> On the same subject of flash, I have
> come to admire the accuracy of the
> simple flashmatic flash on my Yashica T4.
> I wonder if there is a way for Nikon's 3D
> flash metering to be set to a simple
> flashmatic setting (sort of like the old
> GN lenses, only electronically controlled).
> I think this would be a desirable feature
> for wedding fotogs, many of whom, I am told,
> use guide number calculation for consistency.
>
> Any thoughts?
It would have to be instead of 3D, not controlled
by the 3D meter. 3D is a reflected light meter,
and the whole point of using just distance and GN
is that it ignores the reflectance of the subject,
so your results are similar to using an incident
flash meter.
It's doable. You'd have to add yet another
communication channel between the camera and flash
to allow the camera to determine the flash's guide
number given it's current output level and zoom
setting.
It wouldn't be very flexible though -- it depends
on too many other things that the camera and flash
don't know. It would only work if no diffuser is
used (because they change the GN), only if the flash
was mounted on the camera (so the distance info from
the lens is correct) and only if the flash was pointed
directly at the subject (i.e. no bounce, because the
distance and GN would change). So, I don't expect to
see it any time soon.
It would be easy to add to SLRs with a built-in flash,
but since the flash would always fire at full output
it'd eat their expensive little batteries *fast*.
But look on the bright side -- the way things are now
gives you a perfectly good excuse to go out and buy
a really cool flash meter to play with when it's too
rainy/cold to go outside and take pictures!
More toys is better, IMHO.
-Don
