Frustrated by the M rangefinders wimpy 1/50th maximum flash sync speed?
We all know the Leica syncs at 1/50th. That’s the fastest speed at which the second curtain doesn’t begin its travel until the first curtain has completely crossed the film gate. At 1/60, the flash “catches” the second curtain about 1mm into the frame. At 1/125, approximately 1/2 of the frame is blocked from the flash by the 2nd curtain, and at 1/250 only 1/4 of the frame gets flash exposure. In practical use, 1/60 is fully usable for flash sync even when flash is the main light source, but that’s not much to celebrate. 1/250 is useless even for fill-in. The interesting speed is 1/125. It is fully possible to use this speed for daylight synch as long as you position the subject you want “filled” in the half of the frame that gets hit by the flash […] The most useful application is for a portrait of a person whose face is in shadow, with the camera held vertically. You need to hold the camera with the shutter button at the TOP LEFT, released with the right index finger reaching over the
