Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/04/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]interesting question. answer: it depends In dark situations I have two approaches: use 400 film and a relatively low powered flash, so you can use a wide aperture and thereby get as much of the ambient light as possible, with a shutter speed of 1/30-1/8 of a second so not too much crazy blurring. This is for when you can focus! You can use a little rinky dink flash like a Viv 2600 for this. (Tip: buy some sticky back velcro and a small piece of stiff card (like mat board) about the size of a cigarette packet. Stick velcro to the back of the flash head and the card. Now you can attach the card to the back of the flash really easily for a neat indoor reflector: point the flash at the ceiling so you get bounce light, but also a bit of diffuse kick from the card which puts highlights in the eyes. You can even adjust how much card pokes above the head, to adjust the amount of kick. This is much more robust than the old postcard trick & works wonders) To zone focus with flash, use a much higher powered flash and a *slower* film, like 160 or even slower. Use an aperture of f/11 or f/16 and a shutter speed of 1/4 to 1 second. This way you get some very blurry ambient light but it doesn't overpower the main flash exposure due to the small aperture. In daylight you have to strike a balance. If the film is too fast, your shutter speed will be too high to sync with the flash at *any* aperture. If it is too slow, you will need a MONSTER flash to satisfactorily expose the film. I find that 100 film is best in this situation, but you need a strobe with some whammy, like a Viv 283 or a Metz CT45 hammerhead unless you are just poking a little fill into the shadows. I find it easier to use my Canon T90 which has a sync speed of 1/250 for this kind of thing. HTH - -- Johnny Deadman http://www.pinkheadedbug.com