#flash sync

writing fic,

Directly into AO3

I thougth you left it unfinished, if not

I'M SO HAPPY

Omg Flash Sync is very much still on I literally have the whole thing planned to mirror the silm but in the new setting and even go into the second age where it smooshes with making the nuclear bomb because why have it be a metaphor when you can just literally have Mairon be Oppenheimer?

The only thing holding me back with this one is that I deleted ALL I had written on it (which was a Lot) so I feel a bit demotivated about rewriting it. Maybe it’s a gift though, because I can really indulge in the slow burn this time around rather than rushing to write the bits that excite me.

Hmmmm.

LED lights can be very fun, but we’re still not quite convinced that they can outdo flashes and strobes. However, Rotolight is currently funding something incredibly intriguing on Kickstarter. The new Rotolight NEO 3 and Rotolight AEOS 2 are brand new LED lighting products. They’re making the pitch to both photographers and filmmakers. But what’s really making our eyes sparkle is the promise of a…

Add a little flare to your images

When used properly, Second Curtain Flash can be a powerful creative tool that allows for the creation of aesthetically unique and visually engaging images.

Here at The Phoblographer, we’re huge proponents of mastering lighting and flash photography in general. Even if you’re a natural light shooter, mastery of lighting in all forms is fundamental in becoming a well-rounded photographer. Anyone…

New Post has been published on https://www.fotografareindigitale.com/2012/05/il-flash-high-sync-e-fill-in/

Il Flash: High Sync e Fill-In

How to do Shutter Drag Photography to Shoot Motion Blurred & Freeze Motion Part1

Here is the very amazing shutter drag photography using 2nd curtain flash sync method. its uses to capture motion and freeze the moving subject.

Part 2 for editing : https://youtu.be/X4FCpebWPXQ

equipment used : Canon 700D T5i, flash digitek 200dt, Image octa box, mobile flash light to create motion trail, camera setting for all shots…

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Pentax Z-1

Autofocus switch and wired Remote socket

Lens release, DOF preview, shutter and front control dial

Rear view

Date imprint buttons

Metering mode and compensation

Top view

Rear control dial and control buttons

Mode switch

Flash up with focus assist lamp

Film chamber

Back door – note the data contacts

LCD in Hyper manual mode

LCD with compensation dialed in

Lens mount – full KAF2

Flash hot shoe

Replaceable focus screen

Optional hand grip

Sturdy base to hand grip

My Camera

I decided to buy one of these cameras after my problems with the Pentax MZ series. I want a good quality, K mount 35mm autofocus camera which I can use at the same time I have my K5 with me so that lens choice becomes more ‘light weight’. I originally thought this would be from the MZ series but the mirror motor problem made that impossible. For anyone who doesn’t know the MZ series, a plastic cog used in the mirror return system becomes brittle with age and eventually splits, making the camera useless. I had heard about it, but it was after 3 MZ series cameras died in my hands with this problem I realised how prevalent it is. Because of that I looked back a series and did some research on the Z-1 and Z-1p cameras and found they are a reliable and actually better specified camera then nearly all the MZ series (the MZ-s being the exception).

So I started to look and found a Pentax Z-1 on eBay with a starting bid of £30 and postage of £5 and I was intending to place a bid on it. However, the description simply stated ‘looks ok’ with no other clue as to it’s overall condition so I carried on searching and found another camera with a full description and a list of tested functions. This camera was more expensive with a ‘Buy it now’ price of £49 but that included postage so it was only £14 more. Although the original £30 example may have been perfect, I’m a bit wary of spending that much on a camera which is possibly faulty. Also, there was no guarantee that I would get it for that opening price so I decided against bidding and purchased the second camera via ‘Buy it now’.

When the camera arrived it turned out to be in very good condition. As far as I could tell from my initial assessment, all the functions work and I couldn’t see any deep scratches or marks anywhere. There was also an optional hand grip supplied which adds a bit of balance, although unfortunately doesn’t have the option of fitting additional batteries. There is a date function back door fitted to this camera – I’m not sure if that was optional or not with this model, but when I replaced the CR2025 battery it also seems to work perfectly.

Although I bought the body only, I have several examples of the standard zoom lens which would have been fitted when first sold, so for the photographs above I’ve added a Pentax 28-80 f/3.5-5.6 FA lens.

