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Re: [OM] TTL: not ready for prime time?

Subject: Re: [OM] TTL: not ready for prime time?
From: "C.H.Ling" <chling@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 16:45:11 +0800
Hi Jim,

I'm sorry to hear your bad experience, do you have a flash meter? I
check every camera and flash combination before I put them in "real"
use. They are checked for:

- flash sync at 1/60s to see if there is any blank area that is not
covered by flash (curtain speed problem). - TTL flash and normal flash
accuracy.
- the recycle time of the flash at full power output. 

I use the same camera/flash combination as you did. Overtime they pass
and I got the result I expected. I shoot company parties around five
times a year (for six years) and every time there were no problem.
Except last time (two weeks ago) my T32 failed at the end of the
party. I have fixed the flash and it will be used again for my next
shooting session (but I will bring a spare flash next time). I have
also used my T32 with OM4 for TTL macro shots with slides and they
just work fine.

Check your camera and flash, I think either of it may be failed.

C.H.Ling
  

Jim L'Hommedieu wrote:
> 
> With my ol' OM 2, I was disappointed every single time
> with the T32 in TTL.  At first I thought it was
> because the silly shoe wasn't up to the job of holding
> the T32 vertically, for portraits.  (Duh!)
> 
> Now that I have the OM-4 great meter and sturdy built
> in shoe, I decided to try the T32 again.  At
> Christmas, it worked okay straight ahead in Normal
> Auto.
> 
> I decide to try TTL again.  I shot a black puppy on a
> white blanket.  The black puppy took up 4/5ths of the
> frame.  I knew that it would have been a "normal"
> scene to a center-weighted meter if I had relied on
> the available darkness.
> 
> I pointed the T32 straight up and fired a warning shot
> in Normal Auto to find out if there was enough light.
> (EI 160, 8' ceiling.  I knew there was enough flash
> power but I like to be sure.  There's an expression
> that goes, "Once bitten, twice shy.")  Normal Auto
> blinked.  Enough light.  I set the camera to "Auto",
> shutter at 1/30th, as the manual states to be extra
> sure.  I turned off the T32, flipped the calculator
> panel and turned it back on.
> 
> Once I had a ready light (for an extra 15 seconds), I
> fired.  In short, I can't think of anything I did
> wrong.  (This time!)
> 
> Every single frame (24 in all) is grossly
> underexposed.  (more than 3 stops)  There is no detail
> at all in the black- it's completely clear film base.
> If you're thinking that the scene was high key and the
> white blanket is probably "correctly exposed" as
> neutral grey, it's not.  Even the white bits are pale.
> 
> I don't know what TTL was 'thinking' but it wasn't
> reading *my* scene.
> 
> Is it possible for an OM 4 to yield **perfect** and
> repeatable exposures on slide film, yet totally be out
> of adjustment for TTL?  Others have related war
> stories about TTL but I didn't think it was this bad.
> 
> I use Normal Auto for anything but testing, but I
> guess I could have used it, even with the tube facing
> up, as long as I get the blinking confirmation light,
> right?  (I suspected that it would give me a neutral
> grey rendering of the white wall, 4 feet behind my
> subject, and a washed-out dog.)
> 
> Are the Metz flashes better at doing TTL?  Do I need
> to give up on bounce flash with my OM-4 / T32 / 100mm
> lens combination?
> 
> I also tried a short TTL cord with the T32 aimed up
> but all of the exposures are uniformly and grossly
> underexposed.
> 
> Do you ladies and gentlemen have ideas?
> 
> Thanks for reading.
> 
> Lama
> 
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