Leica 18452, 18450 manual 135, Manual flash activation, Manual flash and pre-flash activation

Automatic flash and pre-flash activation – (to reduce „red eye” effect)

„Red eye“ effect is caused by light from the flash reflecting off the cornea straight back to the camera and can occur when taking portrait and group pho- tos. It is therefore best if the people being photographed do not look straight at the camera. As the effect is worsened when the pupils are wide open in low light conditions, when taking photographs indoors for example, you should switch on as much room lighting as possible, so that the pupils become nar- rower.

Due to the pre-flash, which is triggered shortly before the main flash by press- ing the shutter release button, the pupils of the person looking at the camera contract to reduce the „red eye effect“.

Manual flash activation –

For backlit pictures, where your main subject does not fill the frame and is in shadow, or in cases where you want to moderate high contrasts (e.g. in direct sunlight) (fill-in flash).

As long as this mode is activated, the flash unit is fired for every picture, regardless of the prevailing lighting conditions, otherwise the functioning cor- responds exactly with those modes with automatic flash activation.

In this case, flash performance is controlled depending on the outdoor bright- ness metered: in poor light as with the automatic mode, with increasing ambi- ent brightness, however, with reduced output (up to a maximum of -1 2/3 EV). The flash then works as a fill-in light, for example to illuminate dark shadows in the foreground or backlit subjects, in order to obtain more balanced lighting overall.

Manual flash and pre-flash activation –

For the combination of the situations and functions described most recently above.

Automatic flash activation with slower shutter speeds –

For simultaneous more appropriate (brighter) reproduction, particularly for dark backgrounds and flash fill-in for the foreground. To minimize the risk of blur- ring, the shutter speed is not extended beyond 1/30 s in the other modes with flash activation. For pictures where the flash is used, this means that objects in the background, which the flash cannot reach, are often badly underexposed. To take appropriate account of the available ambient light, the longer shutter speeds necessary in these exposure situations (up to 30s) are permitted here.

Note:

The longest shutter speed used by the camera can be determined with the AUTO ISO Settings settings (3.3, see p. 118).

Also depending on the AUTO ISO Settings settings, slower shutter speeds may not have to be set by the camera since in such cases its priority is to raise the ISO sensitivity first.

Automatic flash and pre-flash activation with slower shutter speeds –

For the combination of the situations and functions described immediately above.

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