Chris Brogden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Does anyone want to explain to me why it's so great that the MZ-S's flash will cover 24mm instead of 28mm if none of their 24mm lenses can be used?
Chris, As I understand it, there are two causes for flash vignetting: The light doesn't disperse wide enough, and a long lens blocks the light. My guess is that with no lens attached, the built-flash will cover 28mm at a 1-stop loss and 24mm at a 2-stop loss. On the other hand, all of the lenses you've named are longish, and it's possible that a stubbier 24 or 28 will work just fine--or with only the vignetting component caused by inadequate flash coverage (1 to 2 stops). On my recent shoot of a Bat Mitzvah dance, most of my dance shots were shot with a Pentax SMC 35/2K and a powerful hotshoe flash set to 35mm coverage, the widest the unit could go without a diffuser. Well, before installing the 35 I took one shot with my Vivitar 28/1.9K and a Sto-Fen Omni Bounce diffuser (http://www.stofen.com). What a difference that Omni-Bounce made! It lit up every corner, near and far, providing the even illumination of "available light" with the f/5.6, 1/125 second sharpness of flash. I realize you can't use a diffuser on the built-in flash. I agree that it's deceptive to call the built-in flash coverage 24mm when only short prime lenses will work, and possibly with some vignetting. It reminds me of the ploy seen in the ratings of cheap powered loudspeakers: "30 to 18,000 Hz"...with a -9 dB rolloff at the extremes. Or "200 watts per channel"...at 5% distortion. Paul Franklin Stregevsky - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
