Adorama Retro Speedlight - How It Works, and When It Won't

Photo Source: Click here.

It's unusual for me to write about something that I don't already own, haven't already used, or never actually touched. However, this new Godox Lux Senior Retro Camera Flash, a.k.a. Flashpoint FlashBack Senior Retro Camera Flash (they are one and the same) is a different story. While I await the arrive of my new flash, I thought it time to put it in perspective, considering the long-neglected technologies that have be re-purposed for the growing interest in film photography. This new flash looks like it will be a winner, considering it can function in both digital and film venues.

This new flash and its old technology bypasses the problem posed by proprietary flash exposure technology called TTL (Through The Lens) metering. TTL proved to be an incredible boon to photographers, one that developed in parallel with the rise of the SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera to its dominance in the advanced amateur-professional photography market. Photographers 

were now confident that what they composed in their viewfinders would be what the filem would see when the shutter curtains opened during exposure. The development of TTL exposure metering allowed the camera to measure the light as it passed through the lens itself, greatly improving the probability of a "perfect" exposure. 

The technology would eventually expand to include TTL flash exposure control, introduced by Nikon in 1980. I have used the current Nikon TTL system extensively, and feel totally comfortable with it. It suffices to say that the control interface is proprietary, and expensive, which essentially puts a lock on keep both your flash and your camera body "in the family".  This got to be an expensive proposition until relatively recently, when more and more manufacturers had offerings that could work with the proprietary flash-to-body interface, perhaps because the original patents have expired.

How Flash Exposure Works: To extend the Retro Speedlight's versatility, the manufactures went to an earlier, non-TTL exposure system. To explain how this works, we need to accept the following:

• Light can be represented as a cloud of paint droplets coming from a spray can,
• "Proper exposure" will be obtained when the droplets of paint are dense enough to completely cover the surface being painted, and
• The greater the distance, the longer you'll need to spray to insure an even coating of paint.

If we adapt this model and substitute units of light called "photons" for paint droplets, we can begin to understand how flash exposure works. In the photo at the right, the white arrow points to the forward-facing sensor at the base of the flash. It regulates the length of the photo "spray" based on the density of the photons hitting the surface. When the surface is completely covered, the sensor shuts off the flow. Obviously there will be some point where the surface is too distant to be completely covered. This would represent the limits of the flash output. 

If you convert the paint to droplets of light, you now understand the basics of pre-TTL, 1960s flash exposure technology. While revolutionary at the time, the system has its shortcomings. First, the on-flash sensor can under or overexpose your subject is not centered in the frame. Second, it not particularly sensitive. Lastly, and perhaps most important, the flash decides the output, and you must adjust your camera's ISO and aperture to obtain your optimal exposure. This is critical, since the Lux flash has only one automatic exposure setting, so far as I can tell, which is a F 2.8 at ISO 100.

In Use: Based on the promotional videos, the "default" setting, which I take to mean the "only" setting, is F 2.8 at ISO 100, maximum distance unspecified. From a marketing perspective, it makes sense because this extends the usable range of the flash to the max. This is where the versatility starts to crumble. If for some reason you wanted/needed to shoot at F 4.0, the limits of the flash would require you to increase your ISO setting to 200. If you needed a shooting aperture of F 5.6, you'd have to boost the ISO to 400. At first blush, this is workable if you confine yourself to subjects that don't require much depth of field. Shucks, even the ancient Vivitar 283 allowed you to select 4 settings. Even though I can still use the Retro flash manually, I still feel like I've been shortchanged.

Possible Work Around: When the flash is released (September 30, 2022) I am going to tape a thin sheet of 2X Neutral Density Gel over the sensor. Hopefully this will trick the flash into doubling the output, allowing me to work at F 4.0. It that works, a second layer of NDG will drop this to 5.6, a reasonable working aperture for a leaf-shutter camera like the Fuji X100, the Nikon Cool Pix A, and most fixed lens rangefinder film cameras. Luckily, I can see the results of this experimentation a few moments after the photo is made. On paper this should work. I obviously won't know for sure until the flash arrives in October. In the mean time, I tried it on an SB-800 using a Rosco Cine Gel (2x ND filter) and it seem to have worked. Right now, the biggest hurdle is finding a way to attached the gel in such a way as to not prevent closing the flash.

It seems strange to spend as much time thinking about a flash that has yet to arrive. Alas, the September 30 release date is a long way off, and I plan on using this flash a great deal. I just hope the ND gel cover works reasonably well. I just need to be sure that there aren't any glare issues to complicate things.

 Photo Source: Click here.

I was taken by this promotional image of the flash paired up with the classic Rollei twin lens reflex. My own back story includes a Mamiya Flex twin lens reflex camera, multiple rolls of 12-exposure 120 roll film, and a side mounted flash gun. I remember that the camera bag held mostly flashbulbs. Notice that the flash is mounted on the camera's left side so the photographer could freely operate the controls on the right side.

