Using flash anyone? Any recommendation?

[wlaidlaw]

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If we could get someone to make us a little hot shoe accessory which slid into the existing accessory shoe, had a hinge at the back, another hot shoe on the top and carried the contacts from the bit which fitted into the hot shoe up to the top hot shoe with a ribbon cable, that would in effect give us bounce on the SF-24D. I used to have a thing like that with a single hot shoe contact. Perhaps the person who is making the thumb thingy could look at that for his next project - maybe even combine the two.

 

Wilson

[lars_bergquist]

The recipe for bounce flash with the SF-24D is to get a 'system shoe-to-foot-cord' like the Nikon SC-17 I have. (A later model is said to exist.) This connects all contact points, and used specimens are not difficult to find. The only other piece of equipment you need is a third hand.

 

You can in fact use this (or even any cord which connects the center contacts only) for bounce with any pocket flash new enough not to fry your electronics. Just do a trial exposure; experience – experiment at home! – will tell you the size of the ballpark. A quick check of the exposure by the histogram will immediately tell you if you have to open up or close down, and with a bit of experience, even by how much. The second flash exposure should be right on.

 

This said, I regard the absence of any provision for off-camera flash a gross design error. The M9 (or for that matter a possible M8-2) should have a screw-in five-pole socket on the back of the camera. Hell, my old Olympus OM-2sp and OM-4, both twenty years old, have them. There is no excuse whatsoever for its absence on the M8. It would also mean that the shoe would be free for an accessory finder. Yes, there are flash units (by Metz – heard of them?) that cover the field of a 21mm lens on film. This quite apart from the matter of bounce.

 

The old man from the Age of Flashpowder

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[mwilliamsphotography]

Well, I do have to admit that I usually resort to the Canon at a wedding when the light completely disappears and the subject is moving ... like dancing ... but that's for swift AF as much as for flash use.

 

If I only had Ms to choose from, I'd probably be singing a different tune. But IMHO, it's pushing the M cameras into territory not intend for a rangefinder ... horses for courses and all that.

 

I also have to admit that I'd also like a little TTL flash like the SF24D that had a swival head for bounce, for low ceiling dressing rooms and the like.

 

In the mean time ... horses for courses.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

Well Marc some of us have to shoot in places were the M8 is not intended to go or should i say that i am not intended to go. Man if i was only 30 years younger i would park my horse real close to this. ROTFLMAO.

 

Not a great example of the Metz and stofen since there right up against the banner but who cares right. LOL

 

Couldn't resist.

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[sean_reid]

Well, I do have to admit that I usually resort to the Canon at a wedding when the light completely disappears and the subject is moving ... like dancing ... but that's for swift AF as much as for flash use.

 

If I only had Ms to choose from, I'd probably be singing a different tune. But IMHO, it's pushing the M cameras into territory not intend for a rangefinder ... horses for courses and all that.

 

Hi Marc,

 

Not intended for rangefinders...? Gosh, I've been using rangefinders to photograph that stuff for several years now. I don't think its so much a case of horses for courses because there's no prescribed way that one need use a given camera. I think that some of us use RF cameras for that kind of work and some don't. I myself don't like to use an SLR finders at all in that kind of lighting.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[hankg]

Anyone tried the Nikon SB-400 Speedlight? It's small and does bounce. Not something for the event or wedding shooter who need to light a hall but something small and light to add a little kick to the ambient light.

 

Also speaking of diffusers. I've tried a few from sto-fen to the more effective but ridiculously large Fong gadget. I recently stumbled across this site: Demb Flash Products - Demb Flash Diffusers they look pretty compact and flexible in terms of adjustment anyone have experience with it?

 

[Guest guy_mancuso]

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Hi Marc,

 

Not intended for rangefinders...? Gosh, I've been using rangefinders to photograph that stuff for several years now. I don't think its so much a case of horses for courses because there's no prescribed way that one need use a given camera. I think that some of us use RF cameras for that kind of work and some don't. I myself don't like to use an SLR finders at all in that kind of lighting.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

I have no choice that is all i have is M8's. ROTFLMAO

 

I'm just out there trying not to get killed. LOL

90 cron

 

BTW i processed these in C1 beta version 4 , not to bad but needs some work

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[lars_bergquist]

Anyone tried the Nikon SB-400 Speedlight? It's small and does bounce. Not something for the event or wedding shooter who need to light a hall but [/img]

 

Hank, to what extent is the Nikon SB-400 comatible with Leica?

 

The old man from the Age of Flashpowder

[Jamie Roberts]

Anyone tried the Nikon SB-400 Speedlight? It's small and does bounce. Not something for the event or wedding shooter who need to light a hall but something small and light to add a little kick to the ambient light.

 

{snipped}

 

 

I don't see a thyristor on the 400, Hank, so you wouldn't get the A mode compatibility you get with the Canon 580 v2 or the SB 800.

 

But other than that, it should work. In fact, the SB28 works quite well, and you can find one of those pretty cheaply too.

[hankg]

Hank, to what extent is the Nikon SB-400 comatible with Leica?

 

The old man from the Age of Flashpowder

 

I have no idea. That's why I'm asking if anyone has tried it. Some seem to be having success with the larger Nikons (and Canons) in auto mode. That would work for me.

