Flashlight is losing its capacity?

hi,

i just got my second-hand flashlight Metz 45 CT-1, which is an old
dedicated flashlight with guide number of 45/148. yesterday, i test
it using my Sekonic L508 meter and found there the actual GN is one
stop less than what expected. my test method is as below,

1) set meter in incident measuring mode and put it in the "d" feet
away from the speedlight and aim it toward the speedlight.
2) set the speed light's ASA dail to ASA 100.
3) put speedlight in manual mode and fire it.
4) got an aperture reading "f" in the meter.

the actuall GN = d * f, that is about 104 in feet and 105 is just
around 148/1.414. i've checked, the "d" does within the range
described in the Metz manual.

what's your opinion about the result? i guess there are two possible
reasons:

1) the speedlight lose it's capacity just one stop.
2) the Sekonic meter measures the exposure one stop more than what a
meter that Metz used to test its GN reported.

which one is more reasonable? thanks.

-
woody

In article . com,
"Steven Woody" wrote:

which one is more reasonable? thanks.

Hard to say, test the flash against another of the same or the meter
against another.
--
George W. Bush is the President Quayle we never had.

I never had much luck metering portable flash units with
studio meters--think the flash duration is too short for
accurate results--in the field my color negatives and slides
looked OK so I didn't worry about the meter.

darkroommike

Steven Woody wrote:
hi,

i just got my second-hand flashlight Metz 45 CT-1, which is an old
dedicated flashlight with guide number of 45/148. yesterday, i test
it using my Sekonic L508 meter and found there the actual GN is one
stop less than what expected. my test method is as below,

1) set meter in incident measuring mode and put it in the "d" feet
away from the speedlight and aim it toward the speedlight.
2) set the speed light's ASA dail to ASA 100.
3) put speedlight in manual mode and fire it.
4) got an aperture reading "f" in the meter.

the actuall GN = d * f, that is about 104 in feet and 105 is just
around 148/1.414. i've checked, the "d" does within the range
described in the Metz manual.

what's your opinion about the result? i guess there are two possible
reasons:

1) the speedlight lose it's capacity just one stop.
2) the Sekonic meter measures the exposure one stop more than what a
meter that Metz used to test its GN reported.

which one is more reasonable? thanks.

-
woody

If your flash was unused for a long time, the internal condenser should
be formed before the flash could reach its nominal power. To do that
keep the flash on for a least 15 minutes before doing the fire test.

Regards
Ramiro

Steven Woody escribió:
hi,

i just got my second-hand flashlight Metz 45 CT-1, which is an old
dedicated flashlight with guide number of 45/148. yesterday, i test
it using my Sekonic L508 meter and found there the actual GN is one
stop less than what expected. my test method is as below,

1) set meter in incident measuring mode and put it in the "d" feet
away from the speedlight and aim it toward the speedlight.
2) set the speed light's ASA dail to ASA 100.
3) put speedlight in manual mode and fire it.
4) got an aperture reading "f" in the meter.

the actuall GN = d * f, that is about 104 in feet and 105 is just
around 148/1.414. i've checked, the "d" does within the range
described in the Metz manual.

what's your opinion about the result? i guess there are two possible
reasons:

1) the speedlight lose it's capacity just one stop.
2) the Sekonic meter measures the exposure one stop more than what a
meter that Metz used to test its GN reported.

which one is more reasonable? thanks.

-
woody

In article , Ramiro
wrote:

If your flash was unused for a long time, the internal condenser should
be formed before the flash could reach its nominal power. To do that
keep the flash on for a least 15 minutes before doing the fire test.

Regards
Ramiro

You mean Capacitor. Internal capacitor
--
George W. Bush is the President Quayle we never had.

In article ,
(Gregory Blank) wrote:

If your flash was unused for a long time, the internal condenser
should
be formed before the flash could reach its nominal power. To do that
keep the flash on for a least 15 minutes before doing the fire test.

Regards
Ramiro

You mean Capacitor. Internal capacitor
--

Condenser is good for us old types :-)


Peter

"Gregory Blank" wrote in message
...
In article , Ramiro
wrote:

If your flash was unused for a long time, the internal condenser should
be formed before the flash could reach its nominal power. To do that
keep the flash on for a least 15 minutes before doing the fire test.

Regards
Ramiro

You mean Capacitor. Internal capacitor

Condenser is a term that was used (generally prior to 1960 in the US) to
mean the same thing. Also, take it easy if our friends across the pond
refer to vacuum tubes as "valves". ;-)

--
George W. Bush is the President Quayle we never had.

In article ,
(george) wrote:

Also, take it easy if our friends across the pond
refer to vacuum tubes as "valves". ;-)

It's OK, we understand American, even if we prefer to speak English :-))

Peter