Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Pascal writes: << I am always working in Program mode on the R8 (lens on smallest f-stop, >shutter time dial on 30 P, flash in TTL mode). Never ventured into the >more elaborate A mode with flash. I am sure than I am within maximum >flash range for the respective flash. >> I know nothing of Metz or Leica R flash systems, but Nikons flash a warning both on the strobe and in the viewfinder if the flash maxes out and the meter senses underexposure. As a matter of fact, non-dedicated flashes like the Vivitars or Sunpak 383 (which I use with my M's) have an underexposure warning light. If there isn't such a warning with the Metz/Leica combo or it didn't indicate underexposure, and if you are certain you didn't outdistance the flash, and your subjects were not more than about 1 stop lighter than middle-tone, I would start to suspect mis-communication between the flash and camera. This could be due to a malfunction of one or both. You *might* have had a "-" compensation inadvertently set, but again if the strobe and/or camera has an over/under-exposure warning it should have come on. On cameras that have "fancy flash" such as my F5, I prefer to work in Manual mode with flash. That lets me vary the shutter speed, aperture and flash levels to my specific needs. No matter how smart the systems are I hate waiting until the film is processed to find out what settings the camera picked for me, particularly with flash because it's all done while the shutter is open with no indication in the finder of what's being done. DT