Struggling with bounce flash on D90 - any ideas ?

[mikeyw]

In the past i've used my SB400 + Nikon D40 to great effect with bounced flash, however i just can't seem to get the same results with the D90 + bounce.

Direct flash is fine and even better than the D90 but for some reason the D90 always underexposes on bounce.

The example below was shot with the excellent sigma 18-50 F2.8 in A mode at F5.6.

These are straight from cam results to illustrate the point - any ideas why bounce is off the mark ?

I did have metering set to multi not spot so that might have made things a little worse.

Maybe it's me and the bounce exposure is what people would expect ?

TIA,
Mike.

 

[mikeyw]

Any thoughts guys ? - had quite a bit of feedback on dpreview.com....suggestions include not bouncing and control the flash more via the cam, reducing shutter speed to increase ambient light when bouncing, getting a deflector or changing to a better speedlight !.....i did a wedding a while back and the sb400 flash struggled to be honest in the darkish room the ceremony was held in.

It's fine for home shots in smallish rooms but maybe the flash ain't up to bouncing in larger room with higher ceilings ?

 

[will69]

The SB400 loos like a nice compact flash, but remember it has a guide number of 21m at ISO100, so it will not light a church. When bouncing unless the bounce surface is close it may struggle.

In the above images are both shots bounced? The second brighter image was taken 2secs after the first darker image according the the EXIF data. If they were the other way around I would have said that the flash had not fullt recharged, but not sure.

I would expect a softer light in a bounced image, with some shadow, like the first. I think that is dark because the ceiling is too high for the flash. Try using a higher ISO.

I would expect to see a harsher flat light with direct flash, with less shadow, like the second shot. Is the second shot with direct flash?

 

[chris321]

That's the way round I'd have guessed at too! Could well be a power issue, if you're spreading the light out over a larger area, it needs more power. Doesn't explain why it was fine on the D40.... What position was the flash head in? Straight up, up and forwards, diffuser etc?

Edit: Just thought I'd mention, I prefer the first, the atmosphere is nicer and the light more flattering, even though the exposure isn't spot on. The second could have been taken on a run-of-the-mill point and shoot to be honest and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference!

 

[HoppyUK]

Any thoughts guys ? - had quite a bit of feedback on dpreview.com....suggestions include not bouncing and control the flash more via the cam, reducing shutter speed to increase ambient light when bouncing, getting a deflector or changing to a better speedlight !.....i did a wedding a while back and the sb400 flash struggled to be honest in the darkish room the ceremony was held in.

It's fine for home shots in smallish rooms but maybe the flash ain't up to bouncing in larger room with higher ceilings ?

I think there is your answer. SB400 is quite a small gun relatively speaking, but it will cope better if you use a lower f/number and/or increase the ISO.

Also set the camera to give a longer shutter speed (that would be Av on a Canon) to get some ambient light in the background.

That should sort it