How to read an exposure calculator on a flash?

ksmattfish · Dec 5, 2004

Hertz van Rental said:
The shortest span of time the brain can comprehend is about 1/60th of a second.

With my beer-damaged brain I'm lucky if I could comprehend a 1 sec span. :lol:

When I'm shooting in bars I go with manual flash until I reach about the 8th beer, then it's auto for the rest of the night. :cheers:

Axel · Dec 5, 2004

LOL! I wouldn't want to risk my camera, despite being a cheap gear, at a bar drinking beer... I guess you don't bring a Hasselblad to the bar when you're out to get rid of that dry throat...

ksmattfish · Dec 5, 2004

Axel said:
I wouldn't want to risk my camera

I love my gear, but it's always replacable. If the fear of the gear being damaged keeps you from getting the shot, then the gear is no good anyway. :wink:

My camera of choice these days when shooting in bars and at shows is my Rollei, which is my very favorite camera. I'd hate to see it get broken, but it would hurt it's feelings if I left it at home.

Garbz · Dec 6, 2004

The benefits of having a Nikon FE. I can take it anywhere. If I get hit by a car, replace the lens and it's all good again

They are unbreakable.
And incase of an attack by terrorists, simply attach the motor drive and fire a roll of film away. It kinda sounds like a submachine gun. :roll:

Axel · Dec 17, 2004

ksmattfish said:
Also, just another thing to worry about. I've used dozens of different flash units, and only one so far (a Vivitar 285HV) has been what I consider accurate (less than 1/2 stop off) to the GN/calculator. I test all new flashes with a flash meter and a few test rolls to make sure I know what they can deliver. Often I find that they are slightly underpowered compared to what the manufacturer claims, at least with my style of shooting.

Do you mean that you consider this a better flash than e.g. the SB-800 from Nikon? And BTW, what happens when you shoot B&W and faster films than ISO100? How do you calculate that?

Thanks and sorry for interviening here... :?

Garbz · Dec 18, 2004

The SB-800 looks very nice and advanced. It'll probably be the flash I'd have if I had a Nikon D2.

Also took my camera for a test run at a party the other day. I won't post pictures because they are of questionable nature. However I realised that the flash only really works correctly indoors. Outside against a black light all the subjects came out a bit too bright. Stepping up one stop fixed this.