odd metering with flash :-/

timmygcsc2308

timmygcsc2308

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Timmy
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asking here as this might be a bit of a newb question.
Right, shooting aperture priority on my D40, with the flash turned off everything is fine.
However when I pop the on-camera flash up the metering goes all screwy - no matter what I set the aperture size to, be it f/1.8 or f/22, and whatever ISO value I use, my exposure meter is telling me I'm under exposed by over 2 stops - interestingly the shutter speed is constantly set at 1/60 throughout (and yes..I gaurantee you I am shooting in 'A' mode before you say my camera is set to 'S' mode). And the pictures do come out under exposed too

In manual mode, no issues - it meters correctly, as with shutter priority mode.
same thing occurs on both my 35mm and my 55-200mm

any ideas? :shrug:

edit: I've reset all the settings - reset button by the connectors, two green dots together and in the menus, still the same

edit2: oh I just googled..does this sound correct?
Your camera is selecting 1/60 because that's its default.

Anytime a flash is used, shutter speed becomes somewhat irrelevant. It controls only how much the ambient light contributes to the photo, versus what the flash contributes. Slower shutter speeds allow more ambient light, and faster ones (up to the sync speed) allow little or none.

The duration of the flash is your "shutter speed" for the main subject in a flash photo. Normally, the camera adjusts either aperture or flash duration to get proper exposure. In the latter case, the flash is metered during exposure, and when it's sufficient, a "quench" signal is sent to the flash to say "OK, that's enough of that, thanks!"

When you're in aperture-priority, flash duration becomes the only means of setting exposure on the main subject.
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Last edited:
You answered your own question.

I don't know what the set up is like on the Nikon, but on the Canon I can get a faster sync speed using either shutter priority or manual, in fact I tend to use manual for flash, I set the aperture to the desired setting, then the shutter speed to between 1/125th and 1/200th and let the flash catch up, if its under exposed I just dial in some + flash compensation.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
What flash sync speed have you got set in the camera menu, the default 1/60 perchance...?
Click to expand...

well I'm not sure I have the option on the D40 or if I do I'm missing a trick, think this is whats thrown me
 
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