Practical experience using the Leica SF 26 Flash with the M type 240?

[Jeffry Abt]

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Do y'all  have any practical experience using the Leica SF 26 Flash with the M (type 240)?  I understand the M is primarily an existing light camera.  Nevertheless  I'm considering getting the flash to use when I'm in situations where I need more light and doing newspaper work.

 

  I own a Nikon D4 but I'm wanting to travel with just a Leica kit.  My Nikon has been relegated "almost" exclusively to sports work. 

[Peter Kilmister]

Since owning my M240 or M-P240 I have tried flash and hated the results. If you go back to basics and use ISO, and a tripod/monopod if required, you end up with a DNG that can be managed with Lightroom.

Flash guns are a bit ... I'm struggling to find the right word or phrase ... naff, de rigeur, common, rough, newspaper shooter. Much more attractive if you need light is the Manfrotto LED source that you get to hold wherever you want in order to light the subject. Take a mate along and ask them to hold the LED, or ask the subject to hold it and point it. Another lateral way is to use a torch or flashlight app on a smartphone.

 

Flash, by its own nature is a fraction of a second. Frame, focus, hope and shoot and the delete. Try again.

LED bulbs allow you to focus using the light source. Frame, focus, shoot, develop.

 

Who needs flash? I hope this helps.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Did you realise you just used the term " newspaper shooter" in a derogetory way to an actual newspaper shooter? Well done. Perhaps if you find flash a bit naff, you're not doing it right. LEDs make many people squint and then they think you're doing video. Not to mention you can't bounce an LED panel.

 

To the OP. I actually own a SF 26 and use it with my M240s. It's an overpriced Metz unit, as usual but works well enough. Exposure are generally good. There's FEC buried in the M menus which came with the last firmware update. It also has no swivel. Bounce only, unfortunately.

 

It's tiny so I throw mine in the bag when I'm not sure if I'll need suplementary lighting. If I'm sure I'll need flash, like when shooting a wedding then I'll pack something bigger. It also works with. a Nikon style TTL extension cable, which you might already have.

 

Gordon

[Jeffry Abt]

If I'm outside a courtroom to get a shot of the defendant's lawyer making a statement. I would need the flash to work reliably (NO do overs).  I would be thinking about getting shots in focus and or "capturing the moment". My Nikon friends would consider me goofy for even thinking about this.

 

I do have a Nikon cable... Thanks! Good to know it will work. 

[Manoleica]

Just gotta use flash at some point.. (yeh, I've got all the brackets & cables) - I find the D90 + Nikon Unit offers more reliable results..

Need to start practicing with the Safari & the Leica flash unit...

[Peter Kilmister]

I apologise unreservedly if I upset anyone, in particular Jeffry Abt, with my choice of expression. It was unintentional.

My aim was to describe my view of the scene every time press photographers gather and there is an explosion of flash units ... which I find annoying and intrusive.

[Jeffry Abt]

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I apologise unreservedly if I upset anyone, in particular Jeffry Abt, with my choice of expression. It was unintentional.

My aim was to describe my view of the scene every time press photographers gather and there is an explosion of flash units ... which I find annoying and intrusive.

 No offense taken! We newspaper guys deserve everything we get when it comes to criticism. But we do know that we have power. We can make someone look good or someone look bad. I suppose  most of us do not mind being annoying or intrusive... whatever it takes to get a shot in to the layout people well befor the dead line.

 

My goal is to fend off the idea that the reporter can do just as good a job with an iPhone as a  full fledged photographer. 

 By the way I've learned a new word "Naff".... is it that a short  a or a long a?

[Peter Kilmister]

Dear Jeff,

Naff is pronounced like carafe, so short A. It can be a verb or an adjective. As a verb it is joined with the word off to form the phrase, "naff off!" which is a more polite way of telling someone to f*** off.

As an adjective it means unsophisticated, rough, substandard, etc.

Thank you for not getting upset.

Peter

[Echo63]

 

My goal is to fend off the idea that the reporter can do just as good a job with an iPhone as a  full fledged photographer. 

 

Theres a big difference between "A Pic" and "A Good Pic" 

I am trying to achieve the same goal (but if i am sick, my shifts seem to be covered by the  reporter with an iPhone.....)

[Jeffry Abt]

A sad trend!  I hope creativity and diligence will set us apart.

And may I say, images made with a Leica M and a 28mm Leica lens are beautiful ...but few newspaper readers notice. Rarely editors notice.

Nevertheless I'm trying to make my Leica gear work for me...

 

When It comes to Sports a $ 5000.00, 300mm lens will do the trick!  Someone with a iPhone looks like a fool on the sidelines. 

 

 

[Manoleica]

Lets be honest it's pride, we all have it' spend $5000+ on a lens and years perfecting it's use then someone uses a bl**dy iPhone"

The iPhone is great if no other camera is available, sadly though that's life today.. I did a wedding a few months ago using my D90 &

M-P240, the resident photographer used a very old Rebel and his possibly as old iPhone.. What is this world coming too!!

