Flash questions.

Chonga

Chonga

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Lee
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I've taken delivery of a Speedlite 430EX this week and I intend to use it at a wedding reception on saturday. Reading through some of the tips here has pointed me in the right direction w.r.t. setting camera to AV for fill light and manual for indoor/night time outside. The reception is taking place at a manor house and there will be outside games (human table football/bouncy castle etc..).
First question is when should I switch over to manual when outside (lighting conditions dusk? long before dusk etc...)
Second question is to capture some of the football action outside night time would I (a) get away with it (b) should I increase the ISO and whack the speed up to 1/200 (i believe that is the max with flash????)
third question is should I whack up the ISO indoors for candid potrait shots. I've been messing around indoors this week at ISO 100 and the shots have come out ok.

Any tips will be most appreciated
 
1. Change to manual at the point that shutter speeds become too slow in Av to avoid camera shake at your desired aperture.
2. I don't know if you'll get away with it with the 430 as it might not have enough power, but if you can, whack up the ISO, and slow down the shutter speed to let more ambient light in, and open up your aperture as wide as you dare.
3. Putting up the ISO indoors will let in more ambient light, so at ISO 100, depending on lighting conditions, the background could appear to be black at ISO 100, or if there are coloured lights, at ISO 400 or 800 they would show up. The other point, is the lower the ISO, the harder the flash will have to work, so you'll drain your batteries faster, and the flash will take longer to recycle.

Hope that helps!
 
You can set the 430 ex to high speed flash mode, do this for your outside fill flash pictures. It lets you use the gun at all shutter speeds, instead of your cameras flash sink speed.

Got a Canon Compact Battery Pack CP-E3 for sale.
£55 deliverd.
Would go nice with your 430 ex.
 
Thanks for the replies. Most useful. Really looking forward to giving this a go on saturday. :)

Will have to give the battery pack a miss Papa because the flashgun has cleaned me out.
 
Actually, PapaLazarou is right - it's always worth having the flash set to FP (high speed sync), and that way you never need to think about whether you need to swap modes. The thing it's worth noting with that is, though, that it massively reduces the maximum output, as it needs to flash a number of times in quick succession. Outdoors, if you're shooting into the sun, it will almost certainly not have enough power.
 
Chonga... if you use AV until dusk... you will have to keep a good look at the shutter speed values being chosen to prevent camera shake.

If on the other hand you use TV (shutter priority) you can set at 1/60th or 1/125" or whatever.. if the aperture changes a stop or so then so what, as most of your shots will not matter if there is a slight change in depth of field except perhaps the arty farty ones!!

Id rather be sure of sharp hand held shots. (y)

Also, goatee, I would think it would be outdoors in sun where the highspeed flash is most needed.. thats where I started to use it as the camera wanted high shutterspeeds because of the brighteness of sun and it couldnt get them because of the sync speed being 1/250th. So I suppose drain on batteries in inevetable :| It sure drained mine!!:D
 
Janice, I never shoot in Tv, but that's the perfect use of it - great tip, and I'll make use of it :D.

I guess with the shooting into the sun thing, it depends on whether you meter for what you're shooting, or you let the camera meter the scene as a whole, in which case you're right, it will try to set a really high shutter speed. I normally partial/spot meter off the person I'm shooting, and then just use the flash for fill, which means shutter speeds don't need to go too high. The one certain thing, is that it will drain the batteries quick!

Janice said:
Chonga... if you use AV until dusk... you will have to keep a good look at the shutter speed values being chosen to prevent camera shake.

If on the other hand you use TV (shutter priority) you can set at 1/60th or 1/125" or whatever.. if the aperture changes a stop or so then so what, as most of your shots will not matter if there is a slight change in depth of field except perhaps the arty farty ones!!

Id rather be sure of sharp hand held shots. (y)

Also, goatee, I would think it would be outdoors in sun where the highspeed flash is most needed.. thats where I started to use it as the camera wanted high shutterspeeds because of the brighteness of sun and it couldnt get them because of the sync speed being 1/250th. So I suppose drain on batteries in inevetable :| It sure drained mine!!:D
Click to expand...
 
goatee said:
Janice, I never shoot in Tv, but that's the perfect use of it - great tip, and I'll make use of it :D.

