Can a Sekonic L-358 fire the camera's shutter?

[TMR Design]

I was just wondering...I have an L-358 on it's way and there are many times that I don't have a subject and I use myself as a subject but that cen be difficult. I was thinking that it might be neat if I can use the Sekonic meter to not only get a meter reading by to actually fire the shutter as well.
Is this possible?

[PacAce]

Yes, you can but you'd need a PW unit (PW Plus Rx, PW Plus II, or PW MM) along with the appropriate shutter release cable. And, of course, that's also assuming that you got the PW RF module with the L-358.

[TMR Design]

Even if I got the PW module and shutter release cable, won't the Meter button on the L-358 only fire the shutter but not incorporate the half shutter for focusing?
I do al ot of self portraits and work by myself where I have to stand in front of the camera but I use a remote that allows me to focus and shoot. Can I do that with the light meter firing the shutter?

[PacAce]

If the camera is going to be used to take a picture of something a fixed distance from the camera, you can keep the camera on manual focus so that you won't have to worry about focusing before each shot.

If the subject distance isn't fixed, there are two types of release cables you can use with the PW. The standard cable will focus and then take the picture when you press the remote button to fire the camera. There will usually be a lag between the time you press the button on the remote and the time the picture is taken because of the time it take to acquire focus but in a studio environment, this shouldn't be a problem.

You can also use what they call a pre-trigger cable to attach the PW to your camera. This cable is wired to keep the shutter half-pressed all the time. Obviously, with this cable, the camera has to be in AI Servo mode so that focus can be constantly updated (big drain on the batteries, though, I think). The good thing about this cable is that you won't experience the lag time that the standard cable has.

[PacAce]

BTW, when you fire the shutter remotely, you will need to work with two different channels. The PW for the lights are set to one channel (say, Channel 1) and the PW for the camera is set to receive on another channel (say, Channel 2). The PW on the camera also needs to be set to transmit on Channel 1 so that it can fire the lights. And, of course, the PW on the camera will need to be set to relay mode (possible only with Plus II and MultiMax untis; with Plus units, a Tx and an Rx units will be required to accomplish the same thing).

Now, when you are testing and adjusting the lights, you fire the lights with your light meter set to Channel 1. When you are all set and ready to take a picture, you set the meter to Channel 2. When you press the fire button, that will trigger the camera which, in turn, will trigger the lights.

[Lotto]

L358 fires the 20D through Adidt M1 remote. Though not what my wiring was intended to do, but it does fired the shutter, like a " full press", no half press.