Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/06/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Luggers, Kyle C. & Michael B. asked about a focal plane electronic flash unit. Well, several years ago, Olympus showed one at a Photokina (I don't remember which one) which would work with a focal plane shutter up to a 1/4000 sec. Seeing this as my Leica M fill flash salvation, I got the resident technical genius for the National Geographic to look at it and he said it would not work on an M camera (internal circuitry for a specific Olympus camera only) and he felt the build left much to be desired. No joy here. When Nikon introduced either the F4 or the N-90, they hired Joe McNally to promote the camera and one of the flash features was a this long delay tube to snyc at very high speeds, it was a great idea but the execution failed again. My guess is it was the same internals for the strobe. FYI- the Nikon and Canon dedicated strobes are both made by the same manufacturer in Japan. A Canon rep once told me his ABC123 EOS strobe was identical to the Nikon SB-1243 or whatever. Maybe the technology has improved and can be done today. M CAMERA Maintenance, When I first started using Leicas in 1968/9, Walter Heun, Head of Leica Special Sales & Services told me to have my cameras CLAed once every five years, "Unless you do something to them." (For you clowns out there, this means dropping them or 'extended' time in a dusty/dirty environment.) Well, I've owned M2/3/4/5/6/ M4-2/M4-Ps and a whole bunch of reflex stuff since then and an state Walter's advice is correct and I seriously doubt most all of you are easier on your gear than Iam. Happy Snaps, Sal DiMarco, Jr.