I have a Geiss Kontact unit that allows me to use an electronic flash with my Leica IIIc. One piece of the unit tightens over the shutter-speed dial. There is a small hole in this piece that is supposed to be centered over the correct shutter speed. What speed should appear in the hole and what speed should I set on the camera for flash photography with my IIIc?

-- Jim Crusinberry (jcrusinberry@earthlink.net), January 16, 2002

Answers

I had one of those for my IIIa but I can't remember the exact speed, 1/30 or 1/20 I seem to recall. I'm fairly certain that should be safe. But since the sync unit is pretty old and the IIIc's shutter speeds aren't always as marked, you'd be saving yourself some frustration by shooting a short roll against a blank wall at speeds from about 1/10 up to 1/60 and check to see the highest one that gives you a full neg.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 16, 2002.

Or take the lens out, insert a piece of white paper in the film plane and holding the camera at length squint and look into the lens throat in a darkened room. Fire the shutter at different speeds and you should easily see when you get the whole frame exposed.

Easier to do on the M's in order to check flash sync etc as you can simply look through the back.

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), January 16, 2002.

....illuminating the film plane with the flash. Which I am sure Giles meant to include. :-)

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), January 16, 2002.

You got it John!

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), January 16, 2002.

The speed to use is the transitional speed between the two shutter speed dials, whatever it is on your camera--1/20 or 1/30. I think it's 1/30 on the IIIc, right? On my IIIa it's 1/20. The speed which appears on both dials is the last speed during which the shutter is fully open at some point during the exposure, rather than just having a slit travel across the film.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), January 16, 2002.

For the IIIc, the correct speed is any speed on the low speed dial. Set the high speed dial to 1/30 (its slowest speed) and set the Geiss Kontact window to that speed and then the low speed dial to any number. Synch will be fine.

Depending on the ambient light level, you can get some interesting effects with electronic flash and slower shutter speeds.

-- James Schenken (jds@ifx.net), March 13, 2002.