Sorry Kristian,

As it seems there are M7 users out there is anyone using the HSS flash yet?

So far with all the M7 threads going on most center on the AE feature and battery dependence. That's been covered but little or no mention of the flash sync.

As a happy amateur in the 60-70s I rarely used flash. I shot what wanted the way I wanted. Late 70's- '99 I shot full time for a living. I used M's, Nikons, Hasselblad for Corp work. I use Dynalights for high power location/studio work.

Early on it became clear that lots of shots need flash to open shadows, help with backlight, bad room light, overhead flourescents etc. And color temp was a concern. So was sync speed.

As nice as natual light is it is also sometimes really ugly to film and when you expect a check for your efforts and time you'd better have nice looking light on your people. A Metz 60 CT (GN 197) was a constant help for newpaper/outdoor corporate etc work. I could bounce off a wall and still get F8 if I wanted. Nice natural looking light from the side made it look as if there were bright windows lighting the people. Results were excellent, easy to print (scan) and most important didn't look as if I used a flash. Note this was jobs, not stealthy street shooting.

When Nikon brought out their HSS bodies and flashes I went with it. The M's stayed home alot as the 1/50th sync speed couldn't cut it. I used them for what they were good at.

I think the HSS feature of the M7 is its best feature. With an SLR every time you look through the lens you see the image at the least DOF possible as you view through a wide open lens. I'm thinking 80-200/105 macro/85mm lens but it holds true for the wides as well.

If you like that look you want to shoot there. You don't want to be at F8 because fill flash is needed. The "look" you wanted is gone with DOF. ASA 100 film at 1/1000 F4 in bright sun leaves you where with an M6/5/4/3/2, 1/50th at F16? Taxing output on most flashes to even get you F16 and you'll have way too much DOF. So with HSS flash at F4 you get a catchlight and maybe some shadows filled or even partially filled which is a great help. And you don't have all that DOF. Do the same math in the shade (@1/1000 F1.4)and you can shoot your 'lux wide or nearly wide open. Shade often needs that catchlight in the eyes to make people look alive. Maybe there are no shadows to fill but catchlights work. You get options with the M7 flash you can only dream of with an M6/5/4/3/2. Or also carry a Nikon/Canon

I can think of tons of times this is what is needed to get the shot and get an attractive shot. And it does not call attention to itself in the result if done right.

One of us, Marc Williams? is shooting weddings with an M7. He is adding ND filters to get the lens open for the great benefits of shallow DOF. How about adding a little tiny bit of flash in there too?

I haven't tried an M7 with the flash. On the Nikon system you get 2 power outputs to chose from. I often 'er to the weaker output because too much fill looks bad. But a little is so much better than none.

BTW I have an M6ttl and the Metz 54 MZ3. I know rumors have it the weight of the flash can cause rangefinder error as the top plate flexes. I can't believe that the top plate is so flimsey and weak. I just don't believe it. I'll have to prove it to myself.

So this got too long and I hope you read it to the end. Scarey thing is I could go on!

Long live natural light, as long as it is attractive.

-- Neil Swanson (neilsphoto@yahoo.com), April 27, 2002

Answers

Neil,

I did it here.

-- Lucien (lucien_vd@yahoo.fr), April 27, 2002.

pictures, people, i need to see the pictures...it is useless to describe it in words.

-- Dexter Legaspi (dalegaspi@hotmail.com), April 27, 2002.

So Lucien are you saying that in the HSS mode all the manual power settings from 1/1-1/256 are choices for HSS? That is huge.

As for all the extra fumbling around I bet with use you'd just know that the typical 35mm 'lux shot at 6 feet worked best at setting 1/16th for example.

If you were say a wedding shooter I know from doing them that a couple dancing and nearly filling the frame was always the same distance. Was it 10 feet? Whatever it was I could set that distance and just put them in the frame the way I always had w/o even focusing. So now add that the same couple in bright sun or shade, your choice is always the same sun or shade exposure and works best with "X" amount of flash.

Adding some flash is better than none. You can open up for backlight but that doesn't mean their eyes don't have a cadaver look. And bangs and veils also cause problems.

3 days a week I print B&W at a custom B&W lab in Connecticut.

Alot of what I print is weddings and most is now 35mm. I spend hours trying to pull good prints from negs that badly need help. They are thin because the shooter knows nothing about metering white dresses AND they are backlit to boot.

If only these people would get an incident meter for a baseline they'd be miles ahead of trusting what AE/Matrix etc tell them is right. They have brides/women with no eyes 'cause their bangs throw shadows on their eyes in the overhead sun. Noses and chins in full sun but the rest of the face isn't. The women in the wedding party as middle grey, the men in black as middle gray with blown out faces and shirts.The list goes on believe me.

Some of these shooters have fill flash ability but won't do it because they are "stealth". Load of crap in these moments.

Ya'know what will be remembered? The final product, not whether or not a flash went off when the bride in white, surrounded by other people in white, a white cake, harshly back/side lite, faces full of hot spots and shadows, standing in front of the rest of the wedding party dressed in black that are in full shade cut the cake. Oh you got the moment all right but a good print? Oh and you want a fiber 16x20? Help me. ADd some light please.

My othe favorite M7 feature? Second curtain flash sync.

-- Neil (neilsphoto@yahoo.com), April 27, 2002.

Right on Neil! By the way, I do use " a little bit of flash" at weddings no matter what the lighting situation. I use ND filters primarily for the purpose of dropping the shutter speed to 1/50 sinc speed in bright sunlight, secondarily to open up the aperature. And because I use a soft box on either a SF-20 or the Metz 54 MZ3, I rarely, if ever, get those black eye sockets OR a drop shadow behind the head. The one thing I wish the Metz had was a second flash output window to add a catchlight in the eye when bouncing or using an upright soft bounce. I haven't practiced with the HSSF feature yet nor the second shutter, both of which I use when shooting a Nikon D1x. The effects are amazing and beautiful when combined with wide open, super fast lenses. Can't wait to use them with the Leica glass.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), April 28, 2002.

Neil, don't misunderstand......this is a very good question, and one that ould be benficial to people interested in purchasing the camera. And it is not a repeated question as far as I know.

Good question mate.

-- Kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), April 28, 2002.