[Peter Kilmister]

Ravel's Bolero used to be the answer to, "What is the world coming to?" However times have moved on since then.

 

Smartphones are very good for the sort of photo that could be taken on a Kodak Instamatic. They work well in poor light, have wide open lenses, and they are cameras in their own right.

Every so often they will produce an artistic gem. They are reliable, the battery lasts, they are on hand.

 

Don't knock it. Live with it and produce better. What bokeh will you get from a smartphone?

 

(Sorry if it offends anyone but iPhones are just smartphones and I really don't like Apple software.)

[jmahto]

..... What bokeh will you get from a smartphone?.....

 

 

Shot by some smartass with a smartphone showing enough bokeh..

(from random flickr search)

https://flic.kr/p/yYyBwb

 

I notice 3D pop and some apple glow as well...

[Jeffry Abt]

Live with it and produce better.

 

The truth. Amen! 

[Jeffry Abt]

Nevertheless....I would still like to know about how y'all use the SF 26 Flash. (If you do.)

 

Do you use Apature priority, or Manual modes. etc. ? What are your in camera settings? It looks like the flash will not allow the use of high speed sync...is this limiting practically speaking? It seems as if it would be. Coming from the "Nikon" world things are very different when it comes to flash units. I've used digital M and film cameras for years. But never with on camera flash units. So ...?

Any help would be appreciated. 

 

In all actuality,  I'm tending toward... "forget about 'Flash' wait for the next M that will have higher ISO capabilities." 

[jaapv]

Flashes are not just about too dark to shoot, more importantly they are about balancing the light.

For that use I find a non-Leica flash on "A" far more practical.

[Luke_Miller]

 

In all actuality,  I'm tending toward... "forget about 'Flash' wait for the next M that will have higher ISO capabilities." 

 

Since photography is about capturing the light, I find that poor light tends to result in poor pictures.  My DSLR can produce acceptable shots at ISOs well north of 6400, If the light is so poor that I need those ISO levels to capture an image I generally find them to be well exposed, but disappointing.  Now my primary use of high ISO is to gain shutter speed or aperture.  So in reasonable light I can stop subject motion and have a respectable DOF.

 

When I first acquired the capability to shoot at stratospheric ISOs my reaction was "Now I can put away all those flashes." After some experience shooting at those ISO levels the flashes are back in the bag.

[bocaburger]

To me, "smart flash" is analagous to P mode.  And TTL flash, like TTL metering, basically addresses 2 issues, parallax and filter/extension factors.  The former really doesn't apply to the M camera unless using it with adapters for long telephoto or macro.  The latter is an easy calculation.   I always use AUTO mode, regardless of the camera I'm using, unless I'm doing teleflash with a 200+mm, or macro. 

 

Therefore the choices of flash units is huge, and includes many flashes people may already own, plus a slew that can be bought for pocket change. 

[Luke_Miller]

 I always use AUTO mode, regardless of the camera I'm using, unless I'm doing teleflash with a 200+mm, or macro. 

 

Therefore the choices of flash units is huge, and includes many flashes people may already own, plus a slew that can be bought for pocket change. 

 

Same here.  As a long time Nikon shooter I have acquired a few Nikon flash units.  All of the ones that feature AUTO mode work fine on my Leica Ms.  An additional advantage of AUTO is that there is no pre-flash to trigger the blink reflex in subjects.

 

Many dislike the look of flash photos.  The unattractive "flash face" and hard shadows come from direct flash.  Bounced flash, using the ceiling or wall as a huge light panel, produces a soft natural light that is flattering to subjects.  If one gels the flash to match any tungsten or fluorescent artificial lighting you can avoid the mixed lighting white balance problem.  I find using flash to its best advantage to be challenging, but when I get it right the results are well worth it. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[John Black]

I tried the Leica SF-26 on the Leica M-P (240) and liked the size and general idea.  My M had the correct firmware, but the SF-26 Firmware was 1.0 (not 1.1 as required).  At first I thought the flash was working correctly, but as I began to experiment with the FEC adjustment, the exposures were wildly inconsistent - ranging from black to completely blown out.  I suspect the issue was the SF-26 not having the correct firmware.

 

Leica published a PDF on how to check firmware - download PDF (this is how I figured out what firmware my SF-26 because it's not stated on the box or anywhere).  Unfortunately the only way to get the firmware updated is to send the flash to Leica.  I returned mine and plan to try again - hoping version 1.1 firmware will have made its way into store inventory.

 

Setting aside the exposure issues - of the few test shots where the SF-26 seemed to expose correctly, the results were better than SF-24D (24D only fires head-on).  I felt like I was getting ~3 stops of added light from the unit if the subject was within 5 to 10 feet (this was in bounce orientation).

 

I have an SF-58 (stupidly big on the M), but it works fine.  In comparison, the SF-26 definitely felt like a downgrade.  The SF-26 is not very powerful (but that should be obvious), cycle times are pretty slow, it's not a true 90º bounce - the flash reflector is canted forward, flash cannot be rotated (a negative if shooting portrait orientation), Sto-fen does not make an Omnibounce for it (though maybe that has changed recently).