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Re: [OM] Off list - Mixed lighting

Subject: Re: [OM] Off list - Mixed lighting
From: <timhughes@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2016 22:32:35 +0000 (UTC)
Cc: "usher99@xxxxxxx" <usher99@xxxxxxx>
Moose you are mixing up OTF film cameras like OM with digital non OTF cameras 
that Phillipe was talking about here. 
Even for OM in case of T32 the problem is it only swivels vertically and it 
cant do behind the photographer flash, is not raised off the camera etc ,which 
is why I used to use other flashes for OM.   
 Any later Flash which has a sensor for doing Auto flash and a full swivel head 
would work for Phillipe,I just cited the FL40 as an example that he might have 
from the Oly E10 era. 
The main need for Philippe is a good range of auto aperture and asa settings 
for the flash.
 I owned a 540ez when I owned Cannon gear and it was a fairly large unit with 
complex menu if I remember right.  It like many flashes I have owned did not 
seem to have a particularly high efficiency inverter either and there is no 
difference in efficiency of igbjt switchs versus old thyristor (T32) switches 
for the tube. The igbjt are much better for continuous flash  for high speed 
shutter sync though. You can design better efficiency flashes but many designs 
even now are not that great.  How they idle the flash once charged and if they 
decide to sense the voltage with a divider makes a big difference as well,as to 
how many flashes you actually get to use in real life.  
I helped out with a National Geographic caving expedition to photograph some 
caves in Hawaii and it was interesting to see some of the old Sunpak flashes 
the photographer was using when we were setting things up!   He was worried 
they would break as he could not replace them easily. In reality QFlash flashes 
would have been much better exact modern replacements. 

For my own flash use I do much less than I used to as sensors have improved, 
but I still like fill flash always with an addon diffuser even when using the 
very tiny system flash I always carry in my bag.  At the other extreme I also 
use the large Metz CT60 flashes (GN200ft at28mm) sometimes with the tele 
attachment for  GN400ft @135mm for parades etc.
Off topic but thinking about flash design, the first flash unit I ever designed 
was a  high continuous power stroboscope unit for Medical use. We were doing 
gait analysis and the unit could put out at 50 flashes a second continuously 
but the Quartz envelope tubes got really hot even at only 8J/flash=400W 
continuous power. We were using a Linhoff Technica camera with BW polaroid 
large format film,the kind that gave both a positive and a negative, but the 
ASA was really low.  So trivial to do this nowdays with high speed video 
cameras with modern sensors and no flash!
Tim

From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
 To: timhughes@xxxxxxxx; Philippe <photo.philippe.amard@xxxxxxxxx> 
Cc: "usher99@xxxxxxx" <usher99@xxxxxxx>
 Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 10:10 PM
 Subject: Re: Off list - Mixed lighting
   
On 12/14/2016 4:44 AM, timhughes@xxxxxxxx wrote:
> . . .
> Experiment at home with different combinations.
> The old Olympus FL40 flashes for example work fairly well as they are cheap 
> and have a wide choice of auto apertures 
> and film speed settings and the head can be set in any angle for wall 
> bounce,reverse wall bounce (behind photographer) 
> as well as ceiling bounce

Chuck turned me onto the Canon 540EZ, a flash that was auto for old Canon 
stuff, but works very well as a manual flash. 
Head rotates and adjusts bounce angle 0-90+° AND  has electronically controlled 
zoom, 24 to 105 mm, with a built-in 
'wide panel' for 18 mm.

Possibly unmatched at any reasonable price for reach? I got great results at a 
graduation where we had to sit far from 
the stage. 
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MooseFoto/index.php?gallery=SFBayArea/JuliaGrad/1-Grad>

Far more flexible than the FL40, much newer electronics and flash capacitor, 
moderate trigger voltage. A great manual 
flash, and cheap, as little as $10 in a quick look on the 'Bay. All your 
excellent diffusion advice may be applied.

And now you got me on the 'Bay, I'm out $5 for a couple of diffusers from China 
- just in case . . . :-)

> unlike the T32 say.

But none of them do OTF-TTL. I think the difference in our approaches is that 
what you propose takes lots of time, 
experimentation and practice. The OM-2n, T32 combo I used for many years 
undoubtedly won't give as good results, but all 
I had to do was grab and shoot, for darn good results.

When a party/celebration participant, not a pro documenter, that's where it was 
for me.

P.A. Simple Flash

-- 
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?


   
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