Weird thing with sekonic 308 flash mate!

[mob81]

Dear all,
I sat up my mini studio:D and shot some tri-x (by the way, I developed them and they were good without getting them scanned yet! They are my first LF films) and I was extremely excited.
However, the meter was weird! Shutter speeds at 125 and higher it displayed the aperture correctly...but when I go lower the aperture remain at f16 :mad: And doesn't change even if I choose 1 sec!!! When measuring flash of coarse. Reflective is no problem.

Why the meter doesn't go smaller than f16 in flash mode (cord or cordless mode)? should I contact sekonic or is there a work around the issue in setting? I read the manual briefly and didn't find anything about it!

Regards,
Mohammed

[atlcruiser]

Just a WAG....slower shutter = more light on film = smaller apeture

[mob81]

Just a WAG....slower shutter = more light on film = smaller apeture

WAG?
Second part I know! I'm trying to use smaller aperture to try! But the flash meter mode won't go pass f16!!!!!!! It stays at certain flash power at f16 in shutter speed of 125 and slower (even at 1 sec)!!!!

[Ian Gordon Bilson]

Wild Ass Guess..

[johnielvis]

you must measure in FLASH mode--with flash, the shutter speed don't matter---only distance to the flash--if you're measuring in regular light mode, then shutter speed does matter---want smaller aperture with flash, put the flashes CLOSER or turn them up higher--

[Noah A]

When you're metering flash, the aperture is determined by the flash output, shutter speed sometimes does not matter.

If you're in a relatively dark room where the flash is overpowering any ambient light by a large margin (as is often the case in studio work) then the shutter speed doesn't matter too much. I normally just shoot at 1/125 and forget about it.

If you're trying to balance ambient light with strobe, then the aperture is still used to control the strobe exposure while the shutter speed can be used to control the ambient light exposure. In this case, with typical small apertures used with LF, you'll likely be at very slow shutter speeds.

Of course you must set the meter to flash mode as others have said.

The aperture displayed by the meter should only change if you physically move the meter closer to the strobe or turn up the power on the strobe. If you need a smaller aperture, you can get bigger strobes or set a faster ISO.

The reason the meter reacts this way is because your strobe flash duration is very short. It depends on what strobes you have but it's almost always much faster than 1/250th. If the shutter is open longer, assuming relatively low ambient light, no additional exposure is taking place during the extra time.

[mob81]

Thanks guys, I'll try with different flash power out put and see for myself.