On the prowl for Leica capable flashes. On camera flashes. Bounceable flashes.

I learned flash in the "old school" way. Guide numbers. Off camera with a coiled sync cord. Dismal batteries. But it worked. It mostly worked really well. When shooting film you aren't able to bounce around the ISO scale. You load a roll and you get a setting. Done. But over time I've gotten as lazy as everyone else. If you are shooting a lot of stuff fast and you are at a reception or in a ballroom it's nice to be able to point a digital camera at a cute couple and just press the shutter --- being mostly confident that the flash will go off and, while flashing will communicate with the camera which will then tell the flash when it's had enough. At least that's the way it's supposed to work. 

But then I screwed everything up and started buying Leica cameras. The one brand that no one seems to want to make dedicated TTL flashes for. Sure, there are the two re-badged Nissin flashes and I guess they are okay but geez, they cost a lot of money for something they stuck a logo on and increased the price by a factor of two... 

In the old days Leica had Metz make a flash for their mainline cameras and it was called an SF-58. Not only did it work in manual and full on TTL (including HSS) but it also came complete with an "old school" automatic setting. That means it has a sensor "eye" on the front of the flash and it's connected to a thyristor which measures the flash bouncing off a subject and quenches the flash when it's done enough. There's no connection to the camera other than the sync. An automatic setting is rare in a flash these days but it's a wonderful thing because you can use an automatic flash on any camera and still get a pretty proficient flash automation. Not TTL but not bad at all. And if you are shooting color negative film you'd probably never know you were over or under by much. (Film has latitude..).

The SF-58 is a traditional looking flash with a "cobra" head. Meaning you can swivel it up and bounce it off the ceiling or from one side or the other of the camera instead of just straight ahead. It has a bunch of modes. It can be used in a manual exposure slave mode, in full TTL, in TTL with HSS, in full manual with ratios down to 1/250th of a second and, of course, automatic. The flash takes takes four double A batteries and it's a model that seems to hold up well over time. I found one used at Camera West and snapped it up. Then I started looking for a second one. You know... for back up. 

I have two different multiple day events to cover on assignment in April and some more in May. I guess I'm over compensating for having been "out of the water" vis-a-vis event work since I fired several of my less desirable event clients last year. Now I'm rushing around trying to find the optimal solution for pairing eccentric Leicas with workable flashes. And I'm hoping that either the SF-58 is what I'm looking for or that I finally land on something even better. 

I'm not too panicked since I could use a Panasonic S camera with one of several dedicated flashes I have for that marque. And, if necessary there is always the Fuji 50Sii as a back up. I've got one of the Godox V flashes dedicated to that system... But in truth I want to find the holy grail of Leica flashes. 

One that will work across the SL, CL, M and Q2 series of cameras interchangeably. It was so much easier in the old days when the only real choice (pre-digital) was the Vivitar 283 or the slightly later 285. And then all those Nikon SB flashes. The SB-24, SB-26, SB-28 and finally the SB-800. All great and all fully rigged to shoot automatic on other brands of cameras. 

Right now I have several options. The SF-58 is the front runner. A Metz 58AF-2 is a nice automatic back-up. Any number of Godox on camera flashes still do fully manual flash --- and that's still a workable solution. 

Just wish that Leica would spend a little time and effort to up their game with flash. I know it seems antithetical to the M series cameras but would come in very handy to make Leica more competitive in the mirrorless DSLR replacement space. Right? 

Hey! Got any SF-58 flashes hanging around that you need to get rid of? I know a photographer in Austin who'd love a couple more....

 

Spring time. Love is in the air.

 

Love on South Congress Ave. Just to the North of Jo's Coffee.

Loving the raised foot. 

Finally loving the 28mm focal length. It took a rangefinder camera to convince me.

Something about looking through the little window and trying to see the frame lines makes it all a lot more fun.

*******

Can you believe I've been writing blog posts for over 15 years now? That's just crazy!!!

I wish I had all those hours back... Think of all the network TV shows I could have watched instead...From "Gunsmoke"  to "the Big Bang Theory". And all the sports broadcasts I could have watched while drinking American beer. Even shows for sports that are stupid and hopelessly, well, stupid. Like baseball and football and other stuff manufactured to keep people happy and docile....

Ah well. I've missed so much

 

Odd Combinations. Doing some portraits with an "Odd Couple." The huge but amazing Zeiss Milvus 50mm f1.4 and the tiny, featherweight, cropped frame Leica CL.

 Toss in a lens adapter for extra size and weight. What you end up with is a nice portrait length (75mm) equivalent on a small body with an image that's mostly sharp at the maximum aperture. That, and stares from people who think the combo looks a little insane. This lens adds back all the heft you lose going with the APS-C body.

Try it. It's fun.

Travel can broaden the mind. Most of the time it just gives you sore feet...

Tree. Garden. Montreal. Old Town. 

 

Currently competing in the World Curmudgeon Contest. Trying to decide just how often a good rant might be called for. Or "how we used to do everything better in the good old days."

I use myself too often as a stand in for clients. Judging by the type on the badge neck strap I must have been at Austin Radiological Associates setting up for a portrait session with a radiologist. I seem to have dozens of images, done over decades, of me testing my lighting by using the self-timer on a camera and me as a model. Only after everything is set and tested do we get started with the real talent. 

No one likes to wait around while you tweak.

For the ultimate in curmudgeon-ness it seems one needs...  

I'll stop right there. 

 

Coffee. To go.