Please walk me through using Pentax 67 with flash

I apologize that there are a number of threads addressing this already, but they've still left me a bit unclear about my own needs. I want to be specific. I have been a natural light film photographer for a number of years so I have never used flash. I mostly shoot portraiture/fashion editorial kind of work and would like to be able to supplement a flash with natural light or be able to use flash indoors in a way that looks like natural light. It seems like an external flash with a dome modifier would be the best way of going about this.

Since I have all of zero experience in this realm I am hoping some of you can help me out on this! And for the record none of my lenses are leaf shutter, so that's why I'm concentrating on the 1/30th sync speed concern.

Some basic concerns:

I know that the Pentax 67's flash sync is 1/30th of a second and I know that is limiting. However I can't say I exactly understand what this means in relation to flash. I get that I can only shoot with that slow of a shutter speed. Does this mean I need to use a tripod? That my subject will need to be still rather than in action? But won't the flash freeze the subject? I guess I'm unclear how this effects things. I know that it's limiting but I don't know why or how.

Does my camera need to have the hand grip in order to connect to a flash, or is that only for onboard flash? I understand that is a naive question. I am incredibly naive when it comes to this subject haha. I need all of the help and hand holding I can get.

From there what would I need to connect my camera to the flash?

I have a handheld light meter I use for incident readings and I understand it can help me with flash readings as well, but I don't exactly understand how those things connect or what I'm reading. Things like this I can probably research and learn on my own, but the first few questions I asked in relation specifically to the Pentax 67 have been tough to nail down in my research so those are the priority.

Thanks so much!

A handgrip with flash shoe is only needed for handheld use, or if you want to simplify things for basic flash setup even on a tripod.

Any flash will connect via standard "PC" sync cord to the sync socket on the camera body. Virtually all hand-holdable flash units have a built-in auto-exposure option: choose a distance range you'll be shooting in, pick an aperture for the lens, and the flash will adjust its output dynamically. Of course, more artistic effects would require manual exposure calculations.

For simple, occasional "snapshot" flash use, the 1/30th shutter isn't a dealbreaker at all. But in more taxing situations, the slow 1/30th sync speed can potentially cause several problems, such as:

Motion blur caused by the slow shutter speed allowing a secondary available light exposure to layer over the flash exposure.

Motion blur due to the camera not really being hand-holdable at 1/30th regardless (mirror/shutter vibrations). This might be masked if you use a small enough aperture that only the flash contributes to exposure, freezing the action.

Most significant for "pro" use is that 1/30th in not fast enough to facilitate fill-flash in brightly lighted situations. Outdoor portraits, weddings, etc, in broad daylight often require a small burst of flash to eliminate shadows under the eyes and smooth out skin color, while a fast shutter speed simultaneously maintains proper exposure for the available-light background. The Pentax 1/30th limitation means one often needs to use dark ND filters on the lens to drop the background exposure, dimming the viewfinder, and sometimes filters aren't enough to cope. This is why leaf-shutter systems like Hasselblad 500cm and Mamiya RB67 are more popular and versatile for flash photography. The Pentax 67 is more optimized for outdoors landscape and architecture than studio or portrait (tho the handful of leaf-shutter Takumars could bridge the gap for fill-flash tasks).

Not everyone struggles with the 1/30th limitation. Several pro fashion photographers have made a niche for themselves turning the Pentax flash limitations to their advantage. Like everything else, it depends on what you want to do and how you want to do it: the large 6x7 negative combined with Takumar lens performance is unique enough that the flash compromises are worth it for many Pentax fans.

That 1/30th maximum synch speed is severely limiting in how you can mix flash with ambient light and integrate it seamlessly.

I'm not familiar with the extent of the Pentax 67 system, but I'd be surprised if a leaf-shuttered lens or two wasn't available. So, in view of the native pathetic 1/30th flash capability of the camera, I'd say that obtaining a leaf-shuttered lens was an essential prerequisite for what you want to do. Or even completely swapping camera systems for something like a 'blad or a Fuji 6x7 rangefinder.

In case you're not familiar, a leaf-shutter allows flash synchronisation right up to its maximum speed - usually 1/500th of a second. Thus freeing you of the limitation of being stuck with 1/30th or slower shutter speeds.

Hi, this site used to have a number of well-written articles that I have no idea how to locate anymore. So I'll try to give some brief explanations. But.. I have no specific experience with your camera so I'll be making some assumptions.

Does my camera need to have the hand grip in order to connect to a flash, or is that only for onboard flash? I understand that is a naive question. I am incredibly naive when it comes to this subject haha. I need all of the help and hand holding I can get.

 

From there what would I need to connect my camera to the flash?

