Pop-up flash question

GadgetRick

Ok, I may be totally off-base on this, if so, please feel free to show me the door...

Anyway, was wondering if you could use the pop-up flash as fill if you were using an off-camera setup. I know I know, certainly not optimal but wondering if it's even possible. I think I'd rather just shoot on-camera unless someone thinks you'd gain anything doing it this way.

Thanks.

run_kmc

That could possibly depend on your equipment. What are you using?

Qarik

GadgetRick wrote: »

Ok, I may be totally off-base on this, if so, please feel free to show me the door...

Anyway, was wondering if you could use the pop-up flash as fill if you were using an off-camera setup. I know I know, certainly not optimal but wondering if it's even possible. I think I'd rather just shoot on-camera unless someone thinks you'd gain anything doing it this way.

Thanks.

That can definetly work if you are using the pop-up as the commander for the off camera flash. I would only use very little power on the pop-up..just to bring up some shadows.

ziggy53

The camera's built-in flash is definitely usable for fill light. Just remember that it is close to the axis of the lens so red eye is a potential problem. I tend to use FEC -2 to just fill a little.

It is also a good light to use for shooting subjects inside a car. The door frame of a car can get in the way of even an external flash on the hot-shoe and throw a nasty shadow. The built-in flash can give you some catch light without the shadow problem. Again, you don't want full power from the flash.

GadgetRick

ziggy53 wrote: »

The camera's built-in flash is definitely usable for fill light. Just remember that it is close to the axis of the lens so red eye is a potential problem. I tend to use FEC -2 to just fill a little.

It is also a good light to use for shooting subjects inside a car. The door frame of a car can get in the way of even an external flash on the hot-shoe and throw a nasty shadow. The built-in flash can give you some catch light without the shadow problem. Again, you don't want full power from the flash.

That's part of why I'm not sure I'd ever do it--red eye--but it's good to know you can do it if needed.

Oh, someone asked what I'm shooting, a 50D, 580EX II and I use an AB transmitter/receiver combo.

Thanks for the clarifications guys.

ziggy53

GadgetRick wrote: »

That's part of why I'm not sure I'd ever do it--red eye--but it's good to know you can do it if needed.

...

There is a lot of software to deal with red-eye, but the shadows from a car's door frame are much more difficult to handle in post.

GadgetRick

ziggy53 wrote: »

There is a lot of software to deal with red-eye, but the shadows from a car's door frame are much more difficult to handle in post.

Very good point.

liflander

Re: Pop-up flash question
I use my popup for fill in bright sun occasionally and it usually doesn't give me red eye. Nikon D300. But it is an easy fix anyway. I haven't tried a diffuser on the popup, but it might be worth a try.

LiflanderPhotography.com

ziggy53

liflander wrote: »

I use my popup for fill in bright sun occasionally and it usually doesn't give me red eye. Nikon D300. But it is an easy fix anyway. I haven't tried a diffuser on the popup, but it might be worth a try.

LiflanderPhotography.com

In bright light, human subjects typically have small pupils. The small pupils tend to reduce red-eye from a flash close to the lens axis. Couple that with a negative FEC and there shouldn't be a problem at all.

Matthew Saville

What an opportune moment for a demonstration!



This image was made on a D300 and 17-55, with the pop-up flash commanding an SB800 positioned directly behind the model, about 10 feet behind her with about ~5-10 feet between the camera and the model. The pop-up flash had a bit of trouble reaching the remote, but this shot fired perfectly. I used my hand to "flag" the pop-up a little bit so that most of the light fell on her face, and not so much on the rest of her body and the foreground. In a previous shot, the grass in the foreground was distractingly bright.





This image, taken at 17mm on the 17-55, had a bit of infamous pop-up shadow from the lens and the wide angle, but fortunately it was in the right place at the right time, so to speak.

Unfortunately in both of these pictures I can't say for sure what the pop-up flash or the remote flash were set to, but most of the time I'm setting my pop-up flash in TTL with -1 or -2 dialed in, and the remote is triggered manually because often times it is *in* the photo, and if it were in TTL it would never give me the amount of light I'm hoping for.

Good luck shooting! Getting really creative with just a pop-up flash and one or two relatively affordable wireless remotes is something I LOVE to do, and I've been using Nikon's pop-up commander system ever since it came out on the D70 in 2004. These photos were taken at casaul photo shoots, just goofing around with friends in our spare time. :-)

=Matt=

GadgetRick

Very nice Mathew...even for a Nikon shooter.

But seriously, very nice work there sir. Thanks for sharing. I may have to actually give this a shot (pun intended).