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Forum: Pentax Forums Giveaways
09-07-2016, 01:07 PM
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Great giveaway, Awesome camera!
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
12-24-2009, 01:40 PM
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Sorry for the late response.. X-Mas shopping!
It's a 58 Model, not the mystery model I indicated. Brain lapse there. Dedicated Pentax unit, not the SCA adapter set up you mentioned.
100% right about the diffuser knocking out many options. I suppose there is a little trigger mechanism of some sort in there that tells it the diffuser is deployed?
As far as 'solving the problem', I've not had a chance to set up my strobes again and compare the meter readings to appropriate exposure using the K20D.
I've done a good deal of tests with the Metz in auto and p-ttl mode around the house, comparing exposures it prefers to using the histogram to try and get the best exposures. Sure enough I'm having to knock it up an EV or three to get it where it 'should' be (IE, not underexposing the scene). Trick is, with a decent nuetral background it's pretty much perfect and gives a nice mound in the middle on the histogram without any compensation. It seems like lighter pieces of scenery are making the system want to underexpose for THAT and ignoring the rest of the scene. As a work around I'm spot metering on selected surfaces and picking an EV based on averages myself like I used to n my old Nikon f3 days.
I agree with others that the distance to the stage, along with my reluctance to exceed 400 ISO, was the drawback. The room also has an ugly mix of flourescent and halogen lighting, white balance was a heck of a challenge because it varied depending on which direction the camera was pointed in, or which part of the stage.
Long story short, I do not think it was the Metz unit. More a combination of user error, distance, ambient light, and not having toyed enough with a metering system that may have a kink or two built right into it.
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Forum: Flashes, Lighting, and Studio
12-16-2009, 11:06 AM
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Hi, new member. Last night I had pretty much the same experience with the metz 54 as yourself.. massive underexposure.. but the stage was just as far off. I tried in pttl, auto, and even manual modes. I thought I was doing something wrong. At one point I had the pop-out diffuser on the metz down which for some reason seemed to actually prevent me from altering any of the parameters on the unit:confused: Black photos.. or underexposed by SEVERAL stops with that down.
The (not so) funny thing is I've found I get some exposure problems with studio lights, too. I shot about 700 pics for the town a couple weeks ago with a pair of AB400's and metered the exposures ahead of time with a hand held meter. Foolishly I never checked the histogram and shot at the metered setting. Long story short I was adjusting levels on hundreds of photos a couple of days later. :eek:
Checking the flash last night after the Christmas show I noted that the pop up flash and the Metz seemed to be pretty consistent with underexposing on various settings. Is it possible that the K20D is actually doing something and it isn't the flash units that are somehow at fault?
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