Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I'm looking at getting a sekonic flash meter, do you know are any compatible and fire an einstien unit?

To my knowlege, no Sekonic has an inherent capability to fire a light. There are, however, modules available to trigger remote receivers. Again, to my kowlege, the only module available is for Pocket Wizard. So, if a Pocket Wizard is used on the light, and you have a PW module in the Sekonic, then yes there are meters that can do that. The 358 and 758 are two that can (I do not know about others).

However, if you are using a different brand of remotes, such as CyberSync, you can either connect the transmitter to the meter via a PC cord, or you can use the meter's cordless function (which is different than a remote function) to arm the meter and press the test button of the transmitter.

I just bought a PW module for my L358. It works fine, but, to me, setting up and selecting groups or individual lights to selectively fire is cumbersome. I would only recommend it if you are already locked into PW system and have PWs on each light.

If not, Cyber Commander meters any one light, any group of lights or all lights more intuitively, with equal accuracy, but requires Cyber Sync receivers on each light.

I have 4 Einsteins and have the cyber commander, just not happy with it as a light meter, actually i find it so cumbersome I don't even use it any more, guess it would be good in a large studio, but I only keep it as a backup to fire the units. the readings I got when I tested it resulted in poor exposures.

very new to this and it's just way to complex for simple lighting shoots.

very happy with the lights and customer service.

Are you on the latest firmware for the CC? The meter in CC is within 2/10 of Sekonics normally, so there may be something amiss in your unit. You say you are new, so let me go over some basics and a few not-so-basics. Start by updating the firmware:http://www.paulcbuff.com/fw-cc.php

1- Make sure your camera's ISO and Shutter Speed match. This can be adjusted in the SETUP>FLASHMETER screen. While you are in that screen, make sure CAL in the upper right corner is set to +0.0f. If this is +12.2f, you may have a corrupted memory card. Remove it and set to 0.0f and see if there is any improvement.

2- Make sure you are at your subject's position, with the dome facing the light (some people prefer the camera. This can vary depending on which light and what you are measuring)

3- You can meter the individual lights to set up your ratios, but you MUST meter ALL in order to get the camera's exposure reading.

4-If you are still not happy with the readings, go to SETUP>ADVANCED CONFIGURATION>FACTORY CALIBRATION. Scroll left or right on the left joystick. This will revert to factory calibration.

5-If you are still having problems, or have any questions, please feel free to give us a call, and I will be glad to work you through that.

Sekonic L-308S is small, inexpensive, and has a PC sync port. You can connect the PC sync cord that comes with the Einstein to it and fire the Einstein that way.

This Sekonic also has a wait for flash mode. You push the button on the flashmeter and then fire the flash seperately using your Cyber Commander or whatever.

Using a Light Meter is old School, I don't even know any pros still use it any more. It's a wasted $. All you have to do jus set you camera to M mode 1/125 f/11/ iso 100 for studio portraits or fashion and if you a Nikon shotter set your iso 200 shoot a few shots make sure you turn on your camera high light warning on and check your histogram. IF any where get red warning just turn your exp. down 1stop at a time.

You must not know any pros, then. EVERY pro I know uses a light meter for studio work.

Can't imagine shooting without a lightmeter.

History on this: Transparency film is vulnerable to irreparable loss of detail in highlights from overexposure. Commercial professionals using transparency film normally metered the main light to be sure not to overexpose the highlights. Negative film is vulnerable to irreparable loss of detail in shadows from underexposure, so portrait photographers using negative film normally metered the fill light (that is, pointing the meter toward the camera) to be sure not to underexpose the shadows.

As photographers moved to digital, they maintained their accustomed method of metering, adjusted it to work with digital sensors, and taught others to do it their way. But with proper adjustments, either way works.

The reason a great many professionals continue to use light meters is to save time--particularly with complex lighting set-ups. A light meter reading can tell you much more about the light conditions in much less time than a bunch of trial and error exposures. Where professionals can get away without it is when they use fairly static setups.

HOWEVER, using the CyberCommander system with the CyberCommander as flashmeter, I'm certainly able to handle even the most complex lighting setup with much more speed and certainty than with any other meter. Without a doubt for my use, CyberCommander is the most advanced and effective remote control system available at any price today.