20-100 power settings?

cardiff_gareth

cardiff_gareth

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Gareth
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Hey,
My last studio lights were Elemental and they had a dial for full power down to 1/128th and all was good. I've just bought some Interfit EX400 TI units that on paper are good, fan cooled, 400w, comes with on camera trigger that's also the flash controller and 2 step modelling light. The only thing is the power starts at 20 and goes up to 100.

I'm guessing 100 is full power, does anyone know what figure is 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 etc?
 
cardiff_gareth said:
Hey,
My last studio lights were Elemental and they had a dial for full power down to 1/128th and all was good. I've just bought some Interfit EX400 TI units that on paper are good, fan cooled, 400w, comes with on camera trigger that's also the flash controller and 2 step modelling light. The only thing is the power starts at 20 and goes up to 100.

I'm guessing 100 is full power, does anyone know what figure is 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 etc?
Click to expand...

I've tested dozens of flash heads and regardless of what the manufacturers may claim for incremental settings, the only way to be sure is to check them yourself and make a note. Some, a few, are very accurate, but most are not and some are simply miles out - yes, they will turn down okay but the control is not linear.

The best way to check it is either with a meter, or by some test images adjusting ISO - that's more precise than changing the aperture. Set up a shot (tripod) and adjust aperture (and/or move the light back) until you've got a nice exposure at ISO100 on full power. Then raise ISO to 200 and turn the flash down until the exposures match. Repeat down to minimum power.

You may notice some slight inconsistency shot to shot at identical settings, particularly around minimum power output. It happens, but usually not enough to worry about.
 
As above; does it really matter?

Set the exposure you want, adjust the lights to create it, does it matter if they're at 46 or 57 so long as your in camera exposure is correct?

Just to add to what Richard said, your previous fractional light settings probably weren’t 100% accurate either.
 
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