At 19:43 31.1.2001 -0600, you wrote:
>Hey, it can be better than nothing. Remember, if you are using
>an 800 iso or faster film, the flash range will be at leat 20
>feet. It'll be a redeye monster though.
>William Robb
Why don't you set your flash as fill-in, with perhaps -1 or -0.5 flash
exp.compensation set? (or even less, if you want just a slight fill i). I
undersyand it's possible even on MZ or other bodies than Z-1p. I use it
with SFXn's built-in flash, and it works very nice. Set it for -1.5 flash,
and use normal exposure for ambient light - should bring out & freeze the
near subject, and the background won't be underexposed. How to do it: Use
Manual exp. mode, set exposure according to meter. THAN, dial-in
exp.compensation. It nows applies only to RTF flash, as the main
(shutter&aperture) exposure is freezed in the M mode.
Films: Don't use the "consumer" 800 films - they mostly SUCK! Gerald
mentioned them blooming for reds - they are just ugly. Go for the pro films
- I learned it the hard way. Either Fuji press 800 (it should handle reds
much better than the ugly Superia 800 - press 800 is a pro film. But I
don't have much experience with it - it's better to not experiment on the
shootout, so go for the Kodak films - where others experience (and mine
too) will tell you a lot. Even the medium-grade Kodaks can be pushed very
well - I regulary pushed Kodak's ProFoto 400 to 800 without noticable
problems. The porra or supra 800 will propably be great from what I saw.
Take a fast wideangle with you, and don't leave the 50/1.7 home! I used
that FOV a lot on a 2.8 zoom when shooting concerts, and other photogs on
location did the same (of course, I alternated between 50 as "wide" and 200
as "normal", same with them). At least it's a backup lens, propably your
sharpest lens wide open. But for RAVE things, extreme wideangles are
usually most liked.
I would definitely bring a small, tabletop tripod w/ ball head - you can
use it either as a shoulderbrace, or hold it against wall, put it on
speaker, repros, tables, etc. to get smaller apertures and longer times
for getting people blurred (quite likable sometimes), and use the RTF at
-1.5 or such to just lightly freeze the foremost people. Don't overdo the
flash, though: it would look really ugly if you set the flash to too much
light - blue "foreground' and red "background" don't go together well.
The advice about setting exposure first and then not worrying about it is
good, but sometimes the light levels are changing so rapidly on rave type
things (even several stops difference!) that it might not work. So, bracket
and if you know how to, spotmeter.
HTH, Frantisek
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