Pentaz Z-1 description

As I said above, this camera follows the SF series and borrows its styling from those cameras which means it’s quite big and heavy. It continues the idea of having the LCD panel built into the top of the prism housing and moving the flash hot shoe over to the right of the camera behind the shutter release. This looks slightly odd to modern eyes because the flash is normally central, but the positioning probably helped a bit with reducing red-eye.

The control layout is very similar to a modern Pentax digital SLR with two control dials, one on the front of the camera just behind the shutter release, and one on the back panel where the thumb sits. The contours of the hand grip naturally shape the fingers into position to move these controls so they are easy to operate with the camera to the eye.

There are a couple of buttons labeled IF and ML on the back below the hot shoe position and another two on the back door which control the metering pattern and exposure compensation. These last two buttons serve to illuminate the LCD when they are pushed together.

The main on/off switch on the top panel has two on positions – a simple green mode selection which allow the camera to be used in fully automatic mode with a minimum amount of customisation, and fully on which allows the camera to be used to it’s full potential.

There are additional controls on the back panel for the date stamp function. Two small buttons are used to set the date and time and then another button sets the format which will be imprinted on the film or turns the imprint function off.

On the left hand side of the camera is a mode switch which selects the different exposure and drive modes available as well as allowing the ISO to be overridden from the DX coded value. This switch also controls the various ‘Pentax Functions’ which fine tune the camera’s operation.

The front of the camera has the focus control switch which moves from manual focus to continuous mode and then single shot mode. On the other side of the lens mount is the lens release and the depth of field preview. In common with the SF series, the small pop-up flash also has a focus assist light.

In terms of specifications this was an extremely advanced camera for it’s day and in fact still has a pretty good spec when compared to modern digital cameras. The shutter speeds offered range from 30sec to 1/8000sec, there are numerous exposure modes and drive modes offered giving lots of flexibility in use. The general shape and control layout makes the camera feel nice in the hand and gives good usability – always a Pentax strength.

Exposure modes.

A camera’s exposure modes are at the heart of allowing the photographer to take great pictures and this camera is well served in that area. It certainly has more exposure modes available than any other 35mm camera in my collection and just about on par with my Pentax K5 when you take into account the fact that it’s a film camera and therefor the iso can’t be changed (the K5 has a mode where you set the shutter speed and aperture and the camera adjusts the iso).

The exposure modes are all selected by turning the control dial to the Mode setting, pressing the button in the middle of the control and using the front control wheel to select the desired exposure mode. The total number of modes available is influence by the type of lens fitted (because a lens without an ‘A’ setting can’t have the aperture set from the body) but assuming the standard zoom lens supplied is fitted the modes on offer are

Hyper program mode

Program mode

Shutter Priority mode

Aperture Priority mode

Hyper Manual mode

Manual mode (bulb exposure)

Some of these modes are obvious but I’ll try to explain some of the more exotic modes provided below.

Hyper program mode.

This mode offers a fully automatic exposure mode with the option of quickly switching into Aperture priority or Shutter priority AE mode by moving the appropriate adjustment wheel. In automatic mode it’s possible to influence how the choice of exposure is made in this mode using a Pentax Function. Options are ‘sports option’ which results in the fastest shutter speed, ‘depth of field’ option which results in the widest aperture or what is called ‘Modulation Transfer Function’ which will set the exposure to the correct exposure for best definition when an FA class lens is fitted. This is Pentax Function 2 (Pentax functions are covered later in this post)

Hyper Manual Mode.

Hyper manual mode is an extension of manual exposure, so the photographer is basically in control of both parts of the exposure and sets the camera as required, but the camera has a few useful tricks to help. There is a button on the back of the camera marked IF which will set up the camera to the correct exposure and give the photographer a starting point for the picture. The IF button can also be used to shift the exposure. For example once the IF button has been initially pressed I might get an exposure of f/8 at 1/500sec. If I want to change this to f/2.8 I could change the aperture to f/2.8 and then re-press the IF so the camera shifts the shutter speed to 1/4000sec. In order to get this to work the way the photographer wants there is a Pentax Function which tells the camera which parameter to shift in this situation. I have this set to alter the shutter speed because I almost always work in aperture priority mode, but it’s good that it can be altered either way.