The standard method for connecting flash units in that era was via a connector on the camera called a P-C fitting. This has two connections, meaning that it can fire the flash, but no other "communication," so no "smart features" of the flash can be "commanded" by the camera. Anyway, the common method of connection is to get a "P-C cord" for the specific flash unit. Then you plug this into the camera's P-C connector, and tripping the camera should now fire the flash. There is one other, very important note - an electronic flash should only be used with the camera set to "X" sync: other settings, such as "M," will not fire the flash in sync with the shutter. And, as you know, you need a shutter speed of 1/30 second, your camera's sync speed, or longer. (If you use a faster speed, the focal plane shutter will not be fully open during the flash.)

You can hold the flash any way you like, on a bracket, free in your hand, or even 10 feet away, by an assistant, as long as your P-C cord is long enough. But, if you let the flash overpower the ambient light, it works well to have the flash mounted on some sort of camera bracket, preferably centered over the lens for "people" shots. (This keeps the shadow behind the subject, as opposed to being on one side.)

[update; I posted without seeing the prior answers, so apologies if anything is redundant]

The use of a "bare bulb" flash will give more natural looking light.

- Only if you think that a bare bulb hanging from a ceiling fitting also looks 'natural'.

'Natural' light indoors is usually equated with window light, and to emulate that you need diffuse light coming from a large area (e.g. flash reflected from a large white board or other light surface, or from within a big softbox). A small bare bulb, whether producing light using a tungsten filament or Xenon discharge, definitely doesn't qualify.

"It seems like an external flash with a dome modifier would be the best way of going about this."

- Ditto to that. Anything that puts out light in an unnatural way is going to look unnatural.

I have a handheld light meter I use for incident readings and I understand it can help me with flash readings as well

On my Variosix I select the *flash* symbol press the metering button (after setting the ISO & sync speed I am using) trigger my flash by hand and get a reading for the suggested aperture.

Using a meter for continuous light with studio strobes doesn't get you very far. the only usage is getting the exposure for one flash subject distance right by trial & error and abusing the modelling light in an otherwise dark studio to determine the aperture change for a different flash subject distance. math could do the same trick (but the exact variant is over my head).

sync is 1/30th of a second and I know that is limiting. However I can't say I exactly understand what this means in relation to flash

When it reads "1/60" ask yourself: "Could I get a bit less than half of my current ISO?" - Example you loaded HP5 = ISO 400? - if so there is Pan F, that could be pull processed too for ISO 25? The only limiting factors in such an use case are your wallet and logistics since you have to bring a whole lot of flash. Do the guide number math on your own or meter the output of any given studio strobe at full blast and be impressed how tiny it's reach will be. You'll need 32x the flash power to use ISO 25 instead of 400 for the same shot... That could be the difference between a car cramped with studio strobes and a hotshoe flash in your pocket.

Sync speed & flash in a studio: If your ambient light is 3 stops under sync speed it will barely matter and you don't need a tripod, since there is nothing to draw motion blur on your film.

Sync speed with on camera flash + fast film indoors: You'll most likely end with a mixed exposure AKA "dragging the shutter" nothing to really worry about; it actually tends to look better than using an insanely short sync speed.

.....and would like to be able to supplement a flash with natural light....

To be able to do that requires flexibility in your choice of shutter speed. Or to carry a range of ND filters around and get your models to hold a pose. That's not a recipe for spontaneous and natural-looking pictures.

No matter how you cut it, that ridiculously long synch speed is going to be an issue. If the ambient light is bright it'll make you use a small aperture or one of the aforementioned ND filters. (The idea of carrying several speeds of film is just ridiculous - and there's not that great a choice these days in colour stock.) And still you'd either have to put up with seeing motion blur or make your models hold a pose. Handheld shooting will be pretty much out of the question too.

If you're determined to use flash, then get a leaf-shuttered lens and save your sanity. Maybe your reputation as a photographer too!

Save yourself a lot of trouble and angst with what is essentially an old-school camera hobbled by equally old-school sync speed!

Invest in one of the Pentax 67 leaf shutter lenses (but thoroughly check operation before purchasing, particularly the LS blades: both lenses require specific storage protocol to be followed to prevent weakness of the blades under tension), either 90mm f2.8LS or 165mm f4LS. In active use with LS in operation, the FP (camera) shutter must be set to 1/8 second (do not be concerned about when using an LS lens in LS mode), while the leaf shutter speed can be set anywhere on marked speeds from 1/60 to 1/500. A strobe/sync is attached to a cold shoe in the optional handgrip (left hand side), or held off-camera by other means. During LS use, the strobe or flash cord is connected to the X-sync socket on the LS lens in use, not the camera. Effectively, an LS lens bypasses the tedious camera shutter for all but it's native sync speed. In the absence of an LS lens, the default position is, as you have noted, a very unsatisfactory 1/30s sync speed and no more than that. It is very difficult (and always has been) to get around this without looking at supplementary lighting.

When using strobes and flash, a separate hand held flashmeter/incident (or multispot) meter is essential to arrive at the best balance of ambient and flash exposure. Be it noted that using an LS lens bypasses the TTL meter of the camera, hence further reinforcement of the use of a hand-held meter.

[ User of SMC-P 67 90 2.8 and 165LS lenses ]