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Re: [OM] flash and burned-out faces

Subject: Re: [OM] flash and burned-out faces
From: "Paul D. Farrar" <farrar@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 22:52:51 -0600
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard F. Man" <richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 1:59 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] flash and burned-out faces
...
> I feel like playing the game "Twenty Questions :-)" and going around in
> circles. OK, may be I am asking the Qs the wrong way, lets start again...
> first of all, this is not about fill flash, but situations that plain need
> flash...
>
> Lets say my goal is to be able to get reasonable looking flash pictures,
> w/o the frontal burnout, sounds like
> A) I should back off a bit and use a longer lens (e.g. 85mm), or
> B) If the background is deep, dial in a -0.5 to -1.5 compensation. This
> tells the camera not to overexpose the front.
>
> OK So far? Now in the quest of Flash Heaven, AND I already own a flash
> meter, AND I don't mind getting another flash, say, the Metz 54-MZ3. I can
> then:
> A) Put a reflector/diffuser and bounce away, or
> B) Use the manual GN and calculate distance, aperture and shutter, or
> C) Use the Flash meter to do what? How do I meter what the Metz-54 output?
> Is there a trigger outlet on the Metz? Or do I just press the Test Button?
>
> I feel like a blind man trying to understand what an elephant looks like
> from different sighted persons describing different parts of the elephant
:-O

Are you're faces truly overexposed? That's hard to do with print film. (If
you
are using slide film, switch. They make print films designed just for this.)
Or
are the faces just overexposed relative to the rest of the frame? That's not
hard
to do. I have no trouble at all getting well exposed TTL flash with just an
on-camera T32. Since the camera controls the flash the F280 should be no
different unless it has a poor distribution.

The procedure is
1. 400 or 800 ISO print film. 400 for brighter venues.
2. Set everything auto. Wide diffuser on flash for evenness.
3. Find a representative scene with no lights in it. Set an aperture that
gives
a shutter speed of about 1/30. Since the actual shutter speed will be 1/60,
areas not dominated by flash will not black out. You should be able to get
about f4-5.6. Then leave the aperture ring there.
4. Shoot away.

Or buy a 3Ti, the only OM properly designed for indoor flash.

Modern Metz units are handy because they have a large number of closely
spaced auto and manual settings, and the auto ones don't shift with ISO.
T20's and T32's auto and manual settings are much too strong, too few,
and too closely spaced for balancing with indoor ambient light at non-
ridiculous shutter speeds.

Paul


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