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#1
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Fill Flash with the Canon 20D?
I have a new Canon 20D and 580 EX flash. I'm looking for information on using
this combination for fill flash. I grab a lot of non-professional (meaning stark amateur) photographs of people in costumes at conventions (anime and SF conventions, if you must know). Usually, the photos are outside, usually in the sun. The photos are not posed, beyond just asking the model if I can take their picture. This gives me a lot of harsh shadows, as you can imagine, as I can't really control the angle of the sun relative to the model. My previous camera was a Sony 717. I added a Vivitar 285 flash. With this combination, I could set the automatic flash and the aperture for a flash fill of about 2/3 stop under, just to soften the shadows. It seemed to work pretty well when I also underexposed the picture by 2/3 stop also. The Canon 20D and 580 EX flash combination has two exposure compensations, one for the AE and one for the flash. The manual mentions fill flash, but doesn't really go into the settings needed for this. I suspect there is some combination of the settings, (possibly using manual for the exposure, possibly using aperture priority), that will allow me to not worry about adjusting the settings for every shot. I'm looking for settings that I can use to point at a subject in the shadow, then in harsh sunlight, and get good enough photos, but with automatic flash fill when needed. Anyone done any flash fill, and have any suggested settings for the Canon 20D? Jerry (Sorry about the cross-post, but Earthlink doesn't have the rec.photo.digital.slr-systems newsgroup yet, so please post to rec.photo.digital.) |
#2
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Your equipment is a generation newer than mine but I'll offer that program
mode and Av mode will both provide what you want. |
#3
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"Charles Schuler" wrote in message
... Your equipment is a generation newer than mine but I'll offer that program mode and Av mode will both provide what you want. Program mode will assume the flash is the only source of light for the subject and adjust aperture, shutter speed, and flash output accordingly. Av will assume flash will light the subject, but adjust shutter speed for background ambient light. So I'd say they could be very different depending on ambient light conditions. Mark |
#4
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"Mark B." wrote in message
... "Charles Schuler" wrote in message ... Your equipment is a generation newer than mine but I'll offer that program mode and Av mode will both provide what you want. Program mode will assume the flash is the only source of light for the subject and adjust aperture, shutter speed, and flash output accordingly. Av will assume flash will light the subject, but adjust shutter speed for background ambient light. So I'd say they could be very different depending on ambient light conditions. Mark Actually, ETTL does that in program mode, too... -- Skip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com |
#5
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Jerry Shaw writes:
I have a new Canon 20D and 580 EX flash. I'm looking for information on using this combination for fill flash. Anyone done any flash fill, and have any suggested settings for the Canon 20D? Howdy Jerry, The definition of fill flash varies based on lighting condition and ISO. Really, what we're talking about is playing with the mixture of flash light to ambient light, and in a fill flash situation, the desire is to have mostly ambient light, and just a taste of flash to punch in the shadows. One way to guarantee a given amount of ambient light with just a taste of fill flash is to use Tv modes. Pick a shutterspeed that gives you the level of ambient light that looks right, and let the camera fill in the rest for proper expsoure. Warning though, your max flash sync speed can get in the way here on the top end. Another way is to use P mode and vary the ISO setting. Higher ISOs should give you more of an available light mix, lower isos will call in more flash to make the exposure. Yet another way is to play with exposure compensation. An old trick to get more available light and less flash is to go +1 stop on the main exposure compensation, and -1 stop on the flash exposure compensation. I'm not sure there's any one setting that'll work best regardless of the situation. Try P mode on ISO 200 for starters, and tweak from there. Best Regards, -- Todd H. http://www.toddh.net/ |
#7
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Anyone done any flash fill, and have any suggested settings for the
Canon 20D? Yet another way is to play with exposure compensation. An old trick to get more available light and less flash is to go +1 stop on the main exposure compensation, and -1 stop on the flash exposure compensation. In my experience, the best way to get fill flash to work right is to use a manual flash. The manual flash also opens up lots of new possibilities, and at $70 doesn't even cost much. -Joel ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please feed the 35mm lens/digicam databases: http://www.exc.com/photography ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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