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Hi, I recently spent some cash on getting hold of a 420ex for my canon 300d but having difficluty getting to grips with it.
Obviously there is more control using the onboard flash to the 420ex but I should be expecting a better result. From what I can gather the only adjustments the camera makes to the flash is to decide what the lens is set at. Does it make any other changes or do I have to upgrade again? At the moment I seem to be getting very washed out photos when taken inside and whatever I change the settings it does not seem to compensate!!!
I have been using the manual setting in the area of 1/160 - f5.6 and even the AV setting with speed about 1/125.
Las question does this flash not support fill flash on my 300d?
I bought my 300D withthe 420EX as a package. I found that occasionally it would tend to over brighten a scene but not often. Probably something about the circumstances at the time. Best move I made on my 300D was to add the wasia firmware hack. This gives a lot more control over the flash output. For fill-flash I turn down the power by 1 "stop" (assuming it is equivalent to 1 stop, as it uses the same interface on the camera).
Also, try using bounce flash indoors. That makes the most amazing difference from on-board.
I am contemplating buying the 420EX to go with my 300D.
The results Cisco is getting are a tad worrying for a gun of that price. The 300D instruction manual says E-TTL autoflash set with EX-series Speedlites.
I would have thought that the Tv setting would be more suitable than the Av setting, however, if the flashgun is to select and set the aperture.
What was the ISO setting of the 300D during your washed out exposures?
jas
Quote: ISO was on 100. I did try TV settings but this just left me with a very long exposures. It was like it didn't compensate for there being a flash???
Spot on. It doesn't really. In Tv and Av it will simply use the Speedlite for fill-flash, throwing extra light onto the scene and bringing out the foreground. As such, the shutterspeed/aperture relationship will be effectively the same as if the flash wasn't attatched. The only way to get 'Full Flash' is to set your camera to manual, forcing the Speedlite to provide any additional light required. On the 550&580EXs the exposure control is then set on the flash itself (eg: under and over exposure). I'm not sure if this is an option on the 420. If I remember correctly the 300D is E-TTL as opposed to E-TTL2. I found that on my D60(E-TTL) I had persistent exposure problems with the 550EX on E-TTL which disappeared when I set the 550 to plain TTL (E-TTL can be a liablity for wildlife photography anyway). Perhaps there is a custom function setting on the 420 which will allow you to force normal TTL.
Just a thought, Lee.
The 420EX is an auto-only flashgun with no options for altering the output of the flash unless the camera body can apply flash exposure compensation, which the 300D hasn't got (unless you use the software hack).
The flashgun should be fully compatible with your 300D, and there are a couple of things you can try to improve your results.
1. Make sure your camera-subject distance is adequate. You need to be at least metre away, otherwise some fiddle factor to soften the flash is needed. You can try adding a diffuser such as a Stofen diffuser or an a Micro Apollo softbox (available from Speed Graphic). Taking manual control of the zoom setting and manually setting it to a wider value will also reduce the risk of hotspots.
2. Check your scene does average to mid-tone. If it doesn't you'll need to use the Flash exposure lock (partial meter from something mid-toned). ETTL uses pre-flash metering and anything highly reflective will affect the flash exposure.
Automatic fill-in only takes effect above a certain exposure value. When this is effective, the flash output is automatically reduced.
How does your camera perform in program mode? The reason I ask is that in P mode, the ambient exposure is ignored and the flash output is for the main subject only.
Jo
Well I don't really know much about hacks but I doubt if it is a goo didea to start messing around with stuff that might mess up my baby!!!
So ok. Yeah I have changed distance from subject and that hasn't worked. But I did thin about getting a diffuser to dull that harshness of the light so will definately give it a go.
Most places where I have wanted to take snaps the scene has been without high tones, but will bare that in mind if it does come up.
You know I rarely use program mode unless I'm in a hurry to get a photo so to your question I can't say. But will also look at what that gives me to.
