Which flash trigger compatible with MP ?

[jakontil]

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Dear guys!

have a question and advice to ask, last 2 days i have been shooting in studio lights, using a cheap trigger, but my roll came back underexposed like almost blank

i used the lightmeter to meter exposure with speed set at 1/50, im pretty sure it was okay… but turned out not OK

anyone experience studio shooting with leica M film in particular? A couple months ago i used different trigger in another studio, it was flawless

do leica MP being picky with its trigger options?

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[giannis]

7 hours ago, jakontil said:

Dear guys!

have a question and advice to ask, last 2 days i have been shooting in studio lights, using a cheap trigger, but my roll came back underexposed like almost blank

i used the lightmeter to meter exposure with speed set at 1/50, im pretty sure it was okay… but turned out not OK

anyone experience studio shooting with leica M film in particular? A couple months ago i used different trigger in another studio, it was flawless

do leica MP being picky with its trigger options?

Can you describe exactly the way you metered?

 

I'm assuming you used a flash meter and not the integrated (continuous light) meter, right?

Also, is underexposure even, or it's more like a strip that is really underexposed?

 

I see no reason why a basic trigger wouldn't work. Maybe at super fast sync with leaf shutter lenses (1/500, 1/1000) the entry levels syncs might cause issues, but 1/50 is slow enough that even the cheapest trigger should handle fine. Of course the real risk with cheap triggers are coming out of the box faulty/defective. There do exist triggers that are cheap yet reliable, for instance from Yongnuo, if you're looking to replace them.

Edited March 1, 2022 by giannis

[jakontil]

6 hours ago, giannis said:

Can you describe exactly the way you metered?

 

I'm assuming you used a flash meter and not the integrated (continuous light) meter, right?

Also, is underexposure even, or it's more like a strip that is really underexposed?

 

I see no reason why a basic trigger wouldn't work. Maybe at super fast sync with leaf shutter lenses (1/500, 1/1000) the entry levels syncs might cause issues, but 1/50 is slow enough that even the cheapest trigger should handle fine. Of course the real risk with cheap triggers are coming out of the box faulty/defective. There do exist triggers that are cheap yet reliable, for instance from Yongnuo, if you're looking to replace them.

Hi, i use lightmeter external 

i feel the trigger might be faulty, but thing was i swapped 3 of them and all suffered the same fate

and it worked fine with my hasselblad… hence i wonder why

 

it was under exposed because there’s some kind of very slight delays triggering the flas i didnt even notice till i developed my rolls

i will be getting the godox and see how that goes this weekend

 

thanks mate

[Fotoklaus]

As the MP has just a regular hot shoe any trigger should work. It´s just firing the flash, or not (did it?) ISO-Settings/ aperture correct?

If yes and the flash fired perhaps the synchronisation of your MP is faulty or the 1/50 is not a 1/50.

Sometimes the times are not correct at the flash- setting.

I would do a test with a 1/15. or a 1/8th of a second Then you should get at least slightly overexposed or even perfect pictures.

[agiknee]

I use a flashpoint ‘center point’ trigger from Adorama. It’s about 28 bucks shipped to your door 

[Helge]

Am 2.3.2022 um 03:15 schrieb jakontil:

Hi, i use lightmeter external 

i feel the trigger might be faulty, but thing was i swapped 3 of them and all suffered the same fate

and it worked fine with my hasselblad… hence i wonder why

 

it was under exposed because there’s some kind of very slight delays triggering the flas i didnt even notice till i developed my rolls

i will be getting the godox and see how that goes this weekend

 

thanks mate

I‘m still not sure, what you are doing?

What is the purpose of a regular external lightmeter? Are you combining ambient (constant) illumination with a flash and measuring the ambient with the lightmeter? What does it read?

Or do you mean a flash meter? If yes, what does it read? However there is usually no need to enter the exposure time (1/50) into a flash meter, since this time is completely meaningless in a flash exposure situation as long as it is long enough (1/50 or longer).

As stated, the Leica has a simple center contact that fires after the 1st curtain of the shutter has opened (IIRC) and the 2nd has not started yet (1/50 or longer). There is no compatibility question at all.

[jakontil]

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21 hours ago, Fotoklaus said:

As the MP has just a regular hot shoe any trigger should work. It´s just firing the flash, or not (did it?) ISO-Settings/ aperture correct?

If yes and the flash fired perhaps the synchronisation of your MP is faulty or the 1/50 is not a 1/50.

Sometimes the times are not correct at the flash- setting.

I would do a test with a 1/15. or a 1/8th of a second Then you should get at least slightly overexposed or even perfect pictures.

Thanks klaus, would give it a try this weekend, hopefully nothing faulty on my MP

4 hours ago, agiknee said:

I use a flashpoint ‘center point’ trigger from Adorama. It’s about 28 bucks shipped to your door 

Thanks i would give it another go, bcoz i felt like the hotshoe got too tight when i tucked it in

1 hour ago, Helge said:

I‘m still not sure, what you are doing?

