Hasselblad 503 TTL and Studio Strobes

Bear with me a minute as I am a beginner with the lighting studio and setup.

I understand the Hasselblad 503 series bodies have a SCA connector for lots of "handheld" stobes...Metz,

Sunpak, etc., that will take advantage of the TTL metering.

I am a little fuzzy on this one...so how do I connect the 503 flashTTL connector to a Norman Powerpack

and lights setup in the Studio...at school...see I said I am a beginner.

The PC sync cord is a no brainer, camera lens to pack or pocket wizard etc., but i am talking about the TTL

connection and its functionality to drive the studio strobes properly.

Or does the TTL actually work that way??? It curtails the flash output when the amount you have "dialed-

in" on the body is achieved OTF...am I right?

Solutions:

Some sort of slave connector??? a simple cable from Paramount or whoever, that goes to the pack from the

SCA connector?

Some fancy doo-dad I'd have to buy? I will probably be renting the 503 body for a studio session if it will

do this properly as I myself have an older "dumb" 500C body.

Any insights into the TTL functionality to drive Studio Strobes and setup would greaty be apprecitated as I

looked for this answer and havent found it yet.

John Thurston

The number of studio strobes that 'do' TTL are few... if there are any at all.<br>At one time, Broncolor had a powerpack that did. But that was years ago.<br><br>The reason is that you do not need TTL in a studio setting at all.<br>Quite the contrary in fact: using a separate, handheld meter provides much more detailed information about the lighting situation, and thus offers much more control over the same.<br>TTL flash control is great for quick, reportage-style photography (though even there you can do without). So it can be found in units made for just that.

Even if you could, you really wouldn't want to control your studio strobes via the TTL function. I use a 503CW in the studio along with Norman strobes myself and there is simply no way that any TTL system could control the lighting ratios appropriately. I set the ratios that are appropriate for my subject and the desired lighting effect then I use a Sekonic L-558 flashmeter to determine the appropriate exposure. I'll often shoot a Polaroid as well, but the 558 is quite good and is usually right on.