Flash for LF

[bluenote]

Hello All,

what flash unit do you use? Recently, I have watched Daniel Buck's blog. He is using old flash unit with Speed Graphic camera, which looks great on the picture.
I am thinking about having one, but I would like to know more about advantages or disadvantages of it.
My Metz 45CL ran out of life completely due to collapse of charger.

Thanks for any opinions.

[Archphoto]

Basicly you can run any flash on LF as long as the shutter has a sync for it.

The older flashes can have their problems aswell: the large capasitors that storage the power for the flash can run out of life and are not alway's so easy to replace.

Sometimes the chargers for the Metz come up on ebay, you might be better off with a new charger.

And please be adviced that if you have digital, as many of us, you can not use old flashes onto them due to the high sync voltage that fry those camera's.

Peter

[Ari]

You can get replacement batteries or chargers for your Metz at KHB in Toronto:
http://www.khbphotografix.com/
They also have all kinds of adaptors for various flash/lens combinations, and if they don't have it they'll make it.
Also, I have to correct Peter, you can use your flashes with digicams; you need to trigger the flash by infrared/radio trigger, or some other kind of wireless device. As long as you're not plugging a PC cord into your camera via an older flash system, it'll be fine.
Modern lighting units and powerpacks are digi-compatible.
As for which flash to use with LF, anything you can sync to the lens; it's personal preference.
I use 2000W of Dynalites, a Metz 60 CT-1, or a Sunpak ring flash; still, I shoot with daylight about 95% of the time.
Good luck.
Ari

[bluenote]

SO are there any PROs to go for old flash unit ( they fit well to old design of the camera ). ?

[Ben Syverson]

Old flash if it's for display. New flash if you actually want to shoot with it.

[Scott Knowles]

You can also run some of the wireless flash systems with any LF lens with the x-sync connection, such as Pocket Wizards, which with their x-sync connection are flash independent, as long as the flash(es) have the external sync connection

[bluenote]

Old flash if it's for display. New flash if you actually want to shoot with it.

yes, I agree with that, just wanted to hear it. :-) thanks.

[BrianShaw]

That's one opinion... here's another. I actually still shoot with flash bulbs on more than a rare occasion.

[Gordon Moat]

The argument for using old style flash bulbs is when you have a very large area you want to light, and do not have a source of power. Flash bulbs can create a huge amount of light with a fairly long duration (compared to strobes). The downsides are they are one shot only, a little fragile, often very hot after they fire, and you can only carry so many of them.

Usually I go with a Nikon Speedlight, like the SB27 (very compact and powerful), run a sync cord to the shutter, and use additional Speedlights on slave settings. So I have a bag full of SB26 Speedlights that I carry around when I need them. I also have an SU-4 set-up and an SB25, which can function as slave unit. All this was a package I set-up after reading about a few traveling professionals that used similar set-ups. The manual or full power settings are very accurate and consistent, and I simply check my Sekonic L-358 for the proper settings for each scene. I have found this simpler than constantly renting lights at each location, or having to deal with finding power sources for monolights. I still use more studio oriented lights at outside or remote locations, but not when I have to fly to get there.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Filmnut]

I adapted my Metz camera flash to my Speed Graphic a number of years ago. I used a couple of spare flash sync cords, cut and wired back together to fit the connectors, and it works great, nothing as fancy as the guy above though!
Keith

[jnantz]

it depends ...
inside studio setting i use a pair of monoblocks ..
one with a medium chimera and the other with a 40" larson soffbox ...
outside on location i will use a lumedyne 244 ..
i have a long sync cord and can set the camera on a tripod
and use the flash off camera if need be, or use a bachrach bracket
and mount it right onto the camera's side (threaded) tripod mount ...
with the bracket i have a universal mount head so i can tilt or swing
the flash head any way i need to ... and the flash has a reflector, snoot,
soffbox, globe or tupperware diffuser ( and 2nd head ) if needed ...
it works pretty well for what it is ...

[Daniel_Buck]

bluenote: if you are wanting to go for a vintage strobe-flash like mine, I would highly suggest contacting Al from stroboflash.com, http://www.stroboflash.com/stroboflash/Stroboflash_Main.html He helped me get into the flash setup. Al outfited the flash case with the new/modern battery and serviced the flash head itself. His friend Karl Schefft helped me find an old unit on ebay as a base flash to get the unit up and running with. Apparently Karl collects these old strobo-flashes, so I'm not entirely sure how willing he is to help out everyone looking for one, but for me he was quite nice enough to help me find my flash & battery pack, as well as a few extra parts that I needed to get things finished up. If you want a bulb-flash that was probably more typical of the press shooters, then there isn't really much you need to get setup, just find a flash and flash handle, and a few packs of old bulbs and a flash guide chart :-)

My next thing to try is shooting a set of regular hot-shoe flashes from a 4x5/8x10 via a pocketwizard setup like I do with my 35mm DSLR. I've tested the flash sync on some of my large format shutters, and it does indeed fire the flashes, but I've not yet run a sheet of film through to see if the flashes are actually 100% synced to the shutter. I don't really have any doubt that they will be synced (since they are firing just fine), but I've not actually tested them on film, so I can't be 100% sure they work together flawlessly.

Best of luck to you! It's fun! :-)



Old flash if it's for display. New flash if you actually want to shoot with it.
The strobo-flash system (1950's?) that I've been using on my speedgraphic is great, it somewhat keeps the look and feel of an old bulb flash "press camera", but doesn't require changing bulbs. However, it does require a battery pack on your shoulder! And witht he modified battery pack from Al at stroboflash.com, it's completely rechargeable. And actually, I've only charged mine once, I've not needed to re-charge it again! It seems to hold quite alot of full-power flash hits in one charge!

[bluenote]

bluenote:

The strobo-flash system (1950's?) that I've been using on my speedgraphic is great, it somewhat keeps the look and feel of an old bulb flash "press camera", but doesn't require changing bulbs. However, it does require a battery pack on your shoulder! And witht he modified battery pack from Al at stroboflash.com, it's completely rechargeable. And actually, I've only charged mine once, I've not needed to re-charge it again! It seems to hold quite alot of full-power flash hits in one charge!

..yes, that is what I am scared of.... to add more weight to my shoulder.... :-(

Do you have additional smaller tripod to place the flash when working alone ( for portrait work in field, for example ) ? When shooting 5x7 portrait alone with model, it is almost impossible to attach the flash to camera.

[Daniel_Buck]

no, I just leave the flash handle attached to the camera the entire time, and shoot with the flash mounted to that. I've not tried using it off-camera yet. For that, I will be using the regular flash guns and doing it wireless with pocket wizards.