On-Camera Flash settings - Canon S5IS

GrainbeltGrainbelt Registered Users Posts: 478 Major grins
edited May 24, 2008 in Technique
I am, in a word, perplexed.

I have a Canon S5 IS. Great fun. Manual control, better photos than ever before, finally starting to get that 'need an SLR' feeling.

That said, I'm consistently outsmarted by the in-camera flash. In Auto, it does things automatically, and not well. In P, TV, or AV, I can choose between three 'strengths', of which zero usually work well.

In Manual mode, I get to adjust the flash by 1/3 stops. I take that to mean that if I use spot metering, and half-depress the shutter to see what the camera has evaluated my exposure of the subject to be, I can compensate with the flash settings. As far as I know, that is the same way ETTL works if I were to mount a flash to the hotshoe.

Can any S-series users confirm this, or make slightly more sense of it? Does the camera adjust the flash strength for focal distance? Should I shut up and buy an SLR already?

Appreciate any input.

--MIke

Comments

  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,129 moderator
    edited May 24, 2008
    Mike,

    Sorry I can't help as I don't have one of these cameras to play with, but I think this is a fairly important matter and I hope someone can answer.

    Consider this a "bump".

    Anybody?
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Sign In or Register to comment.