dave schlick

in my way of thinking and the way i was taught, would be yes.. the adjustable flash would do that easily. your shadows under the nose and down side face sides would be one stop off from the highlights leaveing a very pleasing (people) shot.. what causes trouble is large variations of flash and natural light on faces .. being outdoors in the shade is perfect except for shadows in the background and plants growing out of peoples heads.. chuckle ..

have your center person (your shooting) hold your meter under thier chin and you pop the flash. and go pick up the meter and set your camera to the meter.. that way you dont have your subject moving after youve placed or set up the shot..

you dont hve to be exactly one stop off, just generally.

i thinkyoull be pleased with this format and can use it inside also and can vary your background better inside, and try different amounts of background lighting.. i like background between fill and main flash light or equal to main flash light.. set up the separate flashes with the fill light in mind lets say the shade if f8, then do the face head on flash at f 11 as you say, and back ground at f11.. if indoors do one side of the face f 5.6 the other side f 8 and background f8 or f 5.6 1/2. y oull get the hang of it pretty quick.

be sure to take the final reading and set the camera with all flashes going.... good luck dave.

i could be way off here, and dont take my answere wrong.. im just trying to help.

becouse just a few feet means over/ under exposure with a flash, i believe the shot should be read from the subject with a flash meter like a luna star f gossen. i get perfect exposures all the time with manual cameras and a good flash meter with varipower modual on a vivitar 283 flash.. you can also find your background light, light on subject and set adjustable flash to one stop over natural light with the gossen for excellent pictures without heavy shadows.. it seems the over complication of pluss and minus compensation on the job will plage you with errors. the 283s with slaves can also be used to light up backgrounds in outdoor settings at a reasonable price and light weight setup.. you read your subject in natural light, put background flashes at about one stop over at the background with flash meter. then set up flash on camera so it shoots people at one stop over natural light. then take a reading of the people with the flash on and start film rolling. a manual camera like the mamiya c330p can be shot with flash at any f/time setting. good luck. dave..

the other guys are correct.. but dont worry about getting the 90 first.. one thing you should know is that the 135 is pretty wide. the 90 in 4x5 out does most other format lenses initself. i cant imagine the 58mm new schnieder.. you will have light fall off with the 90 fouling a few things up, but adding in some pictures.. as the learning curve goes its all going to the old cerebral computer and when you get the 135 it will be easier to handle... as for poor light use your coat for a hood and get a 10x len that sets on the fresnell and make its holder black so it shields the light and look at the center and corners fo the rear glass and youll be fine (with much practice..) with the 90 get a 6x7 or 6x9 back and youll learn alot about your camera witout spending a fortune in film..

in the way i look at things id buy the first good used lenses that come along,in the 135 and 90.. a good 135 will stay mounted in the camera and that is realy handy(if you are getting a folding compact camera, im not familiar with the model you are looking at).., the 90 will have to come off (agian if you are getting a folding camera)... but buy the lenses as they present them selves, look for quality in the size you want and get what comes along that is best for you in your budget.. dont buy any lens you cant return. a lot of people who call themseves pros are hopping youwont find the separation, scratches, sticky shutter and etc.. and say oh i didnt notice that, it shure works good for me... worry about finding good lenses, not so much about which one is first.. good luck dave...

some to add.. i just outfitted myself with a mamiya c33o pro.. i couldnt be more pleased, in my bag i hve the body with 80 mm, 250 mm and 135 mm lenses, notebook lenscleaning and other small stuff such as film and release,paramender, body cover, .. i also got a paramender, and hadd a good luna star f meeter. i got a 135 mask that allows me to use 135 with rangefinder type point and shoot option.. it cost all in all aobut 1200 dllars and am looking for a 55 mm lens.. i am very pleased.. great pictures especiallyh of people.. it really can be a lifesver with poor exposures, bad film and problems as the larger format give more deinsity.. what i am writing about tho is flash and focus distance.. if you get into hyperfocal distance and still photraphy the scale is on the side of the camera with adjustabel rod that turns for the differnt lenses..you can focus with that feature alone very quickly and accurately.

the ground glass has bellows extensions adjustments, magnifiying glass and frame finder for paralex adjustments that have a changable knob on side for different lenses. it it truly a remarkable system if you know how to use it.. back to flash, to use it well ive found that you need to put on the flash, sync with a cord to lens, and mesure shot with flash meter, than look strait into the camera at 90 degrees from the shot to get the flash on top to get the flash above the lens.so shadows are correct below the nose not beside the nose .. . it is a little strange at first, b ut works very

well with square format. bigges problem for beginners is the side to side movemnet is backwards from actuall movement but this will not a problem after some exsperience.. i was talking to a hassie owner a while back and he was saying his was so light.. well with his 150 lens i doubt its lighter than my mamiya with 135 lens.. the bigest advantage i can see with a slr is changable backs.. but then again another body is less cost than a hassie back.

