They simply get in the way when placed on the accessory shoe, especially on my Fed 2 and other FSU`s. My forehead hit`s the flash body with my eye pressed against the VF and is quite awkward at that. OK, I know a simple flash bracket is the fix and actually a marked improvement and I do use one but it`s not as portable as a siple little shoe flash that I can put in my pocket. I forgot that I bought (won the auction for) a small Vivitar 102 flash on ebay for $2.95 with (shipping $10). It came attached to a perfect working and great condition Olympus Trip 35. Actually I only wanted the flash but I got lucky. That makes up for one bad FSU from Ebay I got. Anyway the flash is only 1 -1/4 inches (3cm)wide and allows for better VF viewing. I can get out to 25ft (7+ meters)at f/2.8 @ISO 100 so it has reasonable power and only takes about 4 seconds to recycle with 4AA alkalines. Narrow,compact, manual, autoflashes are but very few and getting harder to find but they are out there. I lost out bidding on one last week. I think they average about $20 or so. Just wanted to pass it on unless there are better alternatives or ideas out there. If there is I`d like to hear what others are using. John
I tried using a flash with FED3 once or twice, but seemed to have some trouble with the synch, the flash fired before the first curtain was completely open.
I used flash with FED2/Industar26 a lot! Flash sit very uncomfortable indeed. The matters was worsened because flash was big (FIL-41) and work only from power outlet. But when you have no choice you get use to it Plus results was really good, better then with Zenit EM what I used later.
Problems with flash on FED3 should be easy to fix. But it needs to open top what is pain on this model.
Using flash with most FSU`s (with flash sync) isn`t ever going to be anything to get excited about but I don`t want to feel restricted using the camera only when there is sufficient natural illumination. Flash photography with old RF`s is certainly in a simple form but I find most of my flash shots to be at least acceptable and it really extends the usability of some FSU`s considerably. The more I use it the better I can judge the outcome. John
Flash and rangefinders
Posted - Jan 09 2008 : 5:36:15 PM
Plus results was really good, better then with Zenit EM what I used later.