Flash for Makina 67

[paul_del_rosario]

Any recommendations for an external flash unit for Makina 67? Would like to explore shooting objects at night.

[Jochen_S]

<p>A used Metz 60 CT4? If too bulky, maybe a Metz 45. - I'm no expert about most reliable inexpensive hotshoe flashes offering lots of auto apertures and many steps of manual output control but anything that can be dialed down to 1/2 and 1/4 would be a good starter.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>It can be used with just about any flash you like. How you use the flash -- positioning it off camera or using it with umbrellas, softboxes or other accessories -- will determine the results more so than which flash is used. With a camera like this that doesn't do TTL, I don't see the point in spending money on fancy flashes. A classic Vivitar 285HV is cheap and powerful but can be dialed down when you need to. There are the big Metz units (or even an old Honeywell Strobonar if you can find one still working) if you need more power.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

But do not expect too much power. The regular small flash units (which includes the big Metz units and their likes) do not deliver much power, can't be used to illuminate large objects at night (what type of object are you thinking of?).

[aplumpton]

<p>This can be a problem, if I understand that you may be shooting objects outside and that may often be surrounded by dark distant areas. Automatic flash exposure may not be accurate for small area objects in that context. Best to use a more powerful shoe-mounted flash or a more powerful "potato masher" type and simply use the guide number rather than the auto setting.</p>

<p>Also, and with or with not many reflecting surfaces in some cases, you may need to run a test roll (low ISO transparency film to best distinguish over and under exposures) to calibrate your flash according to the setting and your typical subject matter. Using the guide number and good distance measurement you can vary the exposure over a few stops either way and come up with data that will be useful in future work, with whatever film (by correcting for ISO) you should then use.</p>

[paul_del_rosario]

<p>Thanks all, for the feedback. I'm having trouble inserting an image into this post, but the link below has an example of what I'd like to do. <br>

http://www.pauldelrosario.com/untokyo<br>

The image was shot with an X100s and the built-in flash. I'd like to do something like this with the Makina + some grainy TRI-X.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

If you are interested in painting with light at night, check out http://www.thenightskye.com/books/

[ondebanks]

<blockquote>

<p><a href="http://www.pauldelrosario.com/untokyo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.pauldelrosario.com/untokyo</a></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Those are all pretty close to the camera. So power won't be an issue, and just about any shoe-mounted flash with a front sensor & auto setting (thyristor controlled automatic flash duration) will do. Make sure that it has a standard PC cable socket as the Makina seems to trigger flashes in this way [cable from the side of the lens into the flash on the cold shoe]. An example of such a flash that I used, in exactly this manner, was a $15 non-dedicated ProMaster FTD 5700. It worked great on my Mamiya Universal.</p>