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Hi
I could really do with some help on how to get started with using a Speedlite. I have a Canon EOS 5D and the Speedlite 580 EX II, I haven't really got a clue on using the speedlite. Now I may need to use it I need to read up on it pretty quickly. I don't really need information on the product but on how I use it and general setting would really be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
I have the same setup Cat so, as to avoid any arguments from others, PM me and I'll explain my method. Not saying they're right for everyone, but they work well for me and they work very well.
I'll leave it to you Cat?
Gerry.
personally I leave it on ETTL if it's on the camera. I generally shoot in av, but the problem is the speedlight will only set itself for fill-in flash, and won't change the camera's exposure settings (it took me a while to work that one out!).
the problem there is if you're shooting in poor light, you either need to whack up the ISO and shoot at the widest aperture, or shoot in TV mode, and dial in the shutter speed you need - depending on the subject, and focal length etc. The flash will then add enough light to correctly (more or less) expose the shot.
This will freeze the scene, but will give you the harsh light and shadows, which aren't generally desirable. You can minimise those by bouncing the light off something where possible.
I use the flash quite a bit for small groups at wedding. Many argue against, but when you're working quick and don't have assistants, you just need to get the shot, and people expect to see their faces /clothes etc.
In these situations, I leave it on AV, tilt the flash to about 45 deg towards the subjects, and pop up the white card. This only sends a little light forward.
You can use the button on the top of the 5D to alter the flash output, which is very useful.
Also, if I'm shooting something crutial, and not too sure about the flash settings, I shoot, wait a second or so, and shoot again. The flash won't have fully recharged, so you get a shot with less flash without having to take your eyes off the action. Hardly scientific, but it often works.
Quote: Personally I leave it on ETTL if it's on the camera. I generally shoot in av, but the problem is the speedlight will only set itself for fill-in flash, and won't change the camera's exposure settings (it took me a while to work that one out!).
I dont understand this statement. In AV settings on my 5d my camera will change the exposure settings knowing that there is a flash gun attached. It will sometimes set its self to a shutterspeed that is faster than the flash sync speed so i personally dont see how your camera does not automatically change settings. As far as im aware you can only use a 5d in manual mode to make sure the cameras exposure doesnt change.
With regards to wedding photography and flash i tend to use manual mode all the time. the reason i do this is becuase.
1. I like to use the same shutterspeed all the time because i can predict the output of the flash easier in any given situation.
2. I only need to tweak the aperture settings to gain the correct exposure.
3. flash only travels so far so i can base each image on 2 exposures. the camera exposes the background. the flash exposes the dress. If you use av mode with flash all the time you will end up getting backgrounds that are to dark or to light.
Sorry to go of subject but i just dont understand the advice given.
kind regards.
As far as I know all canon metering for flashes works the same - and that is the fact that the camera will not set it settings based on the use (or absence) of a flash unit and instead the flash (when in ETTL mode) will set its power based on the camera settings and the results of a preflash which is fired as soon as you press the shutter button (its very fast and most times you won't see it).
Thus the flash works very well in ETTL as a fill light source - when its supporting your camera and I often use my flash in AV/TV in this capacity - as a fill flash light source.
However if the flash is to be the dominant light source, where my settings and the scene before me will not give me the exposure I desire, then I shift to using manual mode. For example in macro shooting I use f13, ISO 200, 1/200sec in manual mode - in any of the more auto modes (AV/TV) in most scenes the camera would not give me those settings since the small aperture and fast shutter speed would need a lot of additinal lighting to get a proper exposure. However with the flash I thus makeup that missing light into the scene - where the flash the dominant light source.
James I am not 100% sure what is happening with your shooting, but I have a few suspicsions.
1) The shutter speed on the camera when in AV or TV mode should not go over the fastest flash sync speed for the camera in question unless you are using the highspeed flash mode on the camera unit itself - then the shutter speed can go faster, but the flash will put out less power (so that it can charge and fire quicker to match the shutter speed).
2) If your shutter speeds are going faster to handholdable levels I wonder if your using flash in well lit situations where it is providing fill flash only - or if the 5D has an auto ISO mode which your using - and thus the camera is instead boosting your ISO to get your shutter speed up - and your not seeing the noise (as much) in your shots because the 5D has good noise control and because when you get a good exposure the amount of noise is not as well seen.
Edit - the 5D does not have auto modes such as landscape, macro etc.. but it does have the semi auto modes such as Aperture priority and Shutter priority - which are not to be confused with full manual mode - so the 5D can be shot in more auto modes and not just full manual (heck it might even have the full auto green button mode - I don't know)
This web site has a very useful article on EOS flash system. Read it through a couple of times.
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/#aandb
Im getting a bit confused now but its good that this thread has started because flash is one of the hardest pieces of equipment to master and there seems to be a lack of books available regarding using flash effectively. I can understand how some of the time flash in av mode will work but if at a wedding you are in heavily back lit situation av mode will expose for the sky leaving the dress grey coloured where as if the background is underexposed in manual mode you are taking control of the background exposure and can adjust the flash output accordingly to light the subject. I personally use more flash when i have a heavily back lite situation because i know that if it overexposes the dress i can just adjust the aperture to gain the correct exposure on it knowing that the background is already bright so it can become a bit darker without loosing detail. I use less flash when there is more even lighting because if to much flash is used using the techniue i do then i am in danger of making the background to dark. I was nervous at first when i started using manual with ettl flash but am now finding it to beneficial to my photography because in any given situation i can read different lighting and control myy camera. there is situations where an image needs to be treated as 2 different exposures and av and tv mode will work to an extent but there will always be a sacrifice in some part of the photo, sometimes no detail in the sky e.t.c. I am still interested in learning about how canon flash works in the semi manual modes though as i am sure there will be differing opinions on this and flash is something i have stuggled with in the past.
