By mistake I have been shooting with flash a couple of times at 1/125 sec instead of at X (which is suppose to be the appropriate maximum synchro speed of the R6.2, this is 1/100 sec following the manual) and I did not get any apparent shadow in the prints. So, why the camera manual states a maximum flash synchro speed of 1/100 sec and not 1/125 sec? Thanks in advance

-- Javier (elrebeco@hotmail.com), October 09, 2001

Answers

Have you had the shutter checked on a shutter tester? In all probability given the mechanical timing of the R6.2 shutter it could be just dragging enough to be actually closer to 1/100. It's only 1/3 stop, which is within the tolerances of a mechanical shutter.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), October 09, 2001.

The sync is the fastest speed that the entire shutter is open to allow all of the flash duration to occur while the shutter is open. It is possible to fire the shutter a bit faster and have no visual effect if you are covering three demensional subjects at varying distances if the primary subject is in the center most part of the frame, and the flash is only illuminating this part of the scene, while the background is lit by ambient light.

The Leica M has a very long sync speed of 1/50th, but many people use 1/125th of a second for fill flash as long as they keep the part that would be obstructed by the partially closed shutter as part of the background, by holding the camera vertical with this part up. This is more than halving the sync speed, so your example is way less of a stretch than that.

I would think that if you shot slide film against a flat wall, you would see some darkening on one side, assuming that your shutter is still timed correctly... it may have simply slowed down to less than the sync speed.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), October 09, 2001.

Javier

I used to own a R4/R6 and I shot alot of stuff with flash at 1/125, but this was using studio strobes or vivitars 285s on stands. You can get away with it most of the time and if you shot slide film and have it mounted you can't even tell you shot it at 1/125. The way to tell is look at bottom of the film, it will appear uneven or ragged, that's where the shutter didn't quite make it. I suggest you shoot a roll of film with flash (doesn't matter what kind, but just develope it only, no prints or if it's slide film develope only, no mounts). Write in a notebook what you shot at say 1/30 and go up though the shutter speeds 1/1000, writing in a notebook what you shot, and see the differences as they appear on the film. But take photos of the notebook page as you make them, write big, use one page per note. That's the way I test cameras and strobes to be sure. Shot a couple of shots of each page. Study the film, then you'll know for sure what happens using flash. But make sure you shoot the notebook, then all the notes are on the film. Good Luck.

-- John Miller (vwbus1967@earthlink.net), October 14, 2001.

Javier

I do this too, and rarely notice any difference - maybe the shutter is not that accurate anyway.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), October 15, 2001.