flash, another rff poll

[tarasi]

I very rarely use flash,only with my Hexar AF .

Corneliu

 

[Andy K]

I never use flash, I find it makes photographs look harsh and unnatural. The attached interior shots of the SS Great Britain restoration and preservation project were shot handheld with available light.

 

[Gid]

Use it on my DSLR when I have to, never on RFs. Have a portable studio set up with Bowens lights when the need arises. Did some corporate shots for the company I work for last year - started out with DSLR and flash and then tried some with the RD-1 and no flash. Guess which ones were used - okay, don't guess - the RD-1 shots. However, the DSLR with dedicated flash looked more "PRO" and they were happy for me to use my toy camera as long as I had a proper one. 😀

 

[VinceC]

Back when I got paid to take photos, I used that flash quite a bit more. It's still always in the camera bag. But I NEVER, EVER use direct flash. There's always something to bounce the light off or diffuse it in some way. On rare occassions when that's impossible, I use a six-foot extension cable and hold it at arm's length, or better yet, have some else hold it even further away.

Flash is great for outdoor fill-light and to use when you've got to get a shot and there just isn't any light.

I suspect that one reason old Speed Graphics were constantly shot with a flash bulb, day or night, is that it took the guesswork out of exposure.

On operas, my wife and I once attended "The Marriage of Figaro." We enjoyed the music and pagentry, but we never did figure out which one was Figaro.

 

[Finder]

Once in a while, but only when there is too much light. I never use it in indoors or at night.

 

[jlw]

I love the contrast to Weegee (Speed Graphic with an RF... 😉 Can't tell you how much he used it... <LOL> )

I seem to recall reading somewhere that he used it quite a bit. This vaguely-recollected reading was that some of his most famous pictures (possibly such as "The Critic") were taken with infrared film and infrared flashbulbs, enabling him to shoot without visible light at all. To focus, he used the Kalart Focuspot accessory that was built into Kalart RF units; this consisted of a battery case and a small bulb with a V-shaped filament, which mounted to a special holder behind the beamsplitter of the RF.

When you switched on the Focuspot, it projected an image of the filament backwards through the rangefinder optics, causing the Vs to be visible on the subject. You'd watch the subject and turn the focusing knob until the Vs came together, indicating the image was in focus; then you'd fire away. It was exactly the same principle as normal rangefinder focusing, except that instead of looking through the eyepiece to line up coincident images, you projected the images onto the subject and lined them up there.

Of course it only worked under really dark conditions, and even then only out to 10 or 15 feet -- but it DID work. I remember playing with it on one of the retired Crown Graphic cameras we kept in the photo lab of the newspaper where I used to work.

 

[Doug]

I always liked HCB's comment that use of flash was akin to arriving at the opera with a handgun. That is indeed something I might be accused of doing...

I hope never to be so accused since nobody should be aware of it... I try to avoid the "flash" AND the "bang". I have the dedicated flashes for both my CLE and Fuji GA645 but don't recall ever using them. I also have an Ultrablitz Matador 400, switchable power up to 200ws, not sure if it still works, but long ago used it bounced off ceilings and an umbrella. I am impressed at the skill of some using a flash effectively outside of a controlled environment.

 

[ErnestoJL]

I do allways shoot with available light, besides, I´m too lazy to carry a flash with me.
The real reason is that I never wanted the unnatural kind of lighting a flash can give.
However there are some situations where a flash would/will help, but one must be sure if it´s worth the price.

Ernesto

 

[Flinor]

I'm pretty sure I own at least one flash. I just don't know where it is.

 

[MinorTones]

As a staff photog at a newspaper down here I am forced to use flash a lot. If I do have to use it I always look at the cieling first to bounce it. Bounced flash really looks good and is many times neccesary in my line of work.

 

[pvdhaar]

I don't consider flash merely as a portable sun.

IMO, a flash adds enormous flexibility to get the image you want;
- fill in shadows
- mitigate contrast
- add highlights
- add light with different colour temperature
- freeze subject motion
- add dark outlines in backlit situations

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I only do photography for fun...and a lot of my shots may or may not benefit from a flash. I just don't like using one and never have. The entire point of buying fast lenses for my SLR (when I had it) and my rangefinders is so that I can get away from using a flash. To each his own, though. I've seen lots of good photos from others that were taken with a flash used.

 

[Toby]

I use flash a lot although not with RF as I find it makes the camera feel very top heavy

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I use the SB29 ring-light a lot with the Micro-Nikkor. It is also nice for Portraits; but I've only used it with the Nikon E3 and N8008s.

I test the Sync on the RF's before selling them. Just to make sure it works.

 

[ch1]

Had to pick the "occassional" option although almost the only flash I use are the built-ins on the digicams (D-70 and G-1).

I have all kinds of flash units (kind feel you "supposed" to have them) but really never took the time to learn how to use them properly. I guess it's on my photography "to do list" of things I need to learn when I have more time (did anyone say - retirement?).

 

[JohnL]

I tend to use flash indoors and sometimes outdoors for fill with SLR / DLSR. So far I haven't used it with RF since I got one after *many* years without one. I think I might someday get a small flash for RF for fill outdoors, but I can't see using flash indoors (which I always diffuse or bounce, with a fairly big flashgun) on an RF. The flash would be about twice the size of the camera! How should I vote?

 

[nwcanonman]

I've answered the question in it's context - RF photography. On SLR's I use flash a lot, weddings I use it every shot.
But for RF shots I only use it only when I absolutely HAVE to, and use a tiny Sunpak 1600A flash (two AA's). To me , part of RF photography is "stealth", catching light and life as it happens, not posed or contrived. JMHO ~; - ) 😀

 

[GeneW]

I occasionally use flash and occasionally attend an opera, but never both at the same time

Gene