Another really useful function offered is the ability to lock the exposure level using the Memory Lock (ML) button on the back of the camera next to the IF button. Again, once the initial exposure has been set the ML button can be pressed and then the exposure can be shifted by changing the aperture with the front dial or the shutter speed with the rear dial and the other part changes to compensate. This is effectively moving the camera into Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority AE from manual.

Other Exposure functions

The Z-1 has a full 4 stop exposure compensation setting which is activated by pressing the +/- button on the back panel and turning the front control dial. The LCD display has a nice graphic showing the amount of compensation dialled in, but the viewfinder display is a bit lacking, only showing a + or – which flashes once the compensation is over 1 stop. I believe this display is one part of the camera which was improved with the later z-1p model.

Drive Modes

The list of drive modes offered is as long as the different exposure modes available. To select them the function dial is set to drive and as the button on the top of the function dial is pressed the front dial moves through all the different settings. In turn these are

Single shot mode

This is the normal, single shot drive mode – you take a picture and the camera advances the film to the next frame.

Continuous mode

In this mode the camera takes pictures at what seems to be about 2 to 3 frames per second until the camera runs out of film or you lift you finger from the shutter release.

Exposure Bracketing mode

This allows you to take 3 exposures and apply a different exposure to each one. The drive setting itself allows you to dial in the amount of change you want and the camera takes the picture with – that amount, correct exposure and then + that amount. If you also dial in some exposure compensation it’s possible offset the bracketing and do things like take a picture with +2 stops, +3stops and +4 stops or any other combination which the bracketing and exposure compensation will allow.

Multiple exposure mode

When set like this the camera will take multiple pictures without advancing the film allowing creative multiple exposure effects. When selected, the back panel control dial allows you to set the number of exposures to take which can be from 2 to 9.

Interval mode

Although I’ve seen Interval shooting on digital cameras before this is the first 35mm film camera I’ve seen which features this drive mode. It enables you to set the camera up to take pictures at a set interval without any intervention. The settings allowed include start time, the time between exposures and the number of pictures to take.

3 frame self timer

This self timer mode allows a delay followed by 3 pictures each with a short delay between them. Presumably this was to allow the photographer to be in the picture, and allow for different poses.

2 second self timer

Takes a picture after a 2 second delay

12 second self timer

Takes a picture after a 12 second delay

Exposure metering options

The Z-1 has an 8 segment metering pattern which can be used to meter over the whole frame. Obviously in today’s world of metering segments measured in the thousands that isn’t very many, but it is probably enough to make pretty good assessments of exposure. There is also the option to turn on centre weighted or spot metering, but although switching from averaged to one of those choices is a simple button push, the choice of either centre weighted or spot needs to be made with a Pentax Function which makes it a bit awkward if you want to switch frequently. I tend to use either averaged or centre weighted so it isn’t a bit issue for me, but I know it would be for others. I believe this is another area improved with the Z-1P model.

The metering change (averaged to spot or averaged to centre weighted) is easily accomplished with a button on the back panel. Press the button and the front dial allows change easily – so easily that it is a real shame there weren’t three options rather than two. The LCD and the viewfinder has an indicator to show if the camera is in spot or centre weighted metering, but it isn’t possible to know which is selected without looking in the Pentax Functions menu.

Focusing

The autofocus is controlled by a single autofocus sensor in the middle of the frame. Although that is a small amount in todays multi sensor af tracking world, for the time the camera was made it was the norm. It seems to be pretty effective in most normal useage as well and although not a quick as my Pentax K5, it does seem a bit faster than the SFXn I own.

The autofocus can support both single shot and continuous autofocus and the ‘in focus’ confirmation signal in the viewfinder (and the beep) also work with manual lenses as they are correctly focussed.

I’ve tried it with a variety of screw driven lenses from Sigma, Tamron and Pentax and it could drive all of them quite quickly to correct focus in all but the poorest lighting, although I did notice a strange vibration sometimes after the lens was focused when in single shot autofocus. I only noticed this on the older lenses I own and I don’t know it it is common on this model or if my example has a slight fault.

Viewfinder.

The viewfinder is a little bit of a disappointment to be honest. Although the actual view to compose the picture is fine, the information about the camera settings, which is displayed in a small panel to the right, is a bit limited. There is Aperture and Shutter speed information and an in-focus confirmation, but any exposure compensation dialled in is just shown as a + & – which flashes when more than 1 stop.