What is the purpose of a regular external lightmeter? Are you combining ambient (constant) illumination with a flash and measuring the ambient with the lightmeter? What does it read?

Or do you mean a flash meter? If yes, what does it read? However there is usually no need to enter the exposure time (1/50) into a flash meter, since this time is completely meaningless in a flash exposure situation as long as it is long enough (1/50 or longer).

As stated, the Leica has a simple center contact that fires after the 1st curtain of the shutter has opened (IIRC) and the 2nd has not started yet (1/50 or longer). There is no compatibility question at all.

Sorry i meant the flash meter 

 

thanks for the insight

[Helge]

vor 54 Minuten schrieb jakontil:

.  

Sorry i meant the flash meter 

So, you have to set an exposure time on the flash meter?

And another important question: which aperture did it read? Same as you did set on the lens?

[jakontil]

11 minutes ago, Helge said:

So, you have to set an exposure time on the flash meter?

And another important question: which aperture did it read? Same as you did set on the lens?

Yes i think my problem more with my sync time with the flash, not sure but probably there’s a slight delay

[Helge]

vor 49 Minuten schrieb Helge:

So, you have to set an exposure time on the flash meter?

…

I just checked my flash meter, it indeed asks for a exposure time in order to correctly measure other ambient, however not for the actual flash part.

Why can‘t you tell what the meter reads (aperture)?

vor 38 Minuten schrieb jakontil:

Yes i think my problem more with my sync time with the flash, not sure but probably there’s a slight delay

What „sync time“? The 1/50 setting at the MP? Do you have any data from your trigger system about the applicable delay time? Should be some ms…

[jakontil]

3 hours ago, Helge said:

I just checked my flash meter, it indeed asks for a exposure time in order to correctly measure other ambient, however not for the actual flash part.

Why can‘t you tell what the meter reads (aperture)?

What „sync time“? The 1/50 setting at the MP? Do you have any data from your trigger system about the applicable delay time? Should be some ms…

No data, my roll came back very under exposed like it didnt catch the flash or almost may be, cant really tell… anyway im gonna have another go with different trigger from godox thid sunday, will come back and report 

[Helge]

It is difficult to understand how you measure or set the flash and align that with the aperture of the Leica‘s lens. In order to get more help you you definitely have to elaborate what you do a lot more!

In case your current trigger has a very long delay time between been triggered by the Leica and the actual firing of the flash (longer than the actual exposure time at 1/50 = 20 ms)  you should try a lot longer exposure times as already mentioned by others here.

However it does not seem to be an issue of the camera yet.

If you have access to a „normal“ flash that attaches directly to the camera‘s hotshoe you should try that as well together with the other tests.

[jakontil]

13 hours ago, Helge said:

It is difficult to understand how you measure or set the flash and align that with the aperture of the Leica‘s lens. In order to get more help you you definitely have to elaborate what you do a lot more!

In case your current trigger has a very long delay time between been triggered by the Leica and the actual firing of the flash (longer than the actual exposure time at 1/50 = 20 ms)  you should try a lot longer exposure times as already mentioned by others here.

However it does not seem to be an issue of the camera yet.

If you have access to a „normal“ flash that attaches directly to the camera‘s hotshoe you should try that as well together with the other tests.

Hi helge, certaily will do try as suggested

i just wished there’s problem with the trigger, would soon try it out

[Doc Henry]

On my MP we have a flash synchro (lightning painted red )  I use a Leica SF24D flash .

From memory I think we are at the 100th , diaphragm open to f/8 at 3 meters

and everything is done without problem  >  well exposed photo.

Best  

 

[giannis]

On 3/4/2022 at 3:21 PM, jakontil said:

No data, my roll came back very under exposed like it didnt catch the flash or almost may be, cant really tell… anyway im gonna have another go with different trigger from godox thid sunday, will come back and report 

I think you might have a faulty trigger/transmitter if you’re doing everything else properly. This very likely, given the fact that with other triggers you get correct flash illumination. While the chance that the triggering mechanism in the camera is set wrong with regards to firing the flash, this is a very, very rare fault and in this case you’d get issues with *any* trigger, which is not the case with your camera.
 

Edited March 6, 2022 by giannis

[jakontil]

1 hour ago, giannis said:

I think you might have a faulty trigger/transmitter if you’re doing everything else properly. This very likely, given the fact that with other triggers you get correct flash illumination. While the chance that the triggering mechanism in the camera is set wrong with regards to firing the flash, this is a very, very rare fault and in this case you’d get issues with *any* trigger, which is not the case with your camera.
 

yes it was proven faulty, today i shot with another set of new triggers and it worked flawlessly, before i doubted it since i had used like 2-3 different triggers and resulted the same

compared to the faulty ones, there's a slight delay in my viewfinder when i pressed the shutter, such a relief....

here's the proof it was the trigger that didnt work before, home souped, kodak ektar 100 expired, 1/50 F8

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