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Bob Atkins previews Sony's newest NEX body the F3
Clubs, bars, and small venues are the places where most concert and live music photographers get their start, the reason being that there are fewer restrictions since the performers are less likely to...
Minolta's flash metering system has remained basically unchanged over the years; apparently they decided that a single centerweighted TTL/OTF sensor provided sufficient accuracy for most purposes, and so they turned their attention to making the flashes themselves more versatile.
The first idea, which is just now being adopted by the competition, is multi-unit wireless TTL flash sync, including ratio support. Improving the quality of light from a flash means moving it away from the camera and lens, and this usually involves a connecting cable of some kind. Minolta makes such a system of cords (briefly described below), but also allows you to simply pick up the flash and hold it in your hand. A built-in or shoe-mounted flash, or a dedicated wireless controller, will send brief pulses of light to control the off-camera unit, giving you full TTL flash control at shutter speeds up to 1/60.
The second, which is only available with the 5400HS flash unit, and is now offered on at least one flash from all the major makers, is high-speed flash sync. Under normal circumstances, for a flash to work correctly it must fire when the shutter is completely open; the fastest speed where the entire frame is exposed at the same time is the fastest speed you can use flash with. Minolta got around this problem by having the flash fire repeated short bursts as the various parts of the shutter open and close, giving the illusion of a continuous flash exposure. The drawback to this scheme is that the available flash power drops considerably when used this way, drastically reducing the range. This makes it primarily useful for fill-flash in bright sunlight, where the subject is typically fairly close, and the flash doesn't have to provide a complete exposure.
A third, pre-flash metering, will be available in the Spring of '99 on the model 9, and I'll describe it as soon as I know more about how they implemented it. In an interesting reversal of common industry practice, they were able to add a new feature to their flash system without releasing a new flash; the 5400HS will work with this feature.
Last but not least, they recently added rear-curtain sync to the 800si and the upcoming model 9, which will work with any flash that the camera is capable of firing. They're a bit late with this one, but the implementation looks quite solid and versatile.
With the model 9, Minolta has also recognized the limitations of their single centerweighted flash sensor, and added additional sensors that are tied to the AF sensors, so that the camera will be able to determine which portion of the frame holds the in-focus subject (which should product results comparable to the highly-regarded Nikon D system).
