Cheap Centon Flash at a gig? Hmmm

[lee bells and ginger]

Afternoon all (well, afternoon in england anyway..)

 

From the advice to my last post I have decided to take along rolls of

NPZ and Ilford 3200 to the Velvet Revolver gig i'm photographing next

week. Now, my question is this.

 

If i'm down in the photographers pit at the front, is there any point

me using flash? My thinking is it's unlikely to make any difference.

 

I'm using my Minolta 7000 and my Centon FH95 flash gun

(with 'Powergrip', wow). I know, i know - it's hardly cutting edge

equipment, but i'm a student so it's going to have to do for a while

yet. Besides, it's reassuringly heavy!

 

Any advice? To flash or not to flash? (Plus, if i plug in the flash,

is it going to make the camera think there's bags of light and hence

leave me with rolls of woefully underexposed film?)

 

Lee

[not_given]

I always test equipment and film before I put it to a mission critical use. In addition I also try to test any combinations of film and equipment under the conditions I expect to encounter before it's a mission critical situation. You should too.

 

Can you go to this venue and shoot a test roll before the date of the concert? If not then can you simulate the conditions you think will exist at the concert and shoot a test roll under those conditions?

 

If the venue is dark and you don't know how dark then I recommend that you shoot some test shots with the flash outdoors at night and at increasing distances. Keep a record of the distances and frame numbers.

 

What does the flash's manual say about maximum distance? Do you have a tele-extender for the flash? Could you make one out of cardboard lined with tin foil?

 

My closing thoughts are that the film is extremely fast and there's no point in using the flash. In fact the film is so fast that the flash might not be compatible with it. I think you'd be better off using the available light. You might even consider slowing the shutter speed down to introduce some blur to your shots. Good Luck!

[bruce_rubenstein]

A lot of the visual feel at a concert comes from the stage lighting. If you use flash you'll blow the ambient lighting away.

[Jochen_S]

As mentioned above flash can blow concert feeling away. On the other hand: There are damn dark concerts... I remember quite well struggling with ide open lenses rather slow speeds, monopods and so on. I'd pack at least some moderate fast film too, meter the possible exposures and decide which way to go. Sorry, I've never heared of your flashgun. I myself don't like nuking atmosphere with flash, but when there is no other chance, try it. Maybe your TTL doesn't work at high film speeds so check the manuals.

[lee bells and ginger]

Thanks folks,

 

After checking my flash gun last night it only TTLs up to 1000 ISO so i think i'm probably going to be best just pushing the NPZ 800 and making the most of the stage lights.

 

Get Slash haloed.

 

Thanks for all the good advice :)

 

Lee

[lbi115l]

Many real concerts won't allow you to use flash. It distracts the performers.