what flim to use with a flash

[ayo_jay]

hi
i'm a newbie trying my hand at fahsion photography. i have decided to take photos of a student fashion show and was unsure whether to use an iso 125 flim with a flash or just use an iso 400 or higher flim with the avalible light.
i'm not too bothered about grain
i have a pentax super me.

can anyone recommend a cheapish rangefinder (£50-£150)

[zx9]

can anyone recommend a cheapish rangefinder (£50-£150)

Have you read this review above by Luis. Either camera would leave you enough cash for an extra lens, say a 35mm or a 90mm and viewfinder. I am afraid £150 is only half way to a Voigtlander Bessa or a third or quarter of the way to a 'user' Leica M2 / M3.
Of course if you do not need interchangeable lenses there is a whole host of under valued rangefinders from late 1970's made by the likes of Canon, Olympus, Minolta and Yashica.

[Wheelu]

Direct flash on the camera will not give you very flattering images. Can you take a look at the scene before the event, measure the light levels etc?

It may be possible to bounce some of the flash light off the ceiling, if it is both white and not too high. A practical test before the event would be good.

Without knowing what the lighting is likely to be I would be tempted to forget the flash and use HP5 rated at 800. There will be grain but you say that is not too important so that might be your answer.

Metering will be important. If the models are well lit with a dark background the ME Super meter will probably overexpose the highlights, as it will be fooled by the dark surroundings.

If you have access to an incident meter use that and set your camera to manual. If you have not got an incident meter, get in close and meter off a neutral coloured surface (ideally mid gray, but the back of a (white person's) hand will do), again set the camera to manual.

Let us know how you got on!

[ayo_jay]

thanks wheelu
i decided to check pics of last years event and discovered that the cieling is high and dark. so i'm going to go with hp5+ rated at 800, however i'm worried about people around me using flashes and ruining my shot. do you have any advise on what to do?
this a photo from last year
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Aberde...;id=52766997826

and thanks zx9
i'll have a look at fixed lens rangefinders on ebay, thanks for the link.

[Wheelu]

It's difficult to tell what the light is like from those images as they appear to be taken with flash. There is a photographer in some of the frames using a flashgun fitted with a diffuser and angling the gun at 45 deg, but he is using digital and is able to check every exposure by inspecting the histogram - some of the shots show this.

If at all possible I would recommend that you visit the venue and try to measure the light levels prior to the event.

I would not worry too much about other people using flash, it might mess up a couple of your shots but you would need to be pretty unlucky for there to be wholesale damage.

I hope that you get some interesting B&W results!