Thursday 24 January 2008

A shot in the dark

I learned some important lessons about the flash sync on my Rolleicord this week. Specifically the difference between the X and M settings. X is for electronic flash and M for bulb flashes. I had been shooting on M which triggers the flash and then waits a 165 millisecond before opening the shutter. This was intended to be used with the older flash bulbs which took this time to glow to their max strength. Modern flash is instantaneous and therefore long gone by the time the shutter opens. Switching to X solves this problem.

The crew over at Filmwasters were, as usual, incredibly helpful and didn't abuse me over my lack of knowledge.
I have wasted a couple of films because of this problem but I have salvaged one shot that I actually quite like. It's a little dark but still tasty, and I think the warmth the modeling lights give it work well.

1 comment:

  1. This looks delicious!

    (I find lighting such a confusing subject, I'm so glad you found your answer!)

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