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Contax TLA 360 Flash to Contax N1 or Contax N1D

I'm afraid this discussion has drifted somewhat off the original topic about the TLA-360. One of the recent queries was about flash exposure with the TLA-360 in mixed lighting. My recommendation was to get a simple handheld flash meter. Flash meters are simple to use. Just set the ISO, set the meter to cordless flash mode, hold the meter near the subject, pointing towards the camera, fire the flash, see the required aperture on the meter. Simple.

Spot meters, 18% grey, mid-tones, and so on are irrelevant to an incident flash meter. I am worried that the person who made the query will become very confused by the rather complex advice and warnings in the last few postings, so I take this opportunity, with all due respect to the good intentions and knowledge of the kind people made the recent postings, to try and clarify the question of flash metering.

In some situations, TTL flash metering just doesn't work well. Any handheld incident flash meter will give much more reliable results, especially when the flash is being bounced. There's nothing complex about it. Using an incident flash meter removes all the complexity of subject tone, reflectivity, etc., because we are just reading how much light from the flash is reaching the subject.

TTL flash metering sometimes fails because of the complex matters such as subject tone, subject reflectivity, subject position (off-centre)and so on. Hand-held incident flash meters are the solution. And incident flash meters are very simple. The only mistake you can make is to have the wrong ISO setting in the meter.
 
I am not familiar with the> book you mentioned. Can you provide the title?

Its called the "hand exposure meter book" and you can get it direct from Bob at www.bobshell.com . Worth every cent in my opinion..... Steve
 
ON both my N1 and ND if I meter an area (spot,average or matrix), I am exactly one f-stop off of the same metering using an incident light meter. Based on the sunny rule of 16,the incident light meter seems to be correct (ISO 100, F8, 1/100th in open shade).

Is there a reason for a variance from an incident reading versus the N1's reflective metering?

Thanks,

Michael.
 
The reason for the difference in incident vs reflected. Reflected should be calibrated for 18% gray, usually skin tone or grass. Measure things that reflect more or less, and it will vary even if both meters are accurate. The incident meter measures only light falling on the subject, so it is not affected by the subject.
 
I ran a series of test, and re-read the manuals for the N1, the ND and the TLA 360 flashes and was surprised. I wrote up what happens when the EC dial is used to try and control flash output. You can not change the flash output without impacting the Ambient light reading (even if you set the AEL lock) in all modes except for manual. Manual is even worse. See:http://www.outbackcoyote.com/outphoto_reviewN1D_FlashAEL.htmlhttp://www.outbackcoyote.com/outphoto_reviewN1D_FlashAEL.ht mlhttp://www.outbackcoyote.com/outphoto_reviewN1D_FlashAEL.html
 
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