Flash poll

[cosmonaut]

Do you use a flash? If so what kind?

[nikon_sam]

Nikon SB-25 x2
Nikon SB-15
Vivitar 283 x3

The SB-25 are the ones I use the most...
I never liked using a flash but I have to...It's getting better and the results are more consistant...lately I've been playing with the settings, Rear Curtain and dragging the shutter...
Also been playing with umbrellas and reflectors...bought a Luna-Flash adapter for the Luna-Pro...this has helped a whole bunch...
I don't hate using the flash like I used to...

[dof]

A Calumet Travelite 750 with a medium softbox does the trick for me.

[chris00nj]

A Metz 36 C-2 and a Metz 20 C-2.

[drewbarb]

I have 6 or 7 Vivitar 283's and 285's; a tiny Nikon SB30 (which at least is always in my bag if I don't have any other flash); a couple of Metz flashes, and a few A11's and A16's for the Olympus XA's. This is not counting the studio strobes.

I shoot in available light plenty, but when the shot I want or need calls for it, I will happily use flash- sometimes several of them- to light a shot. I spent part of this afternoon looking at film a client shot in not-nearly-enough available light. The negatives were basically useless; so much for that couple's wedding pictures. People who refuse to use flash when it's called for are just being silly.

[Gumby]

When needed, flash is essential. Norman strobes in the studio. Nikon SB-16 on the F3. Bulb on the Speed Graphic.

[charjohncarter]

I love flash, here are a few of my favorite flash cameras (35mm):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/...19703ae730.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2262/...7628fd268b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/...6c91a17335.jpg



These are just my 35mm favorites. I have many 120s with leaf shutters too. When you get good with flash you can really change your images subtly. I find fill to to be the best to get good at first then branch out to beating or bettering or overpowering the sun, and indoor or low light flash that also has ambient light added.

This is fill with one of my Polaroid cameras:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2458/...2983ed4016.jpg

Or just a slight beating the sun (Topcon Unirex):

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1370/...0af412a24e.jpg

And low light indoors using added ambient light (this was bounce flash, DSLR):

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/...ebb2eb8d3b.jpg

The trick is to not make the flash too obvious.

[Livesteamer]

Most of what I do is little kids in a big church nursery or my daughters playmates and I would never pop a flash in a toddlers face. Besides, the Leica is perfect for this. Small, quiet and very precise with focus. Really, if you want to do flash, you need three of them to do it right. Joe

[kzim56]

I use a Nikon SB600 on and off my D80. Used creatively, flash opens up so many possibilities in low light. And it's certainly not necessary to be popping flash in anyone's face. Here's a shot taken with the on-camera flash bounced off the ceiling and to the side.

[f16sunshine]

Yeah I use one with my holga and also with FL RF's for fun.
Tiny contax tla200 is my favorite. Also use a starblitz slave at times.

[jpberger]

Old Nikon sb20 is nice-- works really well with bounce flash indoors on my R3a. It's stuck me as a little odd that the collective wisdom is that SLRs are good for flash and RFs are not-- being able to see the effect of the flash as you shoot (which you can't do with an slr, is really handy. Would love to see some sort of leaf shutter lens in m-mount that would allow all speeds flash sync as was the case in flash bulb days.

[Debusti Paolo]

I have a nikon sb24,a metz 40mz2,a metz 50mz5 a bronica rf645 kit flash and i'm waiting for a canon 270 for my canon g11............

[Roger Hicks]

Only in the studio, and never on-camera.

Cheers,

R.

[Mablo]

I mostly use fill flash when there's too much light and deep shadows. A Leica or my Canon P are not optimal for fill flash because their sync speed is so low. My favourite flash is a Metz or Vivitar with thyristor metering because they are so versatile.

[George Bonanno]

Originally Posted by Livesteamer

Most of what I do is little kids in a big church nursery or my daughters playmates and I would never pop a flash in a toddlers face. Besides, the Leica is perfect for this. Small, quiet and very precise with focus. Really, if you want to do flash, you need three of them to do it right. Joe

Geez, I pop No.11 and 40 bulbs right up front in little kids faces with my Kalart and Baby Speed and they love it. I tell them "follow the dots" and they all go crazy. Am I missing something here ?

Even my mom took many pictures of me in the bassinette and afterwards as a little kid with a Brownie Flash 620 using big bulbs. It didn't effect me except for a slight bit of brain damage.

So, what's the story Joe ? Why not flash and toddlers ?

[pvdhaar]

It's a pity that my Bessa-T needs accessory finders in the shoe, leaving no space for a flash. On all my other cameras I use it quite a lot; to open up shadows, to freeze motion, to fix troublesome color balance, for introducing highlights.. The list is almost endless.

[thegman]

On my Sigma DP-1 and Fujifilm Klasse, yes, but not on ZI or Mamiya 7.

[John Lawrence]

In the studio I use Hensel. Outside I use a Leica SF-20 sometimes coupled with a Nikon SC-17 cable.

John

[Livesteamer]

Why not flash and toddlers? These are other peoples kids in a public setting and that requires respect and discretion. A week ago it was two week old Maggie with a lovely but tired mom. Further, it's intrusive. I don't want the kids to notice the camera and the more equipment you have, the more they notice it. But to each his own. I use an M6 .85 with upgraded finder and mostly a 50mm Summilux asph altho for Maggie it was the Noctilux. Joe

[oftheherd]

When I think it will improve my photo or is the only way to get a photo, yes. It doesn't matter if it is SLR, RF, or digital P&S. I have Vivitar 283s and 285s, Sunpak 344s, and Tilt-a-Mites for bulbs (which I haven't used in a while). I used to have a Sunpak 544, that at full power was like a piece of the sun going off, but it sure could reach out and was great for bounce.

[Paul Luscher]

Very rarely. I try to follow in the footsteps of David Douglas Duncan

[dcsang]

For wedding receptions or indoors where more light is needed - the "A" mode (auto thyristor/auto mode) on the SB-900 suits me just fine on my M7 and on the E-P2.

Dave

[Canyongazer]

SB800 on the D300 and 700.

Onboard flash just for contre jour fill on the Panasonics. And thanks to those who clued me in that the rectangular plastic 40mm Voigtlander OVF will block the pop up flash on the GF1 but the round metal 35mm one will not. I use the OVF about 70% of the time and use fill flash about 10% of that.

[Vics]

Vivitar HV285 and 283. The strobist.com concept intrigues me, though the learning is slower with an M3 (or a Rollei) than with a digital SLR. The lessons still have done my flash photography a world of good. I enjoy it as a part of my photography.

[DNG]

Not with my M5 or Pentax Super Program
Sometimes with my Panasonic G1