The view itself is fine and completely unobscured other than the autofocus indicator in the centre of the frame. I would love to have a split rangefinder focusing screen to help with manual focus but I believe that would interfere with the autofocus so I can see why it wasn’t fitted. I can’t see anything in the manual (available from Mike Butkus brilliant site) about the focusing screen being replaceable, but it clearly is. The frame which holds the screen in place has a small tab which can be pushed up towards the prism housing and the frame drops down allowing the screen to be removed.

Pentax Functions

The Pentax Functions option on the main mode dial is an early implementation of a camera menu system which allows customisation of the various functions the camera offers. There are a total of 18 individual customisations available but I’ll just highlight the ones I find useful.

Pentax function 1 sets the alternative to averaged metering to either spot or centre-weighted

Pentax function 2 sets up the way the camera chooses aperture/shutter speed in program mode

Pentax function 3 sets the exposure compensation to either 0.5 ev or 0.3 ev increments

Pentax function 4 does the same as PF 3 for shutter speed

Pentax function 6 determines how the exposure is shifted in program mode (aperture or shutter speed)

Pentax function 11 sets if the film leader is re-wound into the cartridge or not on rewind

All the pentax functions are selected by turning the mode dial to PF, pressing the button in the centre of the dial and then turning the front control wheel clockwise until the film indicator disappears. Then when the button is release, the front dial selects the function and the back dial sets the value.

In Use

I loaded a reel of Agfacolor Vista Plus 200 (bought for £1 from Poundland!) for an initial assessment of the camera’s usability and took it out with me for a few days – these are my findings.

I used the optional grip on the bottom of the camera which added almost nothing to the weight, but gave a more comfortable feel to the camera. Although I said at the start of this post that the camera is heavy, once I got out and about with it I found it isn’t actually as heavy as my K5 so I suspect that it isn’t made with so much metal as that camera.

I also noticed that the shutter is a bit quieter than the K5 which surprised me because the K5 is by no means a noisy camera – the Z-1 has a lovely quiet click when the shutter is pressed and there is almost no mirror shock at all.

All the pictures I took were using Hyper Program mode and I found this as easy to use as my K5 in terms of setting the exposure. Obviously being a film camera there was less flexibility in the exposure – I couldn’t just turn the ISO up if I wanted to use an aperture out of range, but that isn’t a weakness in the camera. I tried a few different lighting conditions and a variety of different lenses and found I quickly got familiar with the control layout and usage. For about half the shots I turned on the date stamp function so I’ll be interested to see how that comes out once I’ve developed the film.

Overall I found this a fantastic camera to use and even at £49 a real bargain. Over the last few weeks I’ve been taking more and more film pictures and although I don’t think film is better than digital, or even as convenient, it certainly gives another dimension to the pictures you take and I would certainly encourage all keep photographers to give it a try.

Pentax Z-1 specification.

Pentax Z-1 35mm Autofocus SLR

DX coded with manual override

Many exposure modes including Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Hyper Manual Hyper Program etc

30sec to 1/8000sec electronic shutter

KAF2 lens mount

Autofocus from -1EV to 18EV

Single and Servo mode AF and manual focus

Pentaprism viewfinder, exchangeable focus screen

Top Panel LCD screen with comprehensive information

Many drive modes (single, continuous, interval, self-timer, bracketed etc)

Auto film load, advance and rewind

Self timer with multiple options

8 segment metering with optional centre weighted or spot

+/- 4 stop exposure compensation

Bracketing drive mode

Many effects available when a Power Zoom lens fitted (untested by me)

Built in flash with focus assist light

Flash sync to 1/250sec

Exposure lock button

2CR5 lithium cell battery in camera / CR2025 in date back

Pentax Functions (18) to fine tune camera

Date stamp back cover

Optional light weight grip

Serial No: 5887203

Quick test setup: – Model “Uma” and Hasselblad V – 1 Canon Speedlite EX580II, 1/16 of full power, 2 meters distance to subject – Mamiya 645 DF+ with Leaf Credo 40, Schneider Kreuznach 50/2.8 LS D Lens – triggered with Profoto Air Sync Remote

F 3.2, ISO 50, 1/1600 shutter