Buying a home studio today!

So after a month or so of research and asking silly questions i have finally decided to purchase the calumet genesis 400 2-light kit.
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CF0514K1/
I will also be buying their heavy duty background support
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/MF6095/
And to go on the background support
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CS2728/
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CS2744/
Also I will be buying the sekonic L-358
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/SE4052/
I was also thinking about getting this
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CF0044/
I still haven't quite figured out the whole remote flash trigger but I guess I will figure it out. Without using pocket wizards how does one remotely trigger the flash with the light meter and camera. I did about a half hour of searching last night to no avail. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I'm pretty excited about this!

steve215 wrote in post #5348607
I still haven't quite figured out the whole remote flash trigger but I guess I will figure it out. Without using pocket wizards how does one remotely trigger the flash with the light meter and camera. I did about a half hour of searching last night to no avail. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I'm pretty excited about this!

I bought a set of inexpensive Chinese remote triggers for my White Lightnings. A set comes with a trigger and receiver. I bought an extra trigger to take care of the light meter reading.

Here's the setup. One trigger on the camera hot shoe, one receiver on a strobe and the second trigger I hold in my hand with the meter. I set the meter to read and trigger the strobes with the test button on the trigger in my hand. It's pretty low tech but it works well and was way less expensive than PocketWizards.

I actually have two triggers and four receivers in case I'm in a situation where someone else could trigger the slaves on my strobes.

To this point, I've had no real problems with my inexpensive remote trigger system. I tested the batteries in the triggers and found them to be a little weak so I replaced them and the triggers have been very consistent.

These are the ones I use:
http://cgi.ebay.com …ZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcm​dZViewItem

The seller is out of New York so you don't have to ship overseas if you have a return. (I did get one receiver replaced. It was working fine but the insulation on the wiring didn't extend completely into the stress relief collar.

Michael

thanks for the reply macigmikey

Are the triggers that you posted similar to this?
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CF0044/

steve215 wrote in post #5348607
So after a month or so of research and asking silly questions i have finally decided to purchase the calumet genesis 400 2-light kit.
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CF0514K1/
I will also be buying their heavy duty background support
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/MF6095/
And to go on the background support
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CS2728/
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CS2744/
Also I will be buying the sekonic L-358
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/SE4052/
I was also thinking about getting this
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CF0044/
I still haven't quite figured out the whole remote flash trigger but I guess I will figure it out. Without using pocket wizards how does one remotely trigger the flash with the light meter and camera. I did about a half hour of searching last night to no avail. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I'm pretty excited about this!

Congratulations, Steve. Sounds like a great setup. I have the Genesis 200 kit and it has been a pleasure to work with (despite some teething pains). Just one thing: If you're ordering these goodies online, don't forget the 5% cash back available if the order is placed through Jellyfish.com. That should be about $55; enough to buy yourself the Pocket Wizard radio module for the Sekonic meter!

Dave F.

steve215 wrote in post #5348802
thanks for the reply macigmikey

Are the triggers that you posted similar to this?
http://www.calumetphot​o.com/item/CF0044/

Yes, except the receivers on the Calumet strobes use AA batteries when the ones I bought have to be plugged in. (It's not a big deal because it's a pass-through connection. You connect the receiver to the AC jack on the strobe, then you plug the regular strobe AC cord into the receiver and into the outlet.)

I like the idea of not having to have AA batteries for my receivers. That's one less thing to worry about.

Michael

I think you meant that you got an extra trigger for the light meter.

Just so everything is clear.

Thanks, Big Mike. You are correct and I have edited my original post!

Michael

I just went down to calumet and picked up all the stuff listed in my op. (except the trigger, they had to order it from santa barbra) I'm very excited to set it up!

I'll be back in a little bit with some pictures of the set up!

I've got it all set up and it works great!

I'm not sure though how to trigger the flash when using the light meter.

You've got a L-358 right? See page 15 of the manual and it shows you how to trigger a light with the meter using the PC cord(s) that came with your Genesis kit.

hudge wrote in post #5350778
You've got a L-358 right? See page 15 of the manual and it shows you how to trigger a light with the meter using the PC cord(s) that came with your Genesis kit.

That is true. It didn't occur to me to check if the OP was aware of that! That is definitely the least expensive route, although I do like my cheap remote trigger system.

Michael

hudge wrote in post #5350778
You've got a L-358 right? See page 15 of the manual and it shows you how to trigger a light with the meter using the PC cord(s) that came with your Genesis kit.

thank you sir! I am at school now so when i get home I'll go ahead and consult the manual. I took a quick look at the little cheat sheet they provide but it didn't mention anything. Anyways thanks for the advice!

By the way, this is so freakn' cool!!!!!

steve215 wrote in post #5351764
thank you sir! I am at school now so when i get home I'll go ahead and consult the manual. I took a quick look at the little cheat sheet they provide but it didn't mention anything. Anyways thanks for the advice!

Excellent, I know you will find that it is very easy.

steve215 wrote in post #5351764
By the way, this is so freakn' cool!!!!!

Agreed! (I've got the Genesis 200 2 lite kit myself)

magicmikey wrote in post #5351650
That is true. It didn't occur to me to check if the OP was aware of that! That is definitely the least expensive route, although I do like my cheap remote trigger system.

Michael

Hi Michael, I've got the 16 channel version of the "eBay triggers" and I see that there are two ways to to trigger the lights:

1) Do exactly as you are doing
2) Hook up the transmitter to the L-358 via the supplied 12" PC-to-3.5mm cord and use the meter in corded mode to trigger the strobe

So far both ways have worked for me. I mentioned the corded mode to the OP because I saw in an earlier post that he didn't get his wireless triggers yet.

I had a buddy come over right before I had to leave for school and he was dumbfounded at the set up. He's like "what the #$%$"

(none photo guy)