Thanks for your help guys. This is the first time I have used this forum and will definately look in more often!
With the camera in the Tv mode the exposure duration will be what you set it to, using the milled disc by the shutter release.
ie if you set it to 1/125th sec, that is what the exposure time will be. How do you then get long exposures. In the Av mode, where the aperture is preset, then you probably would get long exposure times.
I would have expected the 420EX to set the shutter speed to sync speed and the aperture to an appropriate value for the flash throw and light reflected back from the subject. Within the range specification for the flashgun, of course, ie not too near and not too far.
If the 420EX is not suitable for the 300D why do Canon list the EX series guns as a major optional accessory in the 300D manual? Particularly the 220EX and the 420EX given in the accessory brochure that comes in the pack with the camera?
I should like to know the answer to this question before I spend 160 odd on the 420EX.
Or do I buy a Wein Safesync (40) and use my Vivitar 283 guns in programmed auto mode ie the 4 settings on the plug-in sensor module?
At least, I will know where I am.
jas
I don't have a 300D but it sounds like it works the same as other Canon bodies, E-TTL that is. The above stuff is correct about exposure, in summary:
Programme mode It'll set the shutter speed to something sensible like 1/60, set the lens wide-open, and light the scene with the flash. The flash emits a preflash (too fast for you to see it unless you're careful), the lens captures what comes back and the body sets the flash power accordingly. Then the shuter & flash do their stuff.
Av Set this if you want to balance the ambient exposutre with the flash exposure ("fill flash"). The camera will set a shutter speed required for the ambient - you need to check that you can hand-hold at this, or crank up the ISO until you can. The flash will independently measure the subject exposure (see below) and set flash power accordingly.
Exposure This is where you're having trouble, I think. The biggest problem people have with E-TTL is experienced photographers who use "focus-lock-recompose" (FLR). This is a bad idea for ETTL because the flash tries to expose for the subject: the thing under the active focus point. So if you shift that away from the subject, you'll generally get an incorrect (usually over) exposure as the flash tries to expose for something which isn't the subject! So rule #1: don't use FLR with flash. Rule #2 is that if you do use FLR then you need to use FEL (Flash Exposure Lock) before you recompose [not sure if you have this on an 300D].
Finally, if you're shooting something very dark or very light (dinner suit or wedding dress for example), just as your camera body would get the exposure for that wrong in daylight, the flashgun will get it wrong too (because the exposure system assumes the subject is "average" brightness, where in this case its not). So here is where you need FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation).
9 out of 10 times the problem is FLR.
Note that you don't have to use "manual" for the camera's exposure: the flash and camera exposure systems are separate and independent if you work with Tv or Av.
300D - FE Lock is available for the in-built flash in the 'creative' modes. Pressing the asterisk* button after the first pressure on the shutter button does it (after aiming the camera). The * icon then flashes in the viewfinder.
Presumably then it is still available when using an external EX gun.
I see no info in the manual on using flash exposure compensation, although there is an icon for it in the shooting information panel (press 'Info' - see page 87).
I assume this option is only available when using an EX gun?
jas
Honest try the hack it adds more cotrol. Before I used the SW hack I used the camera in manual in order to control the level of fill in flash as otherwise it just uses the exposure for what it can meter and adds fill flash.
The FEC is the best feature of the hack as far as I can see as it allows you to adjust the level of flash fill in used. I must try the program flash mode again.
The question is, John, what I do for a flashgun?
At the moment, the 420EX @ 160 giving less than satisfactory results is not enticing!
A more attractive solution appears to be the Wein Syncsafe with one of my existing 283s
I could use the 300D on full manual, and the 283 on auto and set the desired ratio of flash to daylight by choosing one of the 4 sensor settings of the 283, or the vary-power module.
I would at least have full control. I feel somewhat uneasy with the 300D (or the 300V for that matter) deciding the how and why of exposure for me.
jas
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