Leica fill flash question

[elmar3]

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What is a good starting point for M9 and SF58 settings for fill flash? Is this going to be a strictly trial and error procedure or are there some guidelines to start from?

[pico]

What is a good starting point for M9 and SF58 settings for fill flash? Is this going to be a strictly trial and error procedure or are there some guidelines to start from?

 

Guideline of the simplest kind, a rule of thumb to get you started. You might be surprised how well it works: get a TLR reading. (shutter speed locked in.) Open the aperture one-stop. Shoot.

[Luke_Miller]

I use a couple of methods.

 

When I use the Auto mode on the flash for flash exposure control I set the camera up in manual, set exposure for the ambient light, stop down one stop on the aperture ring, and then set the aperture on the flash one stop up from that of the lens. In other words - I typically underexpose ambient by one stop and let the flash fill in for a normal exposure. The one stop difference is my rule of thumb, but may vary depending on the situation.

 

When I use TTL flash metering I put my M9 in Aperture Priority and Auto Slow Sync in the camera's menu is set to Lens Dependent. Configured this way the M9 attempts to automatically duplicate the first method. It works well except in situations where there is significant backlighting or a light source in the frame.

 

One of the challenges for fill flash indoors is white balance. You can easily create a mixed lighting white balance issue when the flash is just one of possibly several light sources illuminating the subject. I get good results putting gels on the flash to balance the flash output with the tungsten or fluorescent room lighting.