Strobists, here I come
by Ken on Mar.19, 2010, under Photography
This is not a tech blog, I know – and yet, since (seriously, can you believe it?) I am still waiting for my new camera shutter so I can finally get back to shooting something (or someone), I got some exciting new things going on, which are more or less technical.
As you may or may not know, by now I defined myself mostly as a
- low budget photographer
- and hence, mostly an available light photographer
- … the latter for the most part due to my lack of technical interest (“avoiding to get off the couch and teach yourself something completely new and potentially complex”) in strobes
Well, some of that is going to change: I spent the last weeks reading an old book on photography and expanded my theoretical knowledge especially in the field of the physical lighting theory and the usage of strobes. For the latter, I found the greatest knowledge base there is, which is The Strobist. Thus, I finally buried my aversion against strobes and I decided to dive right into it – strobists, here I come!
Metz 45 CT-4
Having read tons of material on different forums and blogs I found that I like the idea of the off-camera-lighting while keeping the flexibility of small strobes (and in addition: don’t get broke when buying the equipment) – which pretty much summarizes the idea of strobism. So I got myself an old Metz 45 CT-4 for the cheap. Old, analog torch flash with decent power – more than what many modern flashes offer. It also sports a low-voltage trigger circuit, so it doesn’t damage your camera. Potentially, the earlier model CT-1 does that. The flash is powered with six AA batteries. I’m excited to start using it!
Hey Mark,
thanks so much for your interest! Well, to be perfectly honest, the mods I made were really rather simple: Replacing that photo diode with a resistor didn’t take longer than a couple of minutes. The tricky part is finding the right resistance. For that, I quote from my earlier comments:
“I don’t have a flash meter, so I used the in-camera histogram to compare the power output: Set the flash up maybe 1m against a white wall, set it to half power, set the aperture on your camera until you can see the the nice peak in your histogram (doesn’t help if the wall is completely blown out). Keep all the distances constant, open the aperture on your camera one full stop (i.e., if it was on 11, go to 8, then 5.6, 4, 2.8), turn the dial on the flash one step down and fire. If the resistance is right, the histogram should match with the previous picture – given that the recycle time is rougly the same (so I kinda averaged it out by firing 3 pictures per aperture). Repeat this cycle to find out if it works down to 1/64 (so start with a high aperture value).”
So for finding out the right resistance I used a potentiometer with which I could vary the resistance somewhere between 293K and 303K – I think I ended up at 297K, but that might vary with your model. So my suggestion: Get a couple of resistors and potentiometers and try the method I outlined in the above comment. It’s quite simple.
About the power mod: The basic idea was to be able to connect a RC pack to the flash without drilling holes into the case. So I modded the battery holder by connecting the +/- poles of the battery pack to that little plug that I attached to the bottom. Make sure you use thick enough cables for the 10A that want to go through there. The good news is that there is a little space between the outer plastic and the battery compartment – that’s where I fitted the cables and the plug. All you have to do is make sure you connect the right poles, but that’s easy: Simply measure a full battery pack and find the right poles.
Best of luck!
Cheers
Ken
Hi Ken – I also am getting into strobist stuff adn have bought 2 Metz 45CT4 flashes. I am very intersted in more details of each of the modifications you have outlined and would be VERY grateful if you could pass on more details to me. Thanks you very much, Mark