The Retro Look: There can be two interpretations. First, the opened fan reflector suggest the side-mounted flashguns mounted on Speed Graphic cameras from the 1920s and 30s. To the right, we see that classic round reflector, in miniature, mounted on a 1960s era roll film camera. In both cases, the flash was placed at some distance from the lens axis, providing slightly better modeling when you subject was relatively close. Second, it made "red eye" a non-problem. Lastly, the flash's elevated position directly above the lens axis (see that vintage Nikon SLR photo) throws the subject's shadow behind them, often giving better separation between the subject and background. 

"Their First Murder” (1941).Photograph by Weegee

Arthur Fellig (1889-1968), whose nom de guerre was  Weegee the Famous, was responsible for more "gritty street photographs" than any other photographer. Shown at the right with a Speed Graphic camera, you can see that the flash reflector is high and to his right, which explains the offset shadows on the two closest subjects in this sample photo. The placement on the camera's right side was to give the photographer easy access to the sheet film holders that were exchanged using the left hand.

Depth Of Field: Legend has it that Weegie said that the secret to his success was summed up in one phrase: "F 8.0 and be there*". It you look at the photo closely you'll see that the two closest subjects are out of focus. This was due to an inescapable rule of optics: The longer the focal length of the lens, the shallower the depth of field. The normal lens for a 4 X 5 Speed Graphic was typically 127mm, which would be considered a telephoto lens by modern 35mm standards. This required midrange to small aperture settings just to achieve a nominal depth of field. I don't doubt that Weegie followed his own advice when he made this photo, so blurry foregrounds are to be expected.

I have a lot to look forward to. I'll just bide my time until the new flash arrives and I can test my theories. Maybe I'll select a monochrome film simulation, look for a fedora, and start smoking stogies. 

* A more logical variations on the phrase is "F16 and be there", as the smaller aperture would give greater depth of field.

Adorama Retro Speedlight - Why I'm Bothering

Order yours here.

I Bit The Bullet: I just received notification that I have been selected (hah!) to pre-order the new Flashpoint FlashBack Senior Retro Camera Flash and I'm going to do just that. With all the other speedlights I already own, why would I want to add another one? I was intrigued by the folding, bowl-like shape of the reflector.

When first introduced, electronic flashes were powered by lead acid batteries in shoulder packs, and used large, dish-shaped reflectors. As electronic flashes got more compact, they placed the flash tubes perpendicular to the light path to save space. This orientation, combined with mirror-finished reflectors, allowed these proto-speedlights to direct more light towards the subject, often at the cost of producing a much harder light.

On the other hand, the positioning of the flash tube in line with the light path allows more light to exit from the side the tube and then be reflected forward by the bowl-shaped parabolic reflector. The entire surface of the reflector becomes the light source, and when used properly, helps to soften the edge between the light and shadow areas of your subject. Of course this decreases the "effective range" of the flash, but when up close, the results can be visibly softer. Many photographers realized the advantages of the dome reflector, and opted for Quantum flash heads coupled with separate battery packs. Those who favored the more compact speedlight form factor initially relied on custom conversions. The best known are those marked Armatar Photo Service in Glendale NY. They look a little Rube Goldberg by modern standards, but the Armatar could achieve a pleasing quality of light owing to its parabolic reflector.

After seeing the success of these conversions, Sunpack once made the 120J (left), which has all of the Armatar's features combined into an off-the-shelf unit. Currently, there are the Polaroid PL-135 Bare Bulb Flash (middle) and the Brilia BB-110N Flash (right), both of which appear to be adaptations of an existing flash body. Unfortunately, they all share a feature that makes them difficult to use in the run-and-gun environment: that bulky reflector. Yes, that parabolic reflector that adds so much to the lighting quality is a total pain to carry. This new Flashback Senior Retro gives me the reflector I want in a package I can conveniently carry. All good.

I appreciate the fact that the Flashback was essentially designed from the ground up. This meant that every feature was integral from the very beginning and not just shoehorned in place at the last moment. They could also take advantage of newer technologies such as integral lithium battery power and USB charging, while embracing some older technologies like non-TTL flash automation, which makes this flash ideal for working with manually focusing lenses.   One can also select the flash output in 1-stop increments from full down to 1/64 power.

But best of all, there is that folding reflector. 

This video from Godox* will give you a fast overview on how the flash looks and works. The only thing I didn't like about it was the sound track. Want something retro and cool? Where's Dave Brubeck when you need him? That, my friends, is COOL!

If you watch the video you will notice that when the tiny flash tube is pushed into it retracted storage position, the talking hand appears to be wearing a glove. To quote DPreview:

"...Do NOT handle a flash tube or quartz halogen tube with your bare hands! The oils from your fingertips can etch the surface during the extreme heat spike when the tube fires. This occasionally causes the tube to explode with glass shards flying everywhere..."

Get one of those small microfiber cleaning cloths, keep it inside the closed flash, and use it to push the tube into place.

It remains to be seen how effective this new reflector is. It can't help but provide a better light distribution than conventional speedlight designs, and I'm fully prepared to sacrifice a lower realized output. I don't expect the results to be identical to those achieved from the Armatar with its parabolic-bowl reflector, but I am sure that I'll see an improvement in the lighting quality.

I can hardly wait!

BTW: This wonderful clip really sells the flash. Thought you might like to see it.

