Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/12

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Subject: [Leica] flash on the M6
From: Five Senses Productions <fls@home.com>
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 23:22:18 -0700

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I have an M6, a 35/2 ASPH, a 50/2, and a 90/2.8. <br>
I use the meter in the M6 only when I am forced, and <br>
the rest of the time I use a Minolta IVF meter which does <br>
normal incident metering as well as flash metering.<br>
I have been using the flash meter for the first time this week <br>
and have a few questions. I use a $45 lightweight Nissin <br>
pocket flash on the M6 since it is very simple and the M6 does <br>
not do anything with more advanced flashes anyway, so why <br>
put a $400 flash on the M6.....<br>
When I use the flash meter in front of a model, I set the meter <br>
to the appropriate film speed and I set the shutter speed on the <br>
meter to 1/45, since there is no 1/50. I then pop the flash, and <br>
let's say the meter recommends f/8. From my understanding, <br>
this means that I need to set the M6 to 1/50 (approx) and f/8 <br>
to get a prefect exposure of the subject at the measured distance. <br>
Is this right? Am I on track here? <br>
OK, now if I want to get fancy and simulate a minus 1-2/3 for standard
<br>
fill flash, how would I work that in? I tried placing a mini-softbox on
the <br>
flash head, and remetering the flash, and I fould the softbox cuts the
<br>
light by 1 to 1.5 stops. Is this a good method? It sounds good to me
<br>
because not only would I be getting as close to the desired level of fill
<br>
as possible, but I would also be diffusing the light with the
softbox.<br>
Is stopping down the lens a stop going to do the same thing as cutting
<br>
the flash by a stop (with softbox)?<br>
For outdoor situations, with ASA 100 film (like Astia, my favorite), on a
<br>
sunny <br>
day, when I need that light touch of flash to fill in shadows under 
<br>
eyebrows and <br>
on shaded sides of faces, is my M6/Minolta/Nissin combo going to work
well? <br>
If a model is in partial shade, where do I place the flash meter to get
the <br>
correct reading? I have found that with 100 film, and at 1/50, the meter
<br>
says a very small aperture, like f/11. Am I getting into &quot;poor lens
<br>
performance&quot; <br>
territory by going down to f/11 and f/16?<br>
I know some of you will say &quot;use your R8 for fill flash&quot; but I
really <br>
prefer using the <br>
M6 for my outdoor portrait/glamour work now. The only own side is the
1/50 <br>
shutter speed, since I have to use a tripod now for almost every shot,
and the <br>
models have to stay fairly still.<br>
Thanks for whatever tips and advice anyone can offer........<br>
Francesco<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Francesco Sanfilippo, <br>
Five Senses Productions <br>
webmaster@5senses.com<br>
<br>
<font color="#0000FF"><u><a href="http://www.5senses.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.5senses.com</a>/<br>
</font></u>
<BR>
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