Fill in flash possibilities/limitations

[albert_vondeling]

What are the possibilities of fill in flash with the Contax 645? Is it

possible to set aperture/time based on the real situation (as if not

using any flash) and add fill in flash? (as is, I understood, an

option of the Mamiya AFd). I'd like to know because I like the use of

fill in flash for out door portraits, sceneries with people and am

considering buying a demo contax kit for a very reasonable price.

Thank you for support/information. Albert Vondeling, Hol

[ted_ylauan]

I would say the biggest limitation if the restriction of maximum flash sync speed in outdoor fill-flash situations because of the focal plane shutter, I believe top sync speed is 1/90th or 1/125. One reason why I switched to a leaf shutter camera system from my 645 focal plane shutter camera.

[al_kaplan1]

Why, oh why do people insist on buying sophisticated automated equipment and then expect it to be simple and easy to bypass the automation? Either let the camera do all your thinking or learn how to take pictures, buy a real camera, and bypass all these conundrums. Fill flash can be so-o-o-o easy to figure out with a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad 500C or any other manual leaf shutter camera. Have fun figuring it out!

[ted_ylauan]

should have read "...biggest limitation is..."

 

<I would say the biggest limitation if the restriction of maximum flash sync speed in outdoor fill-flash situations because of the focal plane shutter, I believe top sync speed is 1/90th or 1/125. One reason why I switched to a leaf shutter camera system from my 645 focal plane shutter camera>

[gary_ferguson1]

Albert, the answer is yes.

 

However, the Contax 645 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/125 second when used with flash and this is likely to be the main limitation. Even with a Contax flash or a modern Metz flash with the SCA 3802 adapter you can't get flash synchronisation above 1/125 second. The leaf-shutter lenses that were promised when the 645 was launched still haven't arrived, and the Hasselblad lens adapter doesn't allow their lenses to function as leaf-shutters. So, the bad news is that you're stuck with 1/125 second.

 

The good news is that the Contax 645 is better than most cameras at hand holding at relatively slow speeds. It has one of the gentlest mirror and stop down actions of any medium format SLR camera, and the mass of the camera is sufficient to absorb some minor vibration.

 

Everyone has different levels of camera shake when hand holding, but leaving aside the machismo of the subject, for consistently sharp images at A3 enlargement you should stick with the 80mm lens or wider at 1/125 second, for A4 enlargement you should be OK with the 120mm/140mm lenses. I find a monopod retains at least some mobility and allows A3 with 120mm/140mm at 1/125 second.

 

Select a film with an ISO rating that will allow you to achieve 1/125 second with the aperture you want. Be careful about getting too close to your subject (say under about 1.5 or 2.0 metres) because you'll probably "over flash", especially with fast film or wide apertures, and when using TTL or Auto flash ensure the subject is reasonably central within the frame or you'll meter from the more distant background and probably "over flash" again.

[roger c]

Only if you can keep the shutter speed below the flash sync speed. At this point you may be wishing you'd bought a Hasselblad or a Bronica ;-)<p>The rule of thumb is to set the flash for an aperture two stops wider than that actually being used, so the flash is a quarter as powerful as it would be for a "full" exposure. You don't need to compensate for the added illumination on the camera as it's much weaker than the ambient light.

[jhbeckman]

with a Contax TLA 360 flash mounted in the hot shoe, exposure compensation can be adjusted for the flash unit, enabling the photographer to do fill flash.

 

It is possible that this capacity also exists with the 3002 series metz flashes and the appropriate 5-pin module (it is NOT possible with the older 3-pin Contax flash arrangement), but I don't know.

[gary_ferguson1]

Roger, what's so great about a Hasselblad? Until recently the 503CW's TTL flash control ran from ISO 16 to ISO 1000, and the dedicated D40 flash can only be set within these limits.

 

So in overcast conditions when you're using ISO 400 film and want a little extra fill flash sparkle in the image, your very sensible "2 stops under" rule is unachievable as ISO 1600 can't be set. Use an ISO 100 film and you're no better off as handholding a Hassie at low shutter speeds is no fun at all, marginally better I suppose than a Bronica or a Pentax 67, but that's like saying a Boeing 747 is quieter than Concorde.

 

When the perfect camera's invented I guess we'll all be using it, until then it's just about finding practical work arounds.

[roger c]

I was talking about the Hasselblads with leaf shutter lenses, sorry.

[michael_dimarzio]

Why is the 125 flash synch a limitation? Only for camera stability?

 

Thanks,

 

md