I guess with the shooting into the sun thing, it depends on whether you meter for what you're shooting, or you let the camera meter the scene as a whole, in which case you're right, it will try to set a really high shutter speed. I normally partial/spot meter off the person I'm shooting, and then just use the flash for fill, which means shutter speeds don't need to go too high. The one certain thing, is that it will drain the batteries quick!
Click to expand...

I thought fill-in was metering off the background and when the camera choose a shutterspeed to make the background correct...your subect would be left underexposed or with shadows and then the flash automatically fills in your subject. Perhaps I have it all wrong.........it wouldnt be the first time!! :D :LOL:
 
Nope, you're right, but it can also be used to just add a bit of extra light to help make the subject stand out from the background, I know it sounds odd if you're shooting into the sun.

420926870_7e2b5551fd_o.jpg


This is an example of what I mean - if I metered for the whole scene, the grass would be darker. Instead I metered off Catherine, and used the flash to pep it up a bit.
 
goatee said:
Nope, you're right, but it can also be used to just add a bit of extra light to help make the subject stand out from the background, I know it sounds odd if you're shooting into the sun.

420926870_7e2b5551fd_o.jpg


This is an example of what I mean - if I metered for the whole scene, the grass would be darker. Instead I metered off Catherine, and used the flash to pep it up a bit.
Click to expand...

was the flash in auto ettl or manual and dialled down?
 
err, can't remember - here's the EXIF from the shot - although as you can see, I was in HSS mode!

Manufacturer: Canon
Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Date: 02.11.2006 12:44:51
Aperture: f 4.0
ISO: 200
Shutter speed: 1/500 s
EV +0.33 EV
Program: A - Aperture-priority auto
Metering mode: Multisegment
Flash: Fired, Compulsory flash mode
Zoom: 168 mm KB (105.0 mm Real)
Resolution: 3504 x 2336 Pixel
Picture density: -- dpi
File size: 66064 Bytes
Flash:: Fired, Compulsory flash mode
Date Digitized: 02.11.2006 12:44:51
CCD Resolution: 3959 x 3959 dpi
Custom rendered: Normal process
Exposure mode I: Auto exposure
White balance I: Auto white balance
Scene capture type: Standard
 
More useful tips. Thanks Janice & goatee. I'll have a play in (TV) mode prior to saturday and see what results I get. :)

I'll have peek at the photo when I get home from work as our network here has block links to virtually every photo storage site. I spend the daytime looking at white boxes with red crosses in them lol!
 
Thanks :). I can see what you're on about. I'll be pleased if mine come out anywhere near as good.
 
Janice said:
I thought fill-in was metering off the background and when the camera choose a shutterspeed to make the background correct...your subect would be left underexposed or with shadows and then the flash automatically fills in your subject. Perhaps I have it all wrong.........it wouldnt be the first time!! :D :LOL:
Click to expand...

Janice - when metering off the background what metering mode do you use?
 
I'm not using Canon, but for fill I set HSS (high speed sync) on the flash and this allows high shutter speeds to be set with the camera in manual. In any of the auto modes the max shutter speed is the sync speed, but the shutter speed will drop for shorter focal lengths for which there's less risk of camera shake, if the conditions are dark enough - this allows a bit of ambient light to illuminate the backround and reduces the flash power required.

So, in daylight, I meter manually and will likely have a shutter speed faster than 1/500. I have to set the camera to manual to allow for HSS. The flash indicates the usable range, which falls away the faster the shutter speed.

At dusk, or indoors at night, I'll usually manually set the camera for two or three stops underexposure at f/5.6 and choose a shutter speed 1/(focal length), or higher if necessary, and use a slight orange filter to balance with typical lighting.
 
Ah - another Metz user :D. I always have HSS turned on, because when the shutter speed is low enough, it doesn't use it.

Chonga said:
Thanks :). I can see what you're on about. I'll be pleased if mine come out anywhere near as good.
Click to expand...
Thanks :D. Just grab yourself a copy of a Lands End catalogue as it's free, seasonal and is full of great ideas :D.
 
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