Flash photography

SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
edited October 12, 2005 in Technique
Not sure I have any specific questions but thought I would comment and see if any one has some words of wisdom for me. I will be reading everything I can on this subject.

I have had a 580 EX on my list of things to buy for a while now and finally went ahead and picked one up.

My initial experiment with it yesterday produced mixed results. Some how I was expecting to be able to get fast shutter speeds while using aperture priority, but it didn’t work out that way. Shutter speeds were anywhere from 1/200 (ok) to way over a second. When I used shutter priority, & FP flash, I was able to set the shutter speed to anything I wanted but the camera would set the wide open at f4, and would blink. (Only tried the 17-40L so far) While I think the blinking indicated that the exposure would be off, the histogram looked pretty good.

I tried using it in TV, & FP for fill flash with some success.

I did try to increase the flash exposure, but that didn’t seem to change the histogram.

Oh well I guess if they made the whole process easy, everyone would be a master.

Sam

Comments

  • ginger_55ginger_55 Registered Users Posts: 8,416 Major grins
    edited September 25, 2005
    And I thought it was because I have the Sigma.

    ginger
    After all is said and done, it is the sweet tea.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited September 25, 2005
    canon flash photography tips, techniques, tutorial

    intro reading

    advanced reading
  • lynnmalynnma Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 5,208 Major grins
    edited September 25, 2005
    andy wrote:
    canon flash photography tips, techniques, tutorial

    intro reading

    advanced reading
    OOOOOOOOhh thanks.. at last..a flash tutorial..clap.gif
  • lynnmalynnma Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 5,208 Major grins
    edited September 25, 2005
    lynnma wrote:
    OOOOOOOOhh thanks.. at last..a flash tutorial..clap.gif
    p.s. having printed out and actually read the info.. I know understand my E-TTL Speedlite EX - now I know why my shutter speed was soooooo slow at the reception of my friends wedding when I had it in AP mode in a dark room... thanks again Andy iloveyou.gif
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited September 25, 2005
    Just ordered mine from B&H Friday ..so probaly get it late this week
    Everyone I talked to saied it's a great flash we will see

    Going to read the links Andy posted next let us know what you find out

    Thanks
    Fred
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited September 26, 2005
    USAIR wrote:
    Just ordered mine from B&H Friday ..so probaly get it late this week
    Everyone I talked to saied it's a great flash we will see

    Going to read the links Andy posted next let us know what you find out

    Thanks
    Fred
    After another test sesion, I will sugest you buy stock in a battery company. :D 4 AA Batteries don't seem to last very long.

    Sam
  • lynnmalynnma Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 5,208 Major grins
    edited September 26, 2005
    This is a little off the subject but it's still lighting and sooooo good I thought I resurrect it, it really helped me. Heres the link to the link..

    lynn
  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited September 26, 2005
    My initial experiment with it yesterday produced mixed results. Some how I was expecting to be able to get fast shutter speeds while using aperture priority, but it didn’t work out that way. Shutter speeds were anywhere from 1/200 (ok) to way over a second.
    Because in Av mode its also trying to properly expose the background, which might require a very slow shutter.
    When I used shutter priority, & FP flash, I was able to set the shutter speed to anything I wanted but the camera would set the wide open at f4, and would blink.
    Which is the camera's way of telling you the background will be very under-exposed. This is something you might not care about.

    Best bet is to use P or M. I'm going to be shooting some martial arts this evening, and I'm being allowed to use my 580EX (the guy WANTS his students to get randomly distracted -- wise teacher). I'm going to be using M mode. I will set the shutter I want for the action I anticipate. I will set the aperture to deal with depth of focus. I will let the flash go on ETTL-2 to properly expose the subject. I will not care about the background exposure at all.

    Also, further note on the 580EX. I find that if I am photographing subjects close to me that it works much better with the flash head tilted 45 degrees up and the bounce shield extended. This works even without a wall or ceiling to bounce from. I'm not sure why the results are that much better, but I think it might have to do with the zoom feature of the flash head. And I usually use -2/3 of FEC, but that is to taste.
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • John MuellerJohn Mueller Registered Users Posts: 2,555 Major grins
    edited September 26, 2005
    mercphoto wrote:
    Because in Av mode its also trying to properly expose the background, which might require a very slow shutter.


    Which is the camera's way of telling you the background will be very under-exposed. This is something you might not care about.

    Best bet is to use P or M. I'm going to be shooting some martial arts this evening, and I'm being allowed to use my 580EX (the guy WANTS his students to get randomly distracted -- wise teacher). I'm going to be using M mode. I will set the shutter I want for the action I anticipate. I will set the aperture to deal with depth of focus. I will let the flash go on ETTL-2 to properly expose the subject. I will not care about the background exposure at all.

    Also, further note on the 580EX. I find that if I am photographing subjects close to me that it works much better with the flash head tilted 45 degrees up and the bounce shield extended. This works even without a wall or ceiling to bounce from. I'm not sure why the results are that much better, but I think it might have to do with the zoom feature of the flash head. And I usually use -2/3 of FEC, but that is to taste.
    Yes,it works much better with the bounce shield up at 45.Also Im getting best results with ISO 400 in M and FEC +1 varied shutter speeds.
    I also use a LPII. I have better results with the bounce method.
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited September 26, 2005
    mercphoto wrote:
    Because in Av mode its also trying to properly expose the background, which might require a very slow shutter.


    Which is the camera's way of telling you the background will be very under-exposed. This is something you might not care about.

