Bronica SQ-A and Sunpak 522 -- photos came out "pitch black"

[g_t3]

<p>Hi, I was playing around with my SQ and Sunpak for the first time. I plugged the PC Cord to the X-Sync socket and pressed the shutter on the Bronica, the flash fired with no problem. However, the photos (B&W) that I developed were all totally dark (the frames are all transparent). Can someone give me a few hints on what went wrong? thanks!</p>

[doug elick]

<p>Are you sure the shutter is actually working? What speed film were you using? What were your aperture and shutter speed settings?</p>

<p>Doug</p>

[g_t3]

<p>Hi Doug,<br>

Well, the lens work when I was not using the flash, so I assume the shutter is working. The film speed is 100 and the aperture was wide open at F3.5. I thought the flash sync at any speed up to 1/500 so I didn't remember what speed I was using.. would that be the problem?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

[jim_momary]

<p>Timing issue maybe?</p>

<p>Open the back of the camera. Look thru the lens when dry firing with a flash mounted and turned on. Peering thru the lens opening, do you see the scene briefly illuminated. If you see nothing thru the shutter and lens when the shutter button is depressed, then your flash is not firing when the shutter is actually open, for whatever reason.</p>

<p>Jim M.</p>

[raczoliver]

<p>Are you sure you didn't mess up during the development? Do you have edge markings on the film?</p>

[g_t3]

<p>Hi Oliver, yes, I am sure I didn't mess up during the development, as only 4 frames were used with the flash, the rest of the film strip showed up fine.</p>

<p>Jim, I will try the method you just mentioned. Thanks.</p>

[doug elick]

<p>My first thought was flash sync problems, but when I looked up the SQ-A, it looked like it could only do X (electronic flash) sync. Since you were using 100 speed film, you'd have an easy time underexposing the film and leaving it blank, hence my questions.</p>

<p>How far away from the flash was your subject?</p>

<p>Shutter speed is important even on leaf shutter cameras. Remember that your flash has a limited range, so anything outside of that will still follow normal exposure rules. For example, if you take a flash photo of a nearby person in a large, dim room and use a high shutter speed, you'll capture them, but none of the background. You'll wind up with the classic "ghost in the dark" photo. Many photographers will slow the shutter as far as practical to capture as much ambient light as possible; this is known as "dragging the shutter". The flash will illuminate your subject and stop their motion while ambient light will provide the background. This is a classic wedding photography technique (as I understand). The background is unmoving, so will be largely un-blurred.</p>

<p>I've found the best way to understand flash exposure is to think of it as a flashlight. You adjust it to expose whatever it's illuminating, but have to be aware of what is non-illuminated as well. This means you have two exposures to consider: what the flash is illuminating (by adjusting the flash's power setting) and the rest of the scene (by adjusting the shutter).Aperture effects both calculations equally.</p>

<p>Another way to put it is for a given film speed and aperture setting, the flash will have to be at a certain setting for a given range (if it is not TTL metered, which your SQ-A is not). Think of it this way; the flash is a "second shutter" that has settings for what it illuminates and the actual shutter speed is for everything else.</p>

<p>I suspect your flash sync is incorrect (slowing the shutter will help to an extent if this isn't an M/X problem) or the exposure settings on the flash itself were way off.</p>

<p>Doug</p>

<p> </p>

[g_t3]

<p>Hey Doug,<br>

Once again, thanks a lot for your very insightful comments!!! I was just taking photos in my living room, which is not a big room, with no particular subject in mind. will try and experiment again with slower shutter and at least I can see something on the film just to make sure it is not a camera problem... lots of things to learn!! And thanks a lot for your input!</p>

<p>G</p>

[frank.schifano]

<p>It appears already to be a camera problem, and I suspect that the flash sync is out of whack. Try the test that Jim suggested. If you can see the illumination of the flash through the lens, the the synchonizing mechanism is ok and the problem lies elsewhere. That's the best I can suggest without any more information. anything else would be pure speculation.</p>

[vick_vickery]

<p>Its been years since I used a Bronica, but I seem to remember that it only synced at about 1/60 or slower; not sure what model I used...it belonged to a friend...but if my memory is accurate and you're using a much faster speed, that could be your problem.</p>

[doug elick]

<p>The SQ-A has a leaf shutter, it can sync at any speed, which is dictated largely by how much ambient light you want to capture.</p>

<p>I concur that the first step is to verify the sync is (or is not) working correctly by opening the back and looking through the lens while firing the shutter/flash. Start at slower shutter speeds and work up. You should be able to see the flash through the lens. If not, the sync is likely out of whack.</p>

<p>Doug</p>

<p> </p>