Have two M6 cameras an no flash. Last week decided to shoot non TTL Nikon flash mounted on my Leica..Did not work. I guess the contacts just don't align. Are there any other flash units (smallish) that will work on a M6 Leica? Need not be TTL but would like some sort of auto exposure at various aperature openings.

Thanks,Don

-- Don M (Maldos@home.com), November 29, 2001

Answers

Don, My SB-28 works fine on my M6TTL, and I believe it works on the M6 as well. This may sound like a stupid question, but it happened to me- - tried shooting with flash and.. nothing. I kept setting the shutter @ 1/60, as with the flash mounted is wasnt looking close enough-- I may just be exceptionally nearsighted, but it did happen. I think a lot of people use the Vivitar 283. When Im going light, I use the Leica sf-20, which can be had for a song used. best,

-- Marke Gilbert (Bohdi137@aol.com), November 29, 2001.

First off, a Nikon or anybody elses non-ttl flash should work just fine on your M6 in "auto" mode, as hot-shoe contacts are standardized and the "auto" sensor is mounted on the flash. However it needs to be a Leica-compatible TTL flash to work in TTL mode. If it didn't flash, I suspect something was wrong with the flash or possibly your M. You did not mention if your M6's were TTL's or Classics. If they are TTL's get the Leica SF20. It is a superb little unit, and the TTL works very well. You can find them used for about $150.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), November 29, 2001.

Wow Jack, We posted within seconds of each other-- could our answers have been anymore similar? Great minds... ;)

-- Marke Gilbert (Bohdi137@aol.com), November 29, 2001.

Marke:

Yes, I noticed that your post was up as soon as I finished -- obviuosly we were posting at the same time. As for "Great minds" yours likely is, but I fear mine is fading rapidly with age -- Heck, I consider myself lucky to just get a cogent post up! ;-)

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), November 29, 2001.

What type of flash is David Alan Harvey using in the short video on the website for his Cuba book?

http://dirckhalstead.org/issue9910/cubaintro.htm

-- Luke Dunlap (luked@mail.utexas.edu), November 29, 2001.

I agree the Leica SF20 is nice for a small TTL flash. If you need the oomph of a larger unit, Metz units with SCA 3000 adapters (the one listed for the R also works on the M) are great.

Two things to watch - the shutter speed, and your batteries. I believe the TTL flash sync is disabled if the batteries are low in the M6 TTL.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), November 29, 2001.

I have a 15-year-old Vivitar 2800 flash - quite compact, vertical bounce (but not side-to-side), that I've used on everything from Nikon F/FM2 SLRs to Contax G to Leica M4-2 to Hexar RF - also as studio flash bounced into umbrella for tabletops.

Works every time.

Has built-in AE (sensor plus scale that gives you choice of 2 apertures to use for any given ISO - enough for my purposes). Totally undedicated which is why it's worked on anything I ever owned.

Runs off 4 AA cells. About the length of an M body but a little squarer in cross-section. Smaller than the 283 by 5-10% (roughly).

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), November 29, 2001.

Thanks to all who responded. You are ALL right. Any flsh will work and my SB 15 Nikon flash is no exception. I noticed that I was not setting the shutter to the "flash" symbol on the shutter dial.

Thanks again, Don

-- Don M (maldos@home.com), November 29, 2001.

I use a Metz 32-Z2 with SCA 3501 adapter and, sometimes, a Nikon SC- 17 TTL cord. It works perfectly, in TTL (or any other) mode.

I didn't choose Leica's SF20 flash because it doesn't tilt and I like to use bounce flash.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), November 29, 2001.

Even if the SF-20 did tilt, it probably would not emit enough light to work for bounce. Lutz's attachment might give the effect, though. One thing about the cheap flash units I've owned is they have a habit of turning themselves on in the camera bag and killing 4 good AA batteries. Therefore, my idea of a good flash unit is one the has an auto shut-off feature. Can anyone tell me if the high end flashes have auto shut-off? For bounce flash, i like the old flash bulbs! Talk about light! An M-25B would send out torrents of light!

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), November 30, 2001.

Auto shut-off is a feature of Metz flashes.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), November 30, 2001.

What type of flash is David Alan Harvey using in the short video on the website for his Cuba book?

dirckhalstead.org/is sue9910/cubaintro.htm

I believe he uses a Vivitar 2800 or something like that. Simple all manual flash. He mentioned it in an interview on the Nat. Geo. site.

-- Tse-Sung (tsesung@yahoo.com), November 30, 2001.

wow, beautiful pictures.

in the movie he seems to wind his leica with funny double strokes, rather than one long single stroke. what't that for?

some of the flash photos look like a second curtain sync. is this possible with the m6?

-- stefan randlkofer (geesbert@yahoo.com), November 30, 2001.

Any flash should work with the M6 TTL. Make sure that the shutter speed is set to 1/50 or lower. I use the Leica SF20 flash most of the time with the M6 TTL. It is a small, light and pocketable flash unit. For larger rooms and longer distances, I use a Metz 50MZ5. The TTL flash mechanism is quite accurate!

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), November 30, 2001.

Oops! Just noticed that Don is asking about the M6 and not the M6 TTL camera's flash compatibility.

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), November 30, 2001.

Don, You've had lot's of good advice here. My experience with the Vivitar 2800 has been very favorable. It's automatic feature works very nicely. It recycles very quickly during use. If it is unused it will shut off Almost too quickly). It's size and function work well with my M-4 via pc cord or the hot shoe of the M-6.

-- James Hawker (jhawker@siumed.edu), November 30, 2001.