Leica and Flash

[srtiwari]

I seem to have acquired lots of 100 and 400 ISO films in, both, Color and B&W, tending to shoot either landcsapy type outdoor shots, or indoor, posed, soft daylight type people pictures. And yet, going over to a friend's tonight nothing seems right- I wish I had some Tri-X-pushed-to-1250-in-Diafine, but I don't.

So it made me wonder if many Leica/RF owners use much flash. After all, thats what its for- to make up for natural light. But somehow, it doesn't seem too popular. I plan to use a small flash with my M2 and UCHex 35, and have some Neopan 400, that I can shoot at 640 for Diafine.

Any pointers in terms of Under/over exposing, direct vs indirect light etc. ? I've just never tried it.
It would be nice to catch some of that Leica "Glow"

Subhash

 

[Ronald_H]

Good point. I want to use flash too. Got the sync plug and a hotshoe adapter for my M2, but the flash has yet to arrive 😀

 

[dan denmark]

a while back i was asking here about low profile flash devices for use on an M3 and the RD1s. there were lots of suggestions and i finally found a nikon SB-27 on ebay which has proved to be perfect for the job. as for the M3 i had to get a cable configuration to allow the manual mode of the flash (then i had only the SB-28) to sync with the M3. both work fine. the only time i use flash is with the M3 and the RD1s and that is for nightclub/disco shots i do (for the event promoter) where i want to roam around and be as inconspicuous as poss and grab surreptitious vignettes of people not posed as well as the ones where people see me with the cameras and want to be photographed. the flatness of the SB-27 keeps the camera and flash from sticking out so much and getting knocked by the revellers. i made a soft diffuser out of bubblewrap and gaffer tape to damp the sharp harsh shadow effect of the light and also diffuse a bit more than a standard soft cap.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I frequently use flash indoors, but mostly bounced from the ceiling with a bit of front fill so there aren't deep shaows in the eye sockets. My favorite flash is the Vivitar 283. I keep it tilted slighty forward and set to the lowest power on automatic (yellow setting). There's a wide rubber band around the flash head and I keep a few business cards there. I pull one out about half way and bend it slightly forward to kick just a bit of fill light towards the subjects. In the meantime I always have a few business cards ready to hand out.

I use a long straight cord between flash and camera, hold and operate the camera mostly with my right hand and hold the flash in my left. That way I can always keep the flash pointed at the ceiling while turning the camera from horizontal to vertical. In a large room with a high ceiling it's usually not possible to use bounce but I still keep the flash in my left hand and try to hold it directly over the lens to minimize side shadow.

You want to keep the flash high enough above the lens to avoid getting "red eye".