Super tiny flash?

chris00nj

chris00nj

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Is there a very very small flash attachment available for hotshoe connection? I like available light photography, but sometimes a tiny amount of light could help fill in shadows on someone's face.

What I would be looking for would be so small it would rival a flash on disposal. Everything I've seen is a sizable flash.
 
Holga Starblitz. It's like $15 on ebay. Manual flash. Uses a single AA battery. 8 second recycle time. It's tiny enough to keep in my bag just in case.

flash.jpg
 
I bring a Sunpak DS-20 in my bag. It's a little two battery unit with an automatic mode and tilt.

Not super, super tiny but RF-sized, much more so than a 4-cell unit and at ISO 400, results can be decent indoors.
 

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That little Holga unit is a good suggestion.

Does anyone have any experience with the Leica CF flash that was made for the minilux?
 
swoop said:
Holga Starblitz. It's like $15 on ebay. Manual flash. Uses a single AA battery. 8 second recycle time. It's tiny enough to keep in my bag just in case.

flash.jpg
Click to expand...

Whoa! That Holga flash needs tape over the brand name, just like the tape over the Holga brand name on that camera!
 
Why do people cover up the leica name and model on there camera anyway?
I see this all the time here just curious
 
There are tons of tiny flashes to be had on eBay, Canon, Rollei, Voightlaender... Some of the old 110 cameras had matching hotshoe flashes that were really tiny, I have a Fuji one that I think is the tiniest... So try searching for old 110 cameras, find one with a detachable hotshoe flash, and you can probably get it real cheap!
 
One issue you may find if you are using an M3 (As I see from your signature ) is that it has no hotshoe as such only an accessory shoe - meaning you have to connect to a separate flash connection to fire the thing. Many later flashes therefore do not work unless they have a cable attachment. Most do not. I have a small quite old aftermarket one with such a cable that I use for these older non hotshoe camera bodies and a tiny early Nikon (SB 6??? or something) that I use for other cameras. The first is fully manual and the second is automatic.
 
peterm1 said:
One issue you may find if you are using an M3 (As I see from your signature ) is that it has no hotshoe as such only an accessory shoe - meaning you have to connect to a separate flash connection to fire the thing. Many later flashes therefore do not work unless they have a cable attachment. Most do not. I have a small quite old aftermarket one with such a cable that I use for these older non hotshoe camera bodies and a tiny early Nikon (SB 6??? or something) that I use for other cameras. The first is fully manual and the second is automatic.
Click to expand...

You can use an adapter for flashes without a cable connection.

Cheers,

Michiel Fokkema
 
Nikon SB-30? Safe trigger voltage. Vertical bounce capabilites. (Nikon) TTL and manual functions. And one for sale in the classifieds here.
 
chris00nj said:
That little Holga unit is a good suggestion.

Does anyone have any experience with the Leica CF flash that was made for the minilux?
Click to expand...

I have one. Works great for when you need it. Deck of cards small, 2 aa, 1 manual & 2 auto modes, simple exposure chart on the back. Nice for fill, for travel. I bought mine used & have been happy with it.
 
I have both a Bessa and a PC/Hotshoe adapter for the M3. I am well aware the M3 doesn't have a hotshoe.

I'll look into the 110 camera suggestion.

I wish someone made a small LED flash. It would be great if CV made a tiny LED flash the size of one of their VC meters. It wouldn't provide the enough light for exposure, but just fill in highlights and provide some bluer light to offset indoor yellows.
 
Second the SB-30 - esp as it has so much control over the strength on manual. Most small flashes only offer ttl (which is useless on any camera other than the one it was designed for) and blaring full output which looks terrible unless you bounce it, and most can't bounce.

The SB-30 goes down to 1/32 IIRC.
 
That Holga flash is perfect in size and everything, but the quality is (not surprizingly) crap. My flash died after one week and maybe after 50 flashes.

I would take a look at Metz automatic flashes...some of them are quite small.
 
My favourite is the Metz 34 CS-2 - about the size of a Olympus RC without the lens, and at LZ28 (GN92) at 35mm coverage it packs quite a punch.
 
If you can find an Olympus PS100, it's pretty small and has the advantage of having a horizontal orientation. Well, that seems like an advantage to me, since the dispersion better matches a 35mm frame, plus it "hugs" the camera body better.

I don't have a photo of mine, but it looks a lot like the current FL-14 flash, just older in terms of styling:
 

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