press the sensor button, it's the one on the left on the control panel. When it's on, it's illuminated
 
Jaffster said:
Hi mate,

Not sure how relevant this will be to you.

I had some issues recently trying to get my Sony A300 to fire my wireless triggers. Regardless, the camera detected that it wasn't a genuine Sony flashgun attached and had to choose the 'WL' mode for it to work. I took the trigger to pieces and found that only 2 of the 4 pins were actually connected.

I also had a problem (probably not related) with the Sony flashgun, it would only fire wirelessly if I put the flashgun onto the camera and half pressed. This would prime the flashgun with the TTL settings, White balance etc. Only then would it fire.

Sonys :shrug:
Click to expand...

whereabouts in warrington are you?
 
Garry Edwards said:
Press the sensor button, it's the one on the left on the control panel. When it's on, it's illuminated
Click to expand...

Hi Garry

just had a look at the flash head and there is no sensor button.

i have a button for model, cell and test
 
donkeymusic said:
Hi Garry

just had a look at the flash head and there is no sensor button.

i have a button for model, cell and test
Click to expand...

It's a sensor cell, so press the cell button to turn on the sensor
 
Garry Edwards said:
It's a sensor cell, so press the cell button to turn on the sensor
Click to expand...

That sensor cell only seems to allow the main flash head to use them as slave flashes, nothing to do with the Flash meter.

Managed to have a bit more time today with my kit and play around, got the flash meter working with the flashes now.

Got wireless trigger working, there was a cable missing from the kit, the one that attaches the trigger to the hot shoe.


New queries that will read up on now but if anyone coul advice would be greatful.

Had a quick play around with the flash meter, i set the iso and set the flash speed as 1/125th this returned an fstop of f8, if the lens i am using is a 50mm f1.8 , how do i set that aperture?

thanks
 
donkeymusic said:
That sensor cell only seems to allow the main flash head to use them as slave flashes, nothing to do with the Flash meter.
Click to expand...
Yes, that's what slave sensors do. But you can use the radio trigger to meter the flash, just put your meter in the subject position, pointing at either the camera (with sensors switched on) or at individual flash heads first (with sensors switched off) and fire the flash by firing the test button on the radio transmitter.

Got wireless trigger working, there was a cable missing from the kit, the one that attaches the trigger to the hot shoe.
Click to expand...
If it is missing, it isn't needed if your camera has a hotshoe

Had a quick play around with the flash meter, i set the iso and set the flash speed as 1/125th this returned an fstop of f8, if the lens i am using is a 50mm f1.8 , how do i set that aperture?
Click to expand...
RTFM, there will be an explanation of how to set the aperture on manual setting.
 
wireless trigger will not work on the hot shoe without the cable.

RTFM????
 
donkeymusic said:
wireless trigger will not work on the hot shoe without the cable.
Click to expand...
It must do. Unless you've severely overtightened the locking nut, which in fact doesn't need to be tightened at all.

RTFM????
Click to expand...
Read the f**** manual
 
tried at various tightness and no luck unless cable attached.

Would like to read some manuals on the Lencarta Kit!!! i intend to read the flash meter manual as part of my learning curve just thought i would ask the question
 
donkeymusic said:
Had a quick play around with the flash meter, i set the iso and set the flash speed as 1/125th this returned an fstop of f8, if the lens i am using is a 50mm f1.8 , how do i set that aperture?
thanks
Click to expand...

You just adjust the aperture dial on the camera to f8.

I will not be telling you where that is on your camera.
 
i know how to change the aperture dial to f8 but what i was asking ws if the lens is f1.8, will that still allow me to choose a aperuture of f8?
 
donkeymusic said:
i know how to change the aperture dial to f8 but what i was asking ws if the lens is f1.8, will that still allow me to choose a aperuture of f8?
Click to expand...


Read what I said or try and read the Spanish waiter.
 
The naming convention for a lens is what the maximum (biggest hole, smallest f number) aperture the lens can be adjusted to. So a 50mm f/1.8 can go to a maximum aperture hole of f/1.8. It can still adjust to f/4 f/5.6, f/8 etc etc, anything smaller (bigger number) than f/1.8

It can adjust to anything less than that upto a limit probably from f/22 to maybe f/32 however above f/20 it becomes academic as the hole is so small that different rules of physics start to apply and it becomes closer to a pinhole camera rather than a lens that works by bending light through glass.

The aperture dial on the camera sets the aperture used by the lens.

Therefore to set a lens to say f/8 you will adjust the aperture setting on the camera.

As you are using manually adjusted studio lights the automatic metering in the camera will not work so you need to take control of iso, aperture and shutter speed by putting the camera into manual mode and setting it yourself.

Sorry if its a bit obvious to those who already know but not everybody understands and its hard to tell level of understanding on a forum so I've tried to cover everything relevant. In a month's time you'll look back on this thread and say "did I really ask that?", but its not obvious until you know. Please KEEP ASKING.
 
Wookie said:
The naming convention for a lens is what the maximum (biggest hole, smallest f number) aperture the lens can be adjusted to. So a 50mm f/1.8 can go to a maximum aperture hole of f/1.8. It can still adjust to f/4 f/5.6, f/8 etc etc, anything smaller (bigger number) than f/1.8
.
Click to expand...

thanks for your explanation. This is what i wanted to know, i thought because of the lens there were restriction to its f stop but now i understand.

Cheers
 
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