flash use on leica m6

[gtan]

hi can some expert teach me how to use the leica SF 45 flash on my non TTL M6 ?

1. general night shots shutter speed on 1/45 and aperture 5.6, flash on auto mode focus and shoot is that right?

2. fill in flash - what to do ? thanks

 

[glchua]

I don't use a SF 45 on my M, I use a SB28. I guess roughly the same.

Yes, you should set your flash to auto. I think the shutter speed is 1/50 not 1/45, but it doesn't matter. I always play safe and set to 1/30.

I'm not an expert, but the following is what I'll do for fill flash:

For fill flash (assuming my subject is back lit, "sun behind subject" situation), if I had "told" the flash that I'm shooting at f5.6, then the flash would give out enough light for f5.6, without knowing the amount of light that actually goes through the lens.

Thus, if I set my lens to f8 instead of f5.6, the flash would be one stop under. I then select a shutter speed to correctly expose for ambient light (below 1/50), and now I would have filled in the shadow of my subject with one stop under of flash, and correctly exposed the background.

If I want the flash exposure to be correct, with some background exposure (as in the case of taking shots of my loved ones at night along orchard road during christmas season), then I wpuld not select an aperture smaller than what you set for your flash. Keeping the aperture at f5.6 (as in the above example), I would select a shutter speed to gather as much ambient light as I possibly can hand hold.

 

[helium]

hello glchua,

are you able to use the TTL function when you use SB28 on your M6?

thanks

 

[glchua]

hello glchua,

are you able to use the TTL function when you use SB28 on your M6?

thanks

Nope. Its an auto flash for my M6 or MP. In addition, the TTL on a Nikon flash would not even work with M6TTL or M7.

 

[gtan]

thanks glchua for your advise. much appreciate it. to confirm, for fill in flash i set the flash at auto and aperture f5.6. then i set the camera aperture 1 stop smaller to fool the flash and then adjust the shutter speed of the camera to obtain correct exposure for ambient light

question : if the appropriate shutter speed for ambient light is faster than the flash sync speed of 1/45 the photo will still be properly exposed ?

for ordinary flash use at night say in a dark restaurant just set flash at auto and aperture 5.6 , then set camera M6 at f5.6 and shutter at flash sync speed of 1/45 sec focus and shoot? thanks again

 

[glchua]

thanks glchua for your advise. much appreciate it. to confirm, for fill in flash i set the flash at auto and aperture f5.6. then i set the camera aperture 1 stop smaller to fool the flash and then adjust the shutter speed of the camera to obtain correct exposure for ambient light

question : if the appropriate shutter speed for ambient light is faster than the flash sync speed of 1/45 the photo will still be properly exposed ?

for ordinary flash use at night say in a dark restaurant just set flash at auto and aperture 5.6 , then set camera M6 at f5.6 and shutter at flash sync speed of 1/45 sec focus and shoot? thanks again

Yes.

<<<>>>

Now you point out the limitation of Leica for flash work. If I need a shutter speed that is faster than the sync, then my ambient exposure would be too much. You might need to use a smaller "flash" aperture, maybe f8 then expose ambient at f11 and so on. A faster sync speed like 1/250 is much preferred for this type of work, as most of the time, we may want a shallow depth of field.

Usually I wouldn't be bothered to do fill flash (I hardly carry a flash nowadays). Maybe a reflector would be more convenient? If I'm shooting XP2, then I'll probably just meter for the subject's shadow. The highlights mostly will not be blown out too much as it can take a few stops of over exposure without losing detail. I'll then correct that in PS.

<<<>>>

Yes. If it is dark, I'll set the auto flash to f2 and shoot at 1/30 (lens at f2) for ISO400, but I don't know if SF45 can do set to f2.