Fill flashhemergency..sort of

hi,
sorry for the cross-post, but i'm kindm of in a pickle, and all three of
these groups might have people who know the answer to my question.

i have to (suddenly) go shoot pictures tonight of a friend's daughter and
her friends, as they are getting ready to go to their prom. i am taking a
digital camera and a travelite monolight for some posed shots, but wanted to
shoot some film as well. i will be using my mamiya tlr system for the film.
i got some fuji portrait film, the 160 rated stuff. i was going to use my
vivitar 283 with that setup, so i can be mobil. all metering will be done
with a minolta fm IV.

here's the problem.

i have never shot with the tlr and vivitar in a fill flash setting.
generally, i get that you want to trick the flash into thinking you are
shooting faster film by two stops, but here's where my problem is. the
vivitar's guide wheel only spins the asa to 400 tops. what should i do now?
by my estimation, i should be setting it to at least 640, but the flash
doesn't go that high. will stopping down the lens one additional stop make
the difference?

i know there's probably a really easy fix for this, but i am completely
brain-farting at the moment, so i am asking in here.

thanks for any help.

In article ,
"joe mama" wrote:

hi,
sorry for the cross-post, but i'm kindm of in a pickle, and all three of
these groups might have people who know the answer to my question.

i have to (suddenly) go shoot pictures tonight of a friend's daughter and
her friends, as they are getting ready to go to their prom. i am taking a
digital camera and a travelite monolight for some posed shots, but wanted to
shoot some film as well. i will be using my mamiya tlr system for the film.
i got some fuji portrait film, the 160 rated stuff. i was going to use my
vivitar 283 with that setup, so i can be mobil. all metering will be done
with a minolta fm IV.

here's the problem.

i have never shot with the tlr and vivitar in a fill flash setting.
generally, i get that you want to trick the flash into thinking you are
shooting faster film by two stops, but here's where my problem is. the
vivitar's guide wheel only spins the asa to 400 tops. what should i do now?
by my estimation, i should be setting it to at least 640, but the flash
doesn't go that high. will stopping down the lens one additional stop make
the difference?

i know there's probably a really easy fix for this, but i am completely
brain-farting at the moment, so i am asking in here.

thanks for any help.

160= 125 or 100 asa in reality. That said -don't use direct flash on
anything but bounce or diffuse it. Also think about moving the fill light
closer or further to get a softer result......if you going to do this
type stuff a flash meter helps "Just some friendly advice"
--
The sometimes insomniac.

www.gregblankphoto.com

"joe mama" wrote in message
. com...
hi,
sorry for the cross-post, but i'm kindm of in a pickle, and all three of
these groups might have people who know the answer to my question.

i have to (suddenly) go shoot pictures tonight of a friend's daughter and
her friends, as they are getting ready to go to their prom. i am taking a
digital camera and a travelite monolight for some posed shots, but wanted
to shoot some film as well. i will be using my mamiya tlr system for the
film. i got some fuji portrait film, the 160 rated stuff. i was going to
use my vivitar 283 with that setup, so i can be mobil. all metering will
be done with a minolta fm IV.

here's the problem.

i have never shot with the tlr and vivitar in a fill flash setting.
generally, i get that you want to trick the flash into thinking you are
shooting faster film by two stops, but here's where my problem is. the
vivitar's guide wheel only spins the asa to 400 tops. what should i do
now? by my estimation, i should be setting it to at least 640, but the
flash doesn't go that high. will stopping down the lens one additional
stop make the difference?

i know there's probably a really easy fix for this, but i am completely
brain-farting at the moment, so i am asking in here.

thanks for any help.




The last time I pulled out the TLR and the 283, I metered for incident ( as
ISO 100 on 160 film), and I just set the flash to the same aperture as the
lens was set to, and the pictures looked fine. If in doubt, bracket
your flash aperture, starting at the same as the lens, then one stop less,
two stops less.


Patrick

"joe mama" wrote in message
. com...
hi,
sorry for the cross-post, but i'm kindm of in a pickle, and all three of
these groups might have people who know the answer to my question.

i have to (suddenly) go shoot pictures tonight of a friend's daughter and
her friends, as they are getting ready to go to their prom. i am taking a
digital camera and a travelite monolight for some posed shots, but wanted
to shoot some film as well. i will be using my mamiya tlr system for the
film. i got some fuji portrait film, the 160 rated stuff. i was going to
use my vivitar 283 with that setup, so i can be mobil. all metering will
be done with a minolta fm IV.

here's the problem.

i have never shot with the tlr and vivitar in a fill flash setting.
generally, i get that you want to trick the flash into thinking you are
shooting faster film by two stops, but here's where my problem is. the
vivitar's guide wheel only spins the asa to 400 tops. what should i do
now? by my estimation, i should be setting it to at least 640, but the
flash doesn't go that high. will stopping down the lens one additional
stop make the difference?

i know there's probably a really easy fix for this, but i am completely
brain-farting at the moment, so i am asking in here.

thanks for any help.


There is a very simple, old fashioned and almost embarassingly low tech
solution that has worked well for me in the past. One layer of a
traditional man's cotton handkerchief in front of the flash reduces the
output by about the equivalent of one stop, two layers - two stops etc. So
just wash up your best hankie, iron nicely, do your simple calculation, fold
accordingly, and off you go. You'll get a nice diffused lighting effect as a
bonus too. If you don't have a hankie, my guess is that a layer of Kleenex,
or the tail of an old white shirt will do the job too.

Cheers

NF

In message , Norm Fleming
writes
There is a very simple, old fashioned and almost embarassingly low tech
solution that has worked well for me in the past. One layer of a
traditional man's cotton handkerchief in front of the flash reduces the
output by about the equivalent of one stop, two layers - two stops etc.
So just wash up your best hankie, iron nicely, do your simple
calculation, fold accordingly, and off you go. You'll get a nice
diffused lighting effect as a bonus too. If you don't have a hankie,
my guess is that a layer of Kleenex, or the tail of an old white shirt
will do the job too.

Concur.
Used a paper tissue to reduce the direct glare of a flash on a digital
camera to do a portrait. Worked a treat.
Wish I'd thought to use my shirt tail!
--
Paul Friday

i will be using my mamiya tlr system for the film.
i got some fuji portrait film, the 160 rated stuff. i was going to use my
vivitar 283 with that setup, so i can be mobil. all metering will be done
with a minolta fm IV.

here's the problem.

i have never shot with the tlr and vivitar in a fill flash setting.
generally, i get that you want to trick the flash into thinking you are
shooting faster film by two stops, but here's where my problem is. the
vivitar's guide wheel only spins the asa to 400 tops. what should i do
now?
by my estimation, i should be setting it to at least 640, but the flash
doesn't go that high. will stopping down the lens one additional stop make
the difference?

i know there's probably a really easy fix for this, but i am completely
brain-farting at the moment, so i am asking in here.


If your film is ISO 160 then set your flash for 320 to get one stop under.