auto mode in my flash

alaios

Hi all,
I have a sony a6000 and a nikon sd-80dx flash (that I am mostly using in manual mode). This flash has an auto ability (I think this was a bit before ttl came into game) that can independently of the camera calculate the right flash power.

I have synced it with the camera making always sure that my cameras shutter speed would kill any ambient light. The shots I got that were mainly lit by my flash were quite accurate.. meaning perhaps that the auto mode of my flash is doing the job nicely.

The way I am working with it, and I want some comments if I can do it better is to
(for indoor places) pick a low iso on my flash and on my camera. On camera keep the same aperture and shutter speed and start with the same iso with my flash.
Typically I bounce the flash over the walls that this normally eats two or three stops. I found it faster taking iso from 100 to 400 fast enough to compensate for this loss without changing dof or shutter speed.

Does this sound a reasonable approach to use a flash in auto mode (no ttl)
Regards
Alex

pathfinder

If I understand you correctly, Alex, you are using an older flash in auto-flash exposure mode ( where the electronic flash quenches the flash tube when the flash has metered enough light on the subject ) and bouncing the flash off a wall or ceiling to light your subject and compensating your camera but increasing the ISO from 100 -> 400 instead of opening your aperture two fstops. This is kind of a rough guess that the reflecting surface costs 2 stops of light ( depends on distance to subject and reflecting quality of the surface ) , but yes, this may get you fairly close.

If you are shooting models or people who will stay where you tell them, using your flash in manual mode might be almost easier. Once you get your flash to subject distance ( including the reflecting surface in the path ) dialed in, the exposure never changes so you can shoot with your camera in manual mode as well once you determine the exposure. Once the flash to subject distance changes you have to adjust your exposure again though. But as long as the flash to subject distance does not change, the exposure doesn't change either.

If you are shooting children or candids, where you cannot control the flash to subject distance, then ETTL is much easier to use to control your flash output.

I suspect the accuracy of the quenching is pretty variable depending on the smoothness of the bounce surface and the angle the flash sensor is to the bounce surface.