Strobe for Leica IIIf

[tfelton]

A friend of mine is dusting off his Leica IIIf and was asking what brand or model strobe he could use on it. Obviously it would need a PC cord. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[colyn]

My preference is the Vivitar 283 or 285 with flash cord but any flash that will take a cord will work.

 

[f8&go]

I picked up a 'Promaster FM600' for about $32 out the door for my IIIf.

It came with a short sync cord that plugs into the base of the strobe.
Mine seems to be about 3/4 of a stop weaker than advertised for
a GN40/ISO100 which does not surprise me.

 

[ZorkiKat]

I would go for the Vivitar 283 or 285 too- these do great automatic flash exposures without dedicated circuitry. Just right for manual/mechanical cameras. Drawback though is the heft and weight of these flashes. The 283 is almost as big as the IIIf. Add to that the notoriously 'soft' feet that these Vivitars have. But otherwise, I'm a fan of the 283/285. I just bought one two weeks ago, new (the 283 has been discontinued recently), and use it as an all-around flash for my film and digital slrs and Rfs.


Re using flash on IIIf, make sure that the sync dial is properly set to electronic flash settings. For black dial, it should be "2" at 1/30sec; for red dial, it should be "0" at 1/25 sec- though it's supposed to be possible to synch electronic flash with red-dial IIIf at 1/50sec with the flash dial set to "20".

Jay

 

[Ronald M]

I have a flip flash bracket and STO-Fen diffuser for my 285. Best light I have seen since Braun EF3`s in the`60`s.

Set up connects to all Leicas 111f and newer. Older Barnacks if sync was added.

 

[tfelton]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll let him know.

Ted