URGENT How do i use an external strobe lighting with my 6008i?

[de_v]

Is there any way I can use an external strobe for the flash? The wire goes in

the PC sync slot?

 

Will I get correct exposure if I set both the aperture and shutter speed on auto?

 

As you can see, a total newbie here. Appreciate any help coming this way.

[tak_l._poon1]

The wire should go into the X-sync which is a circular hole on the left side below the word 'mirror'.

 

External strobe should not be used with auto. But any shutter speed fast enough to cut down ambient light is usable, unless you want ambient light. The aperture is best set after measuring with an incidence light meter set to measure 'flash'.

 

cheers.

 

Tak

[de_v]

thanks Tak for the quick reply

 

how do i test trigger the flash strobe with the camera shutter without wasting a frame? can it be done by unloading the mag and just depressing the shutter?

[kipling]

you connect the sync cable from the flash to a light meter and hold the light meter in front of the subject or scene you want to shoot. set the light meter to measure flash. with the light meter you dial in the time (say 1/125th) and the iso you want to use and trigger the flash with the light meter. the meter then tells you what aperture is correct. to raise or lower the aperture increase or decrease the flash output.

[stuart_richardson]

De V, as Kipling says, the best way to do it is to connect the flash sync cable to your flash

meter (most have a PC sync), if not, you can simply take the back off and fire a frame as you

suggested. I think there is a pre-flash function, but I forget how to use it. I mostly just plug it

into the flash meter and do it that way.

[de_v]

hey guys, thanks for the responses. well according to the lightmeter readings i've set on my rollei, the LED shows that it is 3-4 stops under. is it normal?

 

i didnt use a cable sync rather a wireless trigger connecting to the hotshoe. however there are times when the flash wont fire and at times it fire...whats wrong here?

 

regards

[tak_l._poon1]

Hi, from my own personal experience, I found that the 6008s hotshoes are really specially made for 356 or 3562 adapters. The central contact is of a slightly different size as most other 135 camera hotshoes. Many cable sync connecting to the hotshoe do not work consistently due to instability of the contact. I would suggest that you use an X to hotshoe adapter.

 

If you have the master control for the 6008i, you can activate the TTL flash metering function. With this function, for each film you make, you see the LED exposure values AFTERWARDS.

 

Since the meter in the camera measures light reflected from the film surface, if you unload the magazine, you are measuring light reflected from the pressure plate, which is lower than that from film.

 

if you remove the magazine, there would be very little light going back into the meter inside the body.

 

There are 2 ways to get the value before exposure of the film. One is to use the metering back. It is just like a body cover, with a very cheap white paper circle adhered to the centre. But it is sold much more expensively than an ordinary body cover. The other way, which I used before I acquire the AF, was to stick a sheet of ordinary slide film (which had been wasted due to incorrect exposure and which was before developing) to an ordinary body cover. So before taking pictures, I removed the film magazine, put on this body cover, exposed at a grey card, read the LED values, and then put the magazine on again for the real picture. Since the camera was measuring light reflected from normal film material, it should be very consistent. To make it accurate, callibrate it with several bracketed exposures. I had used 2 6008i bodies before, and their flash exposure values differ by 2/3 stops. so callibration at least once is essential.

 

Hope this may help you.

 

You may consider upgrading to 6008af, which has a built-in pre-flash metering system, whereby the external strobe was measured TTL, with shutter and aperture movements but NO mirror or film movements.

 

cheers,

 

Tak

[pete_kiefer]

I put a pink PostIt note on the pressure plate of a spare mag. This has the reflectivity near that of Portra film. (I checked with a densitometer.) When I work with SCA flash it is an excellent check point for comparing a hand-held with the camera's meter. When I use studio strobes it makes a nice exposure target and Its a lot cheaper than Rollei's dummy mag.