[Leica] outdoor portraiture - flashmeter question again.

[dorysrus at mindspring.com (Don Dory)]

Eric,
The trick is to use a flashmeter that can measure the flash in daylight.
Because there are different reflectivities out there, the old guide
number principle doesn't work so well.  Assuming a decent flashmeter,
you will take a series of flash exposures(varying the power of the flash
or the distance of the flash to the subject) until the flash is giving
you an F number you like(most people like fill flash to be about -3/4
stop to -1.5 stops from ambient).  Also, because the shutter speed
doesn't affect the flash exposure, you can use the shutter speed to
bring ambient to an exposure that works for you.

I have been using either a Minolta IVF or a Minolta Spotmeter F for
years now and they have never let me down.  Another option is to use a
dedicated system where the computer in the flash/camera does all the
work.  For your R7, the SF20 would be perfect for fill flash with a 400
ASA film.  Or, a dedicated Metz would make your life a lot easier.

0.02

Don
dorysrus@mindspring.com

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+dorysrus=mindspring.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf
Of eric
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 2:04 PM
To: LUG
Subject: [Leica] outdoor portraiture - flashmeter question again.

I am trying to meter my flash for outdoor portrait work.
I am using - Sekonic flashmeter (very basic model), a vivitar 283 with
varipower dial, my R7 , and TCN film (400ASA).

Ambient light meters f8 , 1/125s
Now - I am trying to get flash output of one stop less, but when I meter
the
flash (at any output setting) I only get reading of f8 or greater.
Now this makes sense to me, because the meter 'sees' and meters the
ambient
+ flash output.
Seems to me that the flashmeter can't isolate the brief spike of flash
output.

What is comes down to is : How can I isolate and meter the flash output
in a
bright light setting?
Setting the meter to higher shutter speeds helps a bit, but it is still
generally overwhelmed by the bright ambient light.

Thanks,
Eric
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