Re: [Leica] New M6 with TTL

["Bryan Willman" <bryanwi@seanet.com>]

Donal raises the super relevent point
that the biggest problem with the M6
isn't the lack of TTL flash, but rather,
the painfully slow sync speed.

Using, of all things, a Nikon SB26,
I get quiet nice flash pix with the M6.
But it is (or was) a top flight flash
with lots of elaborate power control.
This helps balance stuff, but it doesn't
fully solve the sync speed problem.

The thing that might really make more
sense would be for Leica to make
available a "mutli-sync" flash.

By this I mean a flash that fires
fast enough to sync with the various
parts of the traveling focal plane shutter.

Canon, for example, makes a flash
that will do this with their bodies.
You get effective flash sync speeds
higher than the real flash sync speed
of the shutter.

So, in the M6 example, you could
imagine setting your shutter to 1/1000th
of a second, and firing this flash,
which would actually fire, say, 8 little
bursts timed to non overlap each other
and fill in 8 little windows as the
focal plane aperature travels
over the film.

The net stopping power is about the
same as 1/1000th of second.
You get low power (often OK,
oddly) and very high effective
flash sync.

TTL flash metering is nice, 
but I really think super-sync-speed
flash would be more useful.
Or, somebody building a good
m-body with a modern shutter....

bmw


- -----Original Message-----
From: Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date: Friday, August 28, 1998 1:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] New M6 with TTL


<snip>


>The point is not how many do, but how many CANNOT because of lack of
>flash compatibility.  If Leica makes an M with TTL flash and without
>upping the sync speed, it is just senseless.  I use ttl flash mostly not
>in low light, but in day light to compress highlight and shadow details
>for reproduction.  In daylight with even slow Velvia, at 1/50 of a
>second we will have to have flash power at f/16, or perhaps f/11 to
>fill.  That is a lot of power, recyle time and loss of DOF control.  I'd
>love to have 1/1000 sync.  Then Velvia could be shot at f/4 and flash
>fill would be instantly recycled.

<snip>