>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Date: Wed, 07 Apr 1999 13:06:14 -0400 From: Mike Rohde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: SB-26 used in "A" on a dumb camera [v04.n340/24] Message: 24 I need to use my SB-26 on my MF Bronica. I will be using the strobe in "A" mode. So, I set the ISO of the film on the strobe. Select the aperture based on the subject to flash distance (being sure that the subject lies with in the indicated distance of the LCD on the strobe). The question is: What shutter speed is the LCD data based on. The manual says "Set the camera to its highest flash sync shutter speed". On a N70 that would be 1/125th on a N90 it would be 1/250th. On my Bronica it can be as fast as 1/500th. Does this scale default to 1/60th (the most common flash sync speed). Please advise! Thanks, Mike <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< WARNING! WARNING! DANGER! DANGER! Mike- You need to be VERY careful doing this. If your Bronica has any metal near where the dedication contacts come in contact with the hot shoe, you could be in for some SERIOUS damage to your flash. When used in automatic or manual mode on a "dumb" hot shoe, the ONLY contacts that can be in contact with the shoe are the one in the very center of the bottom of the shoe and the gripper on the edge. If another contact connects a circuit when the flash goes off, your flash may survive, but it may not. The main trigger and flash-tube voltage does not travel through the hot shoe from that flash, but even the low-voltage signals can scramble the electronics if they get into the wrong place. Before you put that flash on that camera, make absolutely certain that there is no metal on the "floor" of the hot shoe that can connect with the dedication contacts. If there is, in an emergency you can cover them up with electrical tape, but note that this is unreliable. In answer to your main question, just about any speed on your Bronica will allow the flash to sync with the leaf shutter in the lens. Since the burst speed of the flash is about 1/1000 of a sec (and usually a LOT shorter on automatic), the full burst of the flash will always be transmitted through the lens (provided you don't accidentally have it set on "FP"). The part of the exposure that the flash creates should always be consistent for any particular given situation, and the only thing that will vary is the amount of light that the ambient light adds. For example, suppose you take a shot of a group of people standing in an office, with standard office lighting overhead (you're using B&W film, so you don't care about the color) using say, ISO 100 film. You can shoot with your leaf-shutter at anywhere from 1/500 sec. to 1/125 sec. and the shots will probably look about the same, since very little of the ambient light will be affecting the exposure (at least in most of the moderately-lit offices I've been in). Start moving to 1/60 sec. or 1/30 sec., and the ambient light will start to become more evident, filling in the background and the tops of the people's heads. Again, the amount of light hitting the people from the flash will be the same no matter what shutter speed you use. Outside, the situation might be reversed. Suppose you are shooting a group on a sunny lawn, perhaps back-lit with flash fill. If the ambient exposure is say, 1/125 sec. at f 8, and you shoot at 1/30 sec., the ambient light will completely overwhelm the flash, and everything will get washed out. Shoot at 1/500 sec, and the background will darken up, but the subjects will get the same amount of flash no matter what the shutter speed of your leaf shutter lens (that's one of the reasons they are so handy, for the synchro-sunlight fill). Again, the amount of light coming out of the flash, hitting the subject, and reflecting back into the lens will be the same no matter what the shutter speed. In short, your exposure time will be irrelevent to the flash exposure, but watch your ambient exposure carefully. -BC- P.S.-- The SB-26 also has a special high-speed flash sync feature, but that is far too complicated to get into here.