    Best bet is to use P or M. I'm going to be shooting some martial arts this evening, and I'm being allowed to use my 580EX (the guy WANTS his students to get randomly distracted -- wise teacher). I'm going to be using M mode. I will set the shutter I want for the action I anticipate. I will set the aperture to deal with depth of focus. I will let the flash go on ETTL-2 to properly expose the subject. I will not care about the background exposure at all.

    Also, further note on the 580EX. I find that if I am photographing subjects close to me that it works much better with the flash head tilted 45 degrees up and the bounce shield extended. This works even without a wall or ceiling to bounce from. I'm not sure why the results are that much better, but I think it might have to do with the zoom feature of the flash head. And I usually use -2/3 of FEC, but that is to taste.
    Thanks for your response. The Rebel dosn't have ETTL-2 only ETTL. Not sure until I do more reading what that means. I will try the 45º method. I think I need to try sveral techniques, and practice.

    I have printed out all the material sugested but have had a crazy week, so no time to read it, but I am haveing some minor surgery on my wrist next Monday and will be off work for about 4 weeks. I have a lot of reading scheduled. :D

    Sam
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited September 29, 2005
    Mine came today clap.gif
    Pulled it out of the box put it on ETTL took a couple of shots of the cats one of my wife one of my son running away from me
    They look really good for full auto even used the catchlight thingie

    I sure it's going to take a little more to use it to it's full capabilities

    Fred
  • Steve CaviglianoSteve Cavigliano Super Moderators Posts: 3,599 moderator
    edited September 29, 2005
    Sam wrote:
    After another test sesion, I will sugest you buy stock in a battery company. :D 4 AA Batteries don't seem to last very long.

    Sam
    Invest in 8 AA NIMH's and a charger. These lil guys can be recharged many times and with 8, you'll always have a spare set charged . FWIW, my charger takes about 75 minutes to charge a set of 4 well used NIMHs. I get lots of flashes from them and really fast recycling. I think I paid < $30 for the 8 batteries and the 4 slot charger.


    Steve
    SmugMug Support Hero
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited September 29, 2005
    Invest in 8 AA NIMH's and a charger. These lil guys can be recharged many times and with 8, you'll always have a spare set charged . FWIW, my charger takes about 75 minutes to charge a set of 4 well used NIMHs. I get lots of flashes from them and really fast recycling. I think I paid < $30 for the 8 batteries and the 4 slot charger.


    Steve
    This is on my Fry's list already.

    Thanks,

    Sam
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2005
    Check out Andy's links if you use a canon flash it is a must read

    I printed it all out have not read all yet but it sure answers a lot of my questions

    Thanks Andy

    Fred
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2005
    Question ?
    The 580ex is supposed to have a switch inside the battery compartment to go from metric to feet for coupling range
    Where is it I can't find it ?
    I would like to see feet myself
    I am thinking its behind the battery arrangement sticker ne_nau.gif

    It's in part 2 under Manual (M) exposure mode flash (Andy's link)

    Update:
    Well I guess I don't absorb everything I read the first time headscratch.gif
    Page 27 bottom of the page tells how to do this...very easy too
    Sorry for wasting everyones time
    11doh.gif

    Thanks
    Fred
  • HiggmeisterHiggmeister Registered Users Posts: 909 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2005
    Invest in 8 AA NIMH's and a charger. These lil guys can be recharged many times and with 8, you'll always have a spare set charged . FWIW, my charger takes about 75 minutes to charge a set of 4 well used NIMHs. I get lots of flashes from them and really fast recycling. I think I paid < $30 for the 8 batteries and the 4 slot charger.
    Steve
    I use a $35 charger bought at Walmart that does the charge in 15 minutes for 4 batteries (AA or AAA). The lower internal resistance of the NiMH's allow for the faster recycle time than Alkalines. Here's the catch. Alkalines will keep their charge for many years and the NiMH's will discharge while in storage after a few weeks. It's always good to keep a spare set of Alkalines with you, but I exclusively use the NiMH batteries. And they store much more energy than the Alkalines. Check the rating of the batteries before you buy them. I buy the 2500mAH batteries for about $1 each where an alkaline batter is equivalent to about 1600mAH.

    I usually keep a set on the charger at all times (no harm done, the charger doesn't overcharge).

    Just my .02,
    Chris

    A picture is but words to the eyes.
    Comments are always welcome.

    www.pbase.com/Higgmeister

  • BaldyBaldy Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 2,853 moderator
    edited October 5, 2005
    We see some print returns from the w0nkY colors flashes add to wedding dresses and skin.

    Wedding dress blues.

    Nuclearized faces.
  • SeamusSeamus Registered Users Posts: 1,573 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2005
    using flash on manual settings
    Hi folks,

    I have read the links posted by Andy and have been trying different settings. I think I am right with my settings but I would like to check.

    If I set the camera to manual, 1/250 f8 iso 400 the flash will light the scene and I have a high enough shutter speed to freeze motion. Specifically I will be going to a motorbike show at the end of the month and the venue will be badly lit.

    P mode on the camera always has 1/60 f4 at iso 400. I want to take pictures of people and I amn't sure if these settings will be fast enough to freeze motion.

    Thanks,

    Shay.
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited October 11, 2005
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited October 11, 2005
    USAIR wrote:
    Thought these looked intresting

    Five Flash Techniques

    Fill Flash Cheat Sheet

    Fred
    Fred,

    Thanks for the thought, but I can't seem to download anything from your link, or direct from the web site. ne_nau.gif

    Sam
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited October 12, 2005
    Sam wrote:
    Fred,

    Thanks for the thought, but I can't seem to download anything from your link, or direct from the web site. ne_nau.gif

    Sam
    I just checked both here at work and they work fine ne_nau.gif

    Fred
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