Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sounds like most of the situations you'd like to use fill in are ones that you are in control of, so why not use reflector fill instead of trying to do it with strobe. You can vary the amount of fill by varying the distance and angle of the reflector in relation to your subject. You will also be able to see exactly what you are going to get on film through the view finder. You can take advantage of higher shutter speeds if you want to throw the background more out of focus, rather than being hamstrung by the slow Leica M synch speed. There are several manufacturers of collapsible frames/reflectors of many different sizes. I have several that are approximately 3x6 feet that will either stretch across a frame, or the fabric can be held by an assistant(or volunteer). Often you can get nice fill by just laying a gold,silver or white reflector on the ground in front of your subject. In a pinch even poster board works well. Everything fits into a fabric bag that only weighs a few pounds. You can add a small light stand and clamp to hold the reflector in position if extra hands arent available. There are times when you can't beat a TTL strobe, matrix metering, and 250th flash synch, but when you have the time the reflector route is interesting, and relatively inexpensive. I know this doesn't address your questions exactly, but reflectors help give me a better idea of what I'm going to have on film, and there's never a recycle delay... Cheers, Scott Stewart