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#11
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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/ |
#13
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Todd,
(Todd H.) wrote: 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. My original reason for the post was to get some fill flash on outdoor shots, to fill in the harsher shadows at a convention I was going to. It was cold enough outside that day that there wasn't anyone outside. I used a bit of fill on the stage presentations, however (and thereby hangs a tale). 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. The Canon 20D will sync at up to 1/250. The 580EX has a high-speed flash mode, that lets the camera know it can shoot above that speed. I set the flash for that mode, but I don't think I ever used a speed above 1/250. Maybe if I were outside, I could have used it at 1/1000 or so. Maybe during this Christmas break, I can get a chance to go to Venice Beach, and photograph some of the bodybuilders there. That should give me a good chance to test out the higher speeds in the bright sun. 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. I made the mistake of using the P mode on the stage pictures I took. The camera set the speed to 1/60 (with ISO 800) even with the minimal lighting on the small stage. I had the flash set at -2/3 a stop. The problem I had was that the contestants were moving quite a bit. And even with the low lighting, the camera still exposed the stage light pretty well, but exposed the costumers with the flash. This caused a lot of blurring. Next time, I will go to full manual and set the speed to 1/125 or 1/200, and let the flash do most of the work. Another thing I found out fairly quickly was to not turn on the "safety" parameter in the camera, as it will change the speed of the Tv mode when there is not enough light, even if you want the flash to do all the job. With this setting on, the camera will reduce the speed of the shutter, overriding the Tv setting. I got a few several second shots this way, when I really wanted to use 1/250 and the flash for the light. 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. On the 20D, the camera will attempt to set the speed and F ratio to expose the background properly (in all modes except manual), even if you have the flash on. It will then use the flash to expose the subject in the center properly. So, it is usually better to go -2/3 or -1 on the camera, then +1 or so on the flash, to fill the subject properly. Supposedly, the Canon has an auto-fill when the flash is on that will drop the flash power in lighter scenes, to just a fill level. That is why I need to take a lot of outdoor shots and determine the best fill settings in sunlight. I may go up into the mountains in the forest, to get some harsh shadows to try the best settings. 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. With P mode and flash, at any ISO, the shutter speed is limited to 1/60 to 1/250, and the aperture is adjusted accordingly. So I'll probably use a fixed Tv mode, at 1/1000 or so to stop the action, then use the highspeed flash mode for fill. I may even set the camera in full manual, exposing for the sun, then using the flash for fill. That's probably the way I'll go when I go to the next Muscle Beach competition, as the sun is usually bright all day. Best Regards, Thanks for the information, Todd H. http://www.toddh.net/ Jerry |
#14
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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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
#15
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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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