i too wanted a russian cammera and checked them out online.. all they talked about was how to fix thier problems and when would it get back from europe.. a good way to for them to get around the warranty was to keep the cammera for 6 months.. then you cant have it fixed mor than twice for the warranty.. they were sending new cammeras out on warranty with other problems.. there are us companies that rework them tho and they may be better.. get a mamiya c330 pro with 80 mm lens for about 350 and go from there.. metering for flash without flash meter will be problem with any slr/tlr. unles you buy a very expensive in camera meter may hve that option but havent seen one. good luck dave.

i have a wratten 90 in a gell filter. i taped the edges and keep it in the tinfoil wrapper it came in.. i use it so little, and consider it somewhat overrated.. if i remember right it did give a more accurate view of clouds.. i never did very well with black and white, but took a ton of them in b and w 4x5 becouse it was cheap.. i didnt notice much succes with it untill i went to velvia.. then all the problem solving and composition/ exposure assesments really paid off.. dave.

i admit the spotmeter kicks butt when you are in diferent light than the subject like across a lit canyon, but its all calulations and without bracketing your guessing.. with a good incident meter like a gossen luna star f you hold the bulb in the same light at the back of the camera and the light is the same from sun to you as sun to subject to within about 1/10 of a stop.. with the gossen you can take that reading, then take another with the button down turn 360 degrees and put it in the shade( with button depressed) then realease the button and the entire with range at that asa and range that you tooke the meter thru is shown on the meter. kind of instant exact zzoneing.. if the number of stops of the film you are using is not capable of getting the entire range then you must decide what end (or center) of the light amount you whant to highlight or (or not have wash out).. dave.. ffffgdave@yahoo.com

 

ps the f stand for flash and with close ups and long bellows extensions the lunar star f can calculate for up to 10 flashes with 10 exposures ont the same subject/same film to increas depth of field to f 16 on long extensions and poor lighting conditions..

a few people commenting must not have used the crown.. their is definitly a forward tilt. you drop the bed and rise the lens up to the top and you can tilt it from 0 to about 15 degrees forward..also the tilt bed gives you drop of about an inch.. with the bed up you can rise aobut an inch and tilt back about 0-15 degrees.. this is a very fine camera, and will do a great job with most shots.. turn it on its side for side slide movements. it does have about a 3/8 side to side movement for the 135 lens length when held level.. the feet plate guide on the bed is the best way to focus strait shots.. just put the lens in and focus for best hyper focal distance for the subject. use ground glass for positioning, and chekcing corners for vigyetting..get a good tripod with levels on it and fix the snap on base on the camera all on level and time can reallyh be cut on that preciuse light in early am and evening when the light on the shot is fading fast. dave..

hi congratulations on choosing one of the finest large format cameras available. all photographers must learn the ups and downs of thier camara, and this one has no excepion..

the stops are important for each lens.. i use a pen mark on each rail if i dont have stops for a particular lens.. the stops are great becouse they are exact and hold the lens square to the back.. adjust them at inifinity and the shorter distance will be ok... forget about the rangefinder part of your camera and ust your 35 mm for such shots or get a 6x6 like mamiya tlr. your now on your tripod and taking maybe a half hour to three years to get that qualtity 4x5 shot..yes come back the next day at the same time and there it is again. come back the next year at the same time and its still there, unlees you shoot floweres..(:<)>

now on to the important stuff. focussing.. once you have the lens in place determine the distance to your subject and use the hyperfocal tables to get the best distance for focus.. sounds dificult but (at f 16 and focused at 25 feet on the distance finder plate on camera bed,)it covers in focus distance from 12 feet to infinity.. this is faster than using the rangefinder and much more accurate.. my favorite distance for my 135 rodenstock mc lens is done by putting the two arrows between the infinfity and 100 yard marks.. this keep s me from accitentally focussing at over infinity with a crocked lens so all is in focus from about 33 feet to infinity, and infinity is quite clear and sharp at fll to f22 for me with this setup. the camera is great but the lens leaves something to be desired. the 135 rodenstock fits in the camera folded and has been wonderfull for me.. dont get me wrong if your lens is timed and working well it will serve you well untill you can upgrade the lens.. you need to do a lot of testing get get the hang of all this and a 6x6 or 6x7 or 6x9 back is great for testing and great photos.... another fine accesory is the 405 polaroid back for when you get in one of those umposible to focus or meter like one to one macro....take your time you have a life time of enjoyment ahead of you..... email me at ffffgdave@yahoo.com if any of this is not clear... dave ps also a very high quality meter is very imortant. they are expnesive but it will help you nail those shots so you have proper exposures.. buy this stuff as you can aford it.. dont rush. enjoy yourself..