Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/06/28
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B.D.,
1. Do NOT set the shutter speed past
flash sync speed when using fill flash.
The result is one of the few totally useless
effects in all of photography. (The part
of the frame covered by the
still-traveling-shutter when the flash goes
off will have a dark band of hard to predict
size and depth.)
2. If the flash doesn't have power control,
then it will fire according to a preset exposure
curve. All setting the ISO does is pick
an F-stop and show it to you.
(Yes, an auto-flash will vary its exposure,
but it will always pump the same light for
what its sensor tells it the subject distance
is.)
So, for this class of flash (all really small
ones I've ever seen) to balance the flash
versus ambient balance, you must change
the f-stop.
If the flash wants, say, f4, and you set f8,
you should get fill 2-stops under ambient.
Of course, if you are outdoors, you will
need very slow film to avoid needing a shutter
speed past 1/50th of a second.
3. Fancy flashes (e.g. nikon sb26) let you
set a bunch of different power ranges
(many f-stops) on the flash and then do
what you want on the camera. It's the same
gig as #2, except that it's much easier
to control.
An aside on flashes:
I was personally very unimpressed with
the Metz flashes. The ratio of function to
size is poor. (Recall earlier posting about
camera power density.)
The Canon 540EZ is a fine flash, but
won't work except totally manually when
mounted to a non-canon. Wrong answer
for your M-camera.
The Nikon sb26, and I'll bet the sb28,
offer great control, function, and power
in the best size packages. Don't be
weirded out because it says Nikon,
these work just fine on your M-camera.
And their controls are very handy for
things like fill flash. (And I do not own
a single Nikon SLR...)
bmw