Help with the camera meter readings...

[veteq]

This might sound like a stupid question but here it goes.


I got 580EX-II a few weeks ago. I have used it a few times but always wonder why the camera's light meter doesn't match that of the flash? I always shoot in M mode. The the camera is set to F8-250-ISO100 and the meter shows -2 but the pictures come out perfectly lit. The flash is setup to ETTL mode. Is there a way to have the camera meter match the light the flash will produce?


thanks

[PacAce]

The camera meter on non-1D series cameras is used only to measure the ambient lighting. In ETTL mode, the flash exposure is set automatically so there really isn't a need to have the internal meter measure the flash output for you.

[unferth]

what does the 1d's meter show on flash exposure then?

[veteq]

thanks for the quick reply, the problem is when I set the camera to 200-F8-ISO100 comes out properly exposed but if I change the F-stop, the photo goes darker or brighter according to the change. I would expect the flash to compensate for the change but it doesn't seem to do it. Is there a mode where the camera metering displays the flash settings?

thanks

[PacAce]

thanks for the quick reply, the problem is when I set the camera to 200-F8-ISO100 comes out properly exposed but if I change the F-stop, the photo goes darker or brighter according to the change. I would expect the flash to compensate for the change but it doesn't seem to do it. Is there a mode where the camera metering displays the flash settings?

thanks

How far away is the subject? And how much of a change are you making to the aperture? Do you have a sample image we can look at?

[PacAce]

what does the 1d's meter show on flash exposure then?
The 1D cameras have two scales that show up when the flash is mounted. The 2nd meter shows the FEC that's been set if the flash is in ETTL mode, or will show you the exposure reading of the flash if it's set to Manual mode. The 1D really makes it easy to use the flash in Manual mode because of the meter. The only thing is that you need to use the FEL button to prefire the flash so that the camera can meter it. Fortunately, you only need to do it once when the subject distance changes.