View Full Version : Leica IIf flash setting
captainslack
03-10-2008, 08:13
I know this was asked a long time ago, but I think the thread was lost in forum crash.
What setting does the dial on my Leica IIf need to be on to use a modern flash with?
xayraa33
03-10-2008, 08:28
red dial or black dial IIf ?
xayraa33
03-10-2008, 08:54
BD= nr. 2 setting at 1/30th of a sec. shutter speed
RD= nr. 0 setting at 1/25th of a sec. shutter speed
or
nr. 20 setting at 1/50th of a sec. shutter speed
captainslack
03-11-2008, 07:43
Thanks xay!!!
crawdiddy
03-11-2008, 08:36
Same settings for a IIIf RD ???
xayraa33
03-11-2008, 08:43
Same settings for a IIIf RD ???
Yep,.. the IIf is the same camera minus the slow shutter speeds.
crawdiddy
03-11-2008, 08:47
Yep,.. the IIf is the same camera minus the slow shutter speeds.
I have yet to experiment with flash on my IIIf. I'll have to give it a try. It's pretty cool to have 2 different flash shutterspeeds. I'm used to only having 1/60. I suppose I'll need some sort of adapter to PC sync.
Thanks!
Somebody must be wondering what this is all about.
"Screw-mount" Leicas had a little jigger right below the shutter speed dial (sometimes one of two) with a bunch of numbers beside it. Those numbers were the delay (synch) speeds for various types of flash.
It may be debateable whether those cameras will even work with "modern" flash. They didn't have electronic flash back then. It was still a figment in Edgerton's eye.
The IIIf will definitely work with a Braun Hobby flash unit. My IIIa, which was fitted with a synchro baseplate by Leitz N.Y. would only work with flashbulbs.
Jim N.
Nick, you're probably right. I'm forgetting that the LTM's co-existed for a while after the M's came out. The IIIf's and g's should have been able to handle electronic.
xayraa33
03-11-2008, 09:07
I have yet to experiment with flash on my IIIf. I'll have to give it a try. It's pretty cool to have 2 different flash shutterspeeds. I'm used to only having 1/60. I suppose I'll need some sort of adapter to PC sync.
Thanks!
The IIIf/IIf has the regular PC flash socket so no adapter is needed unlike say the Contax IIa blackdial for example.
My Metz CT 45 flash's standard cord plugs in nicely in the flash socket of my Leica IIIf.
Some contemporary cameras like the Canon IVSB2 also had two shutter speed selection for strobe flash (1/45 and 1/15), but this was because up to the mid 1950s, some strobe units were still built with circuit delays that might not sync at the faster shutter speed (1/45 of a sec. in the case of the IVSB2).
xayraa33
03-11-2008, 09:42
Somebody must be wondering what this is all about.
"Screw-mount" Leicas had a little jigger right below the shutter speed dial (sometimes one of two) with a bunch of numbers beside it. Those numbers were the delay (synch) speeds for various types of flash.
It may be debateable whether those cameras will even work with "modern" flash. They didn't have electronic flash back then. It was still a figment in Edgerton's eye.
Braun brought out the Hobby model flash unit in 1952.
Graflite, Honeywell, Metz, Blaupunkt, had similar units on the market at around the same time frame.
Luddite Frank
03-11-2008, 10:43
They'll work fine with e-flash.
I've been accumulating the black BrAun Hobbyflashes, that have the round reflector and shoulder-bag battery case, tyring to score one that works...
(They all charge and fire on 110 AC, but I can't get them to charge on battery...)
I've used my 1980's Sunpak Auto-thyristor bounce/swivel with my III-f, with decent results.
The purpose of the variable sync setting on the -f and -g cameras is to adjust the delay of the closing of the sync contacts so that the flash from the bulb would be a peak intensity / duration when the shutter opened. For maximum flexibility, this required the use of FP, #6 and #26 bulbs. By using the synch charts, you could use the flash at any shutter speed, up to 1/1000th.
Because the flash from the strobe tube is so brief, it requires a sync setting that fires the flash only when the shutter is fully-open; this happens only at speeds below 1/30th second on the Black-dial cameras.
At speeds above 1/30th - 1/40th, the second curtain begins to close before the first one is fully open, so the electronic flash may be too brief to adequately illuminate the subject...
Eventually, camera makers realized that two sync settings were adequate: "bulb" and "electronic".
My Exakta and Pentax SP-500 both have two PC sockets, one for each sync.
Sorry to ramble-on so...
Happy "flashing" !
Luddite Frank
BD= nr. 2 setting at 1/30th of a sec. shutter speed
RD= nr. 0 setting at 1/25th of a sec. shutter speed
or
nr. 20 setting at 1/50th of a sec. shutter speed
Any information please on White Dial settings for Electronic Flash. Same as BD or RD or different ?
Many thanks,
William
xayraa33
03-12-2008, 14:23
your white dial is a conversion, so the closest it comes to in a production synced IIIa type shutter is the rare Wetzlar prototype and rare production Midland Leica 72 half frame of 1954-55.
try 0 setting at 1/20th of a sec. shutter speed.
or even nr. 2 setting at 1/20th of a sec. shutter speed.
one of these is bound to work if your camera's sync is in good nick.
if you want to check the sync without using any film:
remove the lens and bottom baseplate,
stick in a white business card where the film goes,
with the shutter wound and set at 1/20 of a sec,
start at 0 on the sync dial,
plug in your flash unit and aim flash at lens opening
keep your eye close on the shutter curtains and press the wound shutter release,
watch for flash to go off and fully illuminate the business card from left to right.
keep doing this at different dial settings till you find the nr. setting that does the deed.
xayraa33,
Many thanks for the information.
Kindest Regards,
William
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