flash frustration - SF24D

[Luke_Miller]

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... flash with the M is a lot less easy and convenient, than with the Nikon system (also more limiting, think about, what CLS can do with a lot more freedom right from the camera with remote flash output, groups, etc without walking around and retouching the strobes locally ).

 

I'm a big fan of Nikon's iTTL & CLS systems. But the highly automated flash systems of Canon and Nikon build on the automation in their lenses and bodies. To get that kind of capability in a digital M body I fear you would end up with something very different from the M8.2/M9. Take a digital M and add matrix metering, chipped lenses (to get aperture data), electronic focusing (to get distance info), and I suspect you end up with a very different camera. Something like an S2 with a rangefinder.

 

One of the reasons I love my Leica M8.2 is it requires me to get back to the fundamentals. It is a lot easier for me to "get the shot" in adverse lighting with my D3 and SB800, but a lot more fun doing it with my M8.2. I find the M8.2 flash performance to be fine. Of course it is all a matter of perspective. When I first used flash it was flash bulbs only. Exposure was calculated (by you personally - not by the flash or body) for each shot using camera to subject distance and the guide number for the ISO and bulb you had in the flash gun. In other words, you had to do math to determine the correct aperture.

 

While I believe the ability of the modern Nikon iTTL system to calculate proper flash exposure is fine from an accuracy standpoint I also believe it is not as usable as the TTL of the Nikon film bodies. That system measured flash exposure off of the film surface while the shutter was open. It was very accurate and no pre-flash (with its attendant issues) was necessary.

 

Like you I found the SF-24D to be a bit limiting. I did not have an erratic exposure issue and the SF-24D's TTL function seemed to work pretty well. As you have found the SF-58 is a very different animal. Other than size, weight, and cost, it is superior in all other aspects. It will be my primary flash on my M8.2, but I plan on keeping my SF-24D as it will be fine to travel use.

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