thin negs

[Dean Pascoe Williams]

been coming up with a series of thin negs using yashica mat and starblitz flash- 2-3 stops under even when aperture wide open e.g f4

went through 4 films, bracketing etc, then realized I hadn't switched the camera to x-synch

flash and camera working independent of each other-its not the tools I'm sure...I'm doing something wrong somewhere

tried all the flash variables ( auto , manual, settings for lens focal lengths)

I'm hoping its the x-synch otherwise I've no idea

any feedback advice encouragement appreciated

ps not film a processing issue, as all other processing ok

 

[JW PHOTO]

If you are using electronic flash you "MUST" have the sync switch to "X" or you'll get exactly what you got. When I used my first 124G for a fill-in at weddings I took a small piece of surgical rubber tubing and folded it then wedged it in the slot on the sync switch so as to keep it in the "X" position. I'd advice you to do something similar since the switch can be moved very easily. JW

 

[snapguy]

'Mat

I have a Yashicamat that was owned by a major photo wire service in the 1960s. The wire service modified the camera to make life easier for the cameraman. They drilled a small hole in in the front of the camera and inserted a small screw above the M/X lever so the lever would always be on "X" for strobe. It could be removed and the lever switched to "M" for flashbulbs if needed, which was unlikely.

 

[MattKing]

I had a 55mm lens for a Mamiya TLR where the previous user had permanently glued the X-M synch selector at the X position.

I have another lens - a 65mm version - where the shutter doesn't even work if I inadvertently switch it to the M position. I'm thinking about bring out the glue gun .....

 

[Zathras]

If the synch was not set to 'X', the flash would have fired BEFORE the shutter opened. When flash bulbs were still in common use, the bulbs needed to fire before the shutter opened, so the shutter needed to be delayed a few milliseconds to allow the bulb to be at full intensity when the shutter opened. Strobes reach peak intensity much faster than bulbs do, so they can be fired as soon as the shutter is open. Unless there is something wrong with the camera, setting the synch selector back to 'X' should keep this from happening in the future.

 

[dehk]

Seems like you got your answer and I agreed with everyone above.