 

I wouldn't mind having a compact, light weight flash that could do bounce to add a little light to the ambient on occasion when I know shooting with existing light just isn't going to cut it.

[Guest guy_mancuso]

I would imagine it works Hank since the SB 28 DX does and several others . Question is can you work the controls like setting the ISO and aperture

[wparsonsgisnet]

Well Marc some of us have to shoot in places were the M8 is not intended to go or should i say that i am not intended to go. Man if i was only 30 years younger i would park my horse real close to this. ROTFLMAO.

 

Not a great example of the Metz and stofen since there right up against the banner but who cares right. LOL

 

Couldn't resist.

 

Guy, I don't understand how you are able to take your family with you to all your shoots. Do you get a special rate that includes transportation for your cousins and sisters?

[hankg]

Thanks for the info.

 

Here's my ideal flash for the M8. A bare bulb head with a couple of detachable reflectors and diffusers that can be attached to the side back and front to give you any combo of bounce + diffusion in any direction.

 

Would be good if the tube telescoped to get the flash up high as well.

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[Guest guy_mancuso]

Guy, I don't understand how you are able to take your family with you to all your shoots. Do you get a special rate that includes transportation for your cousins and sisters?

 

Bill i am still laughing that was good. See we need fun around here. LOL

[Olsen]

A few comments: First of all, thanks for telling me that my investment in three Canon 550EX isn't all that wasted. I have just tried it out on my M8 - with one on the camera and two 'slaves' placed around in my livingroom. It works. Even though I get full flash power on 'M' and have, either to regulate the flash output or use a smaller aparture. It works. I tried it with the Speedlight Transmitter ST-E2 as a master on the M8. That did not work. So, if Canon could be so OK to release a ST-E3 with the possibility to use their flash system on 'foreign' brands, all would be OK.

 

To use several flashes with the Canon E-TTL system is something I can recommend. The real clue is 'several flashes', not E-TTL as such. Use a flash reflected in the roof with and angle throwing the light towards the camera. That gives the pictures a 3-dimentional view. An example below taken with my 1Ds II and three flashes, including one you can see above the head of this young girl. - I have included this just to show it to you guys. Otherwise I would crop away any flashes that is visible within the picture frame.

 

That said, the M8 and the wealth of excellent optics is a very powerful tool with flashes. Like the 35 mm 2,9 Summicron; it produces 'smashing' colours and high contrast flash lit pictures. etc.

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[Cindy Flood]

Also speaking of diffusers. I've tried a few from sto-fen to the more effective but ridiculously large Fong gadget. I recently stumbled across this site: Demb Flash Products - Demb Flash Diffusers they look pretty compact and flexible in terms of adjustment anyone have experience with it?

 

 

I have used this since it first came out on my Canon and Metz flashes. Look back at the begining of this thread where I posted a picture of the diffuser part on my Leica SF-24D flash. I have used stoffens and a couple of Gary Fong dongs:D , I find this much better. The best part is that it lies pretty flat in the camera bag when not in use.

[wparsonsgisnet]

With regard to a Wein safe-unit (I carry a pair of HSHS units, but have not used the SafeSync):

 

1. They are cheap insurance. and

2. They have only a single contact -- thereby defeating the circuitry in the flash that knows what the M8's setting are.

 

This would allow you to set the flash on Auto, with the controls on the flash set for an ISO different than the one the M8 (or even some other camera, but why?) is using. In the case of the 54mz, the flash can be set for the correct lens length so that the head zooms to match the lens used on the M8.

[Jamie Roberts]

Yes, the Wein HSHS (which is a safe-synch too) can fit on the M8. But in my case it doesn't work very well.

 

The PC connection appears to be "input only" I have no idea why, at least, it is if the shoe is used as well.

 

The shoe itself is metal, not plastic. Nice, but it short-circuits both the Canon 580 and the SB800. Very "safe" but not much "synch" I'm afraid.

[Olsen]

M8 w/Vivitar 283.

 

I have used my M8 together with two20 years old Vivitar 283 - one triggered by a slave. Is it so that these old flashes are not recommended to be used with modern digital cameras? I have used both of my Vivitars frequently with my M8 - without any trouble.

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[mwilliamsphotography]

Hi Marc,

 

Not intended for rangefinders...? Gosh, I've been using rangefinders to photograph that stuff for several years now. I don't think its so much a case of horses for courses because there's no prescribed way that one need use a given camera. I think that some of us use RF cameras for that kind of work and some don't. I myself don't like to use an SLR finders at all in that kind of lighting.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Of course there is no specified way one need use a given camera. We're free to use them as a hammer to pound nails if we want. But it doesn't make it the best way to use it either. That is the origin of "Horses for courses".

 

The M has never been a good camera for heavy flash applications, and no-one makes a flash to solve the problem ... so we Frankinstein an elegant tool with gear bigger than the camera itself and requires 3 arms to use. I don't try to do telephoto or macro work with one either ... even though it's possible.

 

Sorry, most of this simply sounds like the tail wagging the dog to me.

 

Love my Ms, but not being a zealot about it, I don't think they are always the best tool for every job.