Shutter Speed Using Flash

[wpope]

I have been using 125 sec. in Tv mode when using flash.
I seem to be getting dim pix. Is this the correct flash
shutter speed? Seems I read in the manual that 125 S is
the flash sync speed.

Woody :p

[shaunyc]

Flash with digital seems to give me all sorts of grief. I have a Canon EOS50 film camera, and never gave a second thought to flash - both the internal and my 380EX worked fine.

Then I bought a Powershot A50 and found that I had to overexpose most flash shots to get anything like a decent picture.

With my G1 the internal flash is better, providing the subject isn't more than about seven feet away, but more than that and I have to jiggle with the flash compensation - usually upping it by as much as a stop. More than ten feet and the internal is useless.

...But, if I connect the 380EX to the G1 I have to adjust the flash compensation the other way, otherwise the flash (on auto settings) blasts everything to snowy whiteness!

Your shutter speed should be fine. The manual says that you can use any speed up to 1/250 second and still get flash synchronization.

In most indoor or evening/night shots the shutter speed won't make as big a difference as flash compensation, and camera-to-subject distance. The reason for this is that the flash light is only 'on' for around a thousandth of a second. If you have a slower shutter speed the flash is still only 'on' for a thousandth of a second, so the shot will often look the same. Only if there is a lot of ambient light will it make a difference, and then most likely to the background, and not the subject.

All of this is a (very) long winded way of suggesting that you try some experimentation with flash exposure compensation, and make sure that the camera-to-subject distance is not too big. The internal flash is only good for a maximum of about seven feet at best, and my 380EX can maybe manage 30 feet (wide open lens at 50mm and ISO 100).

Make sure you don't have your flash set on high-speed sync. I'm not even sure if it works with digitals. Fast recycling mode (if you have one on your flash) must also be turned off.

Hope some of this is useful!

Shaun

P.S. ...those batteries - are they nice and fresh?

[wpope]

Thanks for the reply. I think my problem is that the subject is too far away.
I have a hotshoe flash unit I use on my film SLR, I'll give it a try as it has
an automatic mode which uses a photocell to determine how long and
how bright to flash. It will fit and has its own batteries.
I thought I might be doing something wrong with the suttter speed of 1/125 s.
Just needed a sanity check :)

Woody :p