* Adorama used to be the exclusive distributors of the Godox line of flashes. They branded them as "Flashpoint".

Happy Bastille Day - July 14, 2022

 

Viva La France!

Walking With The Pergear Fisheye Lens

Playground, Cole Valley in San Francisco

"...Hopefully the Pergear  (fisheye lens) will arrive early next week. The next images you'll be seeing will be from the new lens. How many of them totally depends on whether it becomes my new muse, or spends the rest of its life on the Island of Misfit Toys..."

Quoting myself, I did have high hopes for the lens. My experiments proved the lens to be darn-near eyelash sharp, and capable of creating some unusual selfies due to its ability to focus as close as 0.3 meter, about one foot. In this post I described a workaround for using a flash to balance foreground and background exposure. It is also as full frame fisheye, so the out-of-camera images are rectangular and not round.

The lens has some good qualities. It's well made, nicely finished, and as I mentioned can be adjusted for reasonably sharp focus at short working distances. The focusing lever is recessed in the lens barrel, and while very resistant to accidental bumping, is also difficult to grasp. I don't fault it for not having more precise distance settings, but it is a fisheye lens.

In many ways, the lens is like the proverbial "solution looking for a problem". I photographed this wooden lattice in an attempt to turn something commonplace into something out of the ordinary.

This photo of a decorative garden lattice was my first attempt. To gain some perspective, the dark stains are from the metal fasteners and can be assumed to be pointing straight down. Really not an image to encourage a state of inner peace, but just the sort of visual distortion I wanted to play with. Closer examination point out a possible limitation for the lens.

Even at F 8.0 there wasn't enough depth of field to bring the sidewalk the focal midpoint, and the "foreground" into critical focus. I suspect that the overall sharpness of the photo would have been better if I had access to a much smaller shooting aperture.

I must assume this was some sort of inflatable party decoration that found its way into the trash. I knew the colors wouldn't be saturated when I made the photo, but it does have some potential if I want to do some post production on it. The main takeaway is that it looks like a normal photo if you have no straight lines near the edges. If you look closely you can see the planter box has curved slightly, and the lines in the sidewalk aren't perfectly straight.

The image at the top of this post just illustrates that subjects that are round to begin give no clues to the distortion caused by the lens. Here the foam rubber squares in this play area aren't prominent enough to warn the viewer of the distortion. I'm sure that if I had used a conventional 10mm wide angle lens the image would have been identical.

I may not carry this lens again because I cannot pre-visualize how the final image might appear. Using it became less about anticipating and more about imagining possible images. It has proven itself to be quite sharp, but each time I "chimped" an image, I felt more surprise than validation when I compared what I saw on the LCD with what was in my mind's eye/ camera.

I guess this lens is indeed the proverbial "solution looking for a problem".

Step Down Adapter For The Meike Lens

Order yours here.

More Ancient Stuff: I appears that I have the urge to "trick out" my equipment, as I frequently buy a variety of accessories just to make my cameras look or handle exactly the way I want them to. In the photo community such additions are often called "kluges", the photographer's version of pulling a MacGyver. This linking of disparate parts to improve appearance and performance isn't unique to photographers. For example, consider the heavily modified Mini Coopers and Hondas. Hey, if that trunk-mounted spoiler helps you make tighter high-speed turns even when you're waiting for the light to change, who am I to judge?

Here's where we left off. Notice that the Fuji 27mm lens with its new OEM hood (#LH-XF27, left) is far more compact than the Meike 28mm lens with its attached JJC lens hood (order yours here), which was designed for use on the fixed lens Fuji X-70.  I described the required Male-Male Threaded Adapter (MMTA) in this post. For the record, I already had the hood, so adapting it was, at the time, an economical solution. It has served well, and because the hood is so deep, I never bothered to install a protective filter.

From the get-go it was obvious that the hood on the left is much more compact than the hood on the right. After checking e-Bay, I found the adapter I was looking for: a 49-39mm Stepdown Adapter. Conventional wisdom suggests that the such a reduction in diameter could result in some serious vignetting, but I'm thinking that it just might work because the Fuji lens and the Meike have a similar form factor. 

Hard Dates: This post has been delayed by the unusually long time between my placing the order (Saturday, June 18) and the adapter's actual arrival date (Thursday, June 30 ). I find it interesting that the only vendor for this unusual adapter in the entire eBay world is located in the U.K., or Wales to be precise.  Funny to see that my $10.00 purchase required a Customs Declaration, but after all, it did travel over 5,000 miles, or over 8,000 kilometers. 

I must acknowledge that few situations calling for such a odd paring of threads, but I'm still surprised that getting was so difficult. Perhaps it's because that a stepdown ring this extreme will almost certain cause severe vignetting.

It is apparent that the adapted Fuji hood mounted on the slightly taller Meike lens (right) closely matches the size of the original 27mm F 2.8 Fuji lens (left). I ran an informal vignetting test and found no noticeable change with the new installation.

For the cost of that adapter I have achieved a level of bliss similar to the time I adapted the big hood to the lens using the MMTA, only better. I am happy enough with this kluge to call it "over and out".