another question about flash?

[gogo]

First I HATE this stupid flash. my old 540ez with eos 5 was very good compare to 550.today I was shooting indoors and again flash did overexposed pictures even if I set aperture or exp.then I was so angry that I set to auto and pisc then were fine.But enough of that, my question is:do you set a white balance when you shoot with flash?
If you work in Av mode with flash Isn't suppoused that camera detect flash and set 60 or 90 value?

[RichardtheSane]

I have never had an exposure problem with this flash, I get it bang on every time.
You didn't say what camera you use, but if it is the 10D then there is a custom function to set the flash sync speed to 1/200. If you dont then the flash will act as fill flash and it's presence will not interfere with the exposure.

[Motorsports Photo]

gogo wrote:
First I HATE this stupid flash. my old 540ez with eos 5 was very good compare to 550.today

Yeah I understand your pain too! (-:

I gave up and only use manual and alter shutter and f stop until it looks the way I want it too.

Automatic only works in semi well lit places for me.

-Pete

[gogo]

But if you set a shutter to 200 the batteries will be empty very fast because flash need more power at that shutter speed.
what you recommend?I know that universal solution for all situations is not possible,but need some help.

[RichardtheSane]

Something I do quite often when I use the flash with a shorter lens (normally use it on a 100-400L) is set the camera to manual. That way I can choose to use the slower shutter speeds, and then I set a fairly wide aperture, usually F4 and the flash takes care of the rest. I have had good results from this. I always shoot raw anyway just incase of an exposure problem but I have never needed to seriously adjust the flash exposure while processing.
Good luck, I'd be interested to know how you get on :)

[scottbergerphoto]

gogo wrote:
But enough of that, my question is:do you set a white balance when you shoot with flash?
If you work in Av mode with flash Isn't suppoused that camera detect flash and set 60 or 90 value?

If you shoot Raw, it doesn't matter what White Balance you choose, you can assign it later in conversion. If you shoot jpeg, assign it Flash, when your main source of light is flash.

In Av, you are telling the camera to pick a shutter speed to expose the background properly. Depending on the lighting of the room, your shutter speed will vary from 1/30 sec to 1/200 sec. If you want to set it to 1/200th of a second, you can do that in Custom Functions. Set Cfn.3 to 1.
In P mode, the shutter speed range is limited further to 1/60 to 1/200 sec. Since most of the time you are using flash is in dimly lit rooms, you get used to seeing 1/60 sec. But use it in better lighting for fill and you get higher speeds up to 1/200 sec.
In Tv, Av, and M the useable shutter speeds are 1/30 - 1/200 sec.
Scott

[scottbergerphoto]

gogo wrote:
But if you set a shutter to 200 the batteries will be empty very fast because flash need more power at that shutter speed.
what you recommend?I know that universal solution for all situations is not possible,but need some help.
The flash fires faster then 1/000 of a second. In addition the amount of flash is determined by a preflash that fires before the shutter opens. Shutter speed is really irrelevant to flash power usage. Aperture is relevant because it controls the effective distance of the flash (Guide Number) Guide Number / f stop = Distance. If you are using too small an aperture for the distance your subject is from the flash, you will get under exposed pictures and rapidly wear out the camera battery for the on camera flash, or the external flash batteries batteries as it struggles to provide enough light. For example, the 550 EX has a Guide Number of 55M at Iso 100. At f/4, that gives an effective distance of about 14M. If you go to f/5.6, the effective distance drops to about 10M. The flash will try to light the subject at both f stops, but at f/5.6 will have to expend more energy trying till it maxes out.
Scott

[gogo]

thanks for response.It's only solution in shooting and learning the flash.

[scottbergerphoto]

gogo wrote:
thanks for response.It's only solution in shooting and learning the flash.
Your very welcome.
Scott