420ex fill flash and more

[jimwong]

I was shooting some portrait shots outdoors in bright sunlit afternoon with my 10D. Since the light was harsh, I posed the model in shaded areas when I could. I used my 420ex to fill flash. Got inconsistent results, sometime good, sometimes underexposed. Recommendations ? should I go to full manual mode and make elabortate calculations or shoould I just increase the flash output 1 or 2 stops. which method is better?

Have any of you found that digital has less lattitude with highlights and shadows than film. I mean with film it seems like you don't lose as much detail on the shadows and you don't get the highlights washed out as compared to digital? opinions? would a lower ISO speed help ?

thanks.

[robertwgross]

jimwong wrote:
I was shooting some portrait shots outdoors in bright sunlit afternoon with my 10D. Since the light was harsh, I posed the model in shaded areas when I could. I used my 420ex to fill flash. Got inconsistent results, sometime good, sometimes underexposed. Recommendations ? should I go to full manual mode and make elabortate calculations or shoould I just increase the flash output 1 or 2 stops. which method is better?

Have any of you found that digital has less lattitude with highlights and shadows than film. I mean with film it seems like you don't lose as much detail on the shadows and you don't get the highlights washed out as compared to digital? opinions? would a lower ISO speed help ?

thanks.


First of all, you ought to bracket more. After a while, you will see the tendency toward underexposure, and you can make appropriate flash compensation on the dial. You did not state which metering method you used, and you probably understand why that might get you different results. The important thing is to experiment, and record your settings. When you see the right combination, then repeat that.

It has been stated previously that negative film has maybe eight stops of dynamic range, and slide film has maybe five stops, and a good digital camera has maybe six stops.

---Bob Gross---