using a pentax 67 and or 645 in a studio. is a leaf shutter lens needed?

[destroya]

me, being the curious type who loves learning, decided to take a class at the junior college in studio shooting and lighting. I never really shoot people ( I prefer inanimate objects. the don't complain) and if I do, I use my nikon set up as I have a few flash units. The 250 sync speed helps. anway...

I am hoping to do a lot of B&W photos for the studio shooting, so I will be using my pentax systems, a 645N and a 67ii. these things have very slow sync speeds, making fill flash hard (hence why I never even tried it before). So my question is do I need a leaf shutter lens for this? or in a studio environment is the 1/30 and 1/60 speed ok as the studio lights will be providing all the light and no need for any fill flash? funny, I have been a photo shooter for 25+ years and have never shot in a studio, let alone used a pc cable.

I hope my question makes sense.

John

 

[Rick A]

Slow synch speeds aren't a handicap in the studio. You should use appropriate lighting for the situation, shutter speed is fixed, and aperture is determined by light output. Your lighting set up will usually be a main and fills, sometimes more than one fill, background or bank of soft lights. Possibilities are endless. I really never needed anything faster than 1/30 or 1/60 , I never photoed a speeding car in the studio.

 

[MattKing]

The leaf shutters excel when you are trying to balance ambient light and flash.

If your only source of light is one or the other, you don't need to worry.

If that source is flash, it is the duration of the flash that determines whether you can stop action.

 

[snapguy]

barn story

I once lived and worked in a small barn that was a photo studio. The first thing done was to make large black curtains to block out the sunlight. Then we could use strobes and not worry about ambient light. The modeling lights went off before the shutter was opened and closed. Control the light -- that's what studios are for.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

The 67 cameras have their heritage in studio photography but as everybody knows they can be found anywhere but in a studio now. Those very slow sync speeds are not really a problem with managed flash photography in a studio setting. Photographers using the older 6x7 / 67 bodies use a flash meter for these situations rather than rely on the TTL meter. Of lenses, a leaf shutter lens will allow much higher sync speeds but on the camera side, it will be fixed on 1/8sec in the presence of an LS lens. The catch is that the LS lenses are procedural; setting them up/firing the wrong way can damage the leaf shutter, the camera shutter or both (download the 90 or 165mm LS manuals and read them).

 

[jadphoto]

No one has mentioned that if you use fast film and/or flash units with bright modeling lights you can get ghosting.

If you keep the modeling light intensity low and you should have no problem.

JD

 

[dpurdy]

I have shot lots of portraits with my Pentax in studio with strobes and with no sharpness problem. The problem I have is with the mirror flap noise causing people to blink. I get an unbelievable amount of closed eyes unless I use mirror lock up. Camera on tripod focused on the subject, lock up the mirror and look over the top of the camera. No closed eyes.
Dennis

 

[destroya]

thanks for the info guys!

 

[mweintraub]

As mentioned, ambient light can be a problem that will cause ghosting. I know this because I was shooting dogs in the home studio at around 1/60. This was a mistake because of the quick moving heads.

 

[tnabbott]

No. I have used both with a pocket wizard and got nice sharp results.

 

[jadphoto]

Another issue you'll have with either of your systems is that the only leaf shutter lenses available are normal focal lengths. If you're doing portraits you'll probably require a longer lens.

As dpurdy mention, for portraits the mirror slap with the Pentax 67 is an issue, one reason so many portrait/wedding shooters preferred the RB/RZ 67 system. The RB/RZs aren't all that quiet, but the mirror/shutter sound is "gentler" than the "thunder clap" you get with the Pentax 67 or 67II.

For table top/still life/product shooting the Pentax 67 will be fine but for that work you might consider the 75mm shift lens.

JD