In a mode like Av the camera exposes for the available light, so shutter speed is calculated to balance the exposure. You can set a custom setting to limit the shutter speed to go no lower than 1/60 or 1/250 for example in some cameras.
The flash is controlled though the E-TTL exposure control, and at above certain light levels the camera automatically under exposes the Flash lighting to achieve a fill in flash light in program mode. In Av it is always in fill-flash mode..
Strawman
Are you saying that irrespective of how much flash output is set on the speedlite that it will put out the same amount of light when using av mode. If so is this effective? What is the benefit of this over manual?
The advantage is it gives you is fill flash.
Suppose you are taking a picture of a brides mother with a nice hat where you want to include the background of say a garden. The hat often means her face is in shade.
So with AV mode you camera exposes to get a reasonable exposure of the total scene, and the flash puts a bit of light into her face to lighten the shadow.
Quote: Flash photography takes on two very basic forms. In regular flash photography, the flash is the primary light source for the photo. Flash metering is done for the foreground subject, and the background is metered by the camera’s regular exposure metering system. This can lead to the background being underexposed and dark if ambient light conditions are low. This is how most people think of flash - as a way of taking photos in dark places.
However, flash can also be used in bright locations or in daylight to lighten shadows, reduce the harsh contrast of full sunlight or brighten up dull images without being the primary light source for the photo. This is called “fill flash” or “fill-in flash,” though the latter term’s more commonly used in the UK. And it’s often a source of surprise for non-photographers, who don’t expect to see photographers using flash units outdoors on sunny days in brightly lit settings. In such situations the fill flash is being used as a sort of portable reflector - shining a little extra light in certain areas.
A typical example might be a person who’s wearing a hat outdoors on a sunny day. Hat brims often cast dark shadows over the subject’s face, and a little flash can lighten up this shadow nicely. A backlit subject is another common use for fill flash - you can’t simply crank up the exposure compensation to expose the subject correctly as then the background lighting would be too strong. Or perhaps you want a little sparkle of light reflecting back from a person’s eyes - the “catchlight.” Sometimes wildlife photographers use flash units at great distances from their quarry for the same reason - they aren’t using the flash to illuminate the animal but to provide a lively catchlight to the eyes.
In all these cases you are, from the point of view of the camera, using two light sources at the same time. There’s ambient lighting, which is all the available light around you - reflected light from the sun or artificial light sources. And there’s the light from the flash unit, which is supplementing this existing light. As always, ambient light levels hitting the film or sensor are governed by the lens aperture and shutter speed and flash levels are governed by flash metering. By adjusting the output of the flash unit you’re essentially adjusting the ratio between flash-illuminated and ambient light-illuminated scene.
In fact you could argue that the two cases I present above - flash as primary light source and ambient light as primary light source - are an artificial distinction and that all flash photography is fill photography in a sense; just that in the first case the ambient lighting is so low as to be insignificant, whereas in the second case it’s the reverse. This is true enough, but I think the distinction is useful to make, particularly in terms of the way full auto and P modes work versus Tv, Av and M modes.
Quote: I could really do with some help on how to get started with using a Speedlite.
Basicallly there are two ways:
1. On Camera:
Place the flash on the hotshoe, and bounce it. Use the full auto mode of the flash, and use flash compensation in the same way as you would use exposure compensation.
2. Off Camera.
The flash is fired off camera using the built in wireless system
On Camera flash, which includes the pop-up produces harsh light, and its usually considered that off camera flash gives you better control and quality of light.
Strawmans posting is a really good explanation - one further thing to consider is that as the flash duration is typically 1/1000s or faster, and the synch speed usually 1/250s or slower, then adjusting the shutter speed will have no effect on the amount of flash the camera sees - only the ambient light.
Quote: Strawman
Are you saying that irrespective of how much flash output is set on the speedlite that it will put out the same amount of light when using av mode. If so is this effective? What is the benefit of this over manual?
No. If the flash is working as fill in Av mode with E-TTL on then it outputs what it calculates is needed for proper exposure. You can vary this using the Flash Exposure Compensation function.
If you use Manual mode on the flashgun, then it will always emit the same amount of light.
Quote: Strawmans posting is a really good explanation - one further thing to consider is that as the flash duration is typically 1/1000s or faster, and the synch speed usually 1/250s or slower, then adjusting the shutter speed will have no effect on the amount of flash the camera sees - only the ambient light.
I dont think this quote is accurate. When i am in manual mode and set my camera to fast shuter speed and use the flash to override the ambient light any adjustments in camera will affect the exposure.
Quote: Strawmans posting is a really good explanation - one further thing to consider is that as the flash duration is typically 1/1000s or faster, and the synch speed usually 1/250s or slower, then adjusting the shutter speed will have no effect on the amount of flash the camera sees - only the ambient light.
I dont think this quote is accurate. When i am in manual mode and set my camera to fast shuter speed and use the flash to override the ambient light any adjustments in camera will affect the exposure.
James, the quote is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I am not quite sure exactly what you mean when saying any adjustments in camera will affect exposure.
Mike
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