Please Help w/ Canon A80 Flash (too bright)

[prtstrdj]

Hello to all. I am new here, so please be patient with me. I'm not new to digital photography (more or less?) as I've had a Kodak DX3600 (can I say that on here?) for quite some time. A very "BASIC" camera. I recently purchased a Cannon A80 after reading all the great reviews on it. However, I didn't know that there were such an amazing amount of "adjustments" that were possible. Since the 3600 was a basic few buttons and adjustments, it was more or less point, shoot.... and that was that.

I am not TOTALLY familiar with many of the terms used, so again, please be patient with me. I take pictures primarily of STILL IMAGES of my diecast model collection. All are taken indoors with a plain white background and are usually taken close. (within 1 to 2 feet away) For some reason, I can't get the flash to "NOT BE SO BRIGHT". That is the best I can describe my problem. I have read some things in the instructions book for the camera... but they aren't great for someone with my limited knowledge on terms.

Any help that ANYONE... especially someone with the A80 could provide... would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! I just signed up on here and checked around the site a bit too. There are some super amazing people on here who take some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen. Especially one of the flowers up close I was just looking at. Thank You VERY MUCH in advance for any and all help and advice. I could provide example pics of what I'm shooting and what is happening if someone is willing to take a look and help. (and if you can tell me how to post pics on here? I am familiar w/ the html codes if they work on here?) Thank You again .... Michael

[PacAce]

What settings are you using to take your close up pictures? Have you tried you setting the camera to Macro mode? In Macro mode, the flash can be used within 10 to 18 inches from the subject. And if that's still too bright, then you might try a layer or two of white handkerchief over the flash.

[Moppie]

You will need to take the photos in full manual (M) this will mean useing manual adjustments of the shutter and appature, but it will let you set the flash level.

There are literaly hundreds of threads in here and thousands of pages on the internet about shutter speed and appature size, so I won't go into it here.
You adjust it on the A80 by pressing the "set" button to select either appature or shutter speed, then adjusting it by useing the left and right directions on the big round direction button.
Its explained very clearly in the manaul.

The flash output can be set by pressing the "function" button to access the shooting menu. The flash output is at the top of the list, and has 3 levels to choose from, again useing the round direction button.

It will take lots of trail and error to get settings that work perfectly, but digital photos cost nothing to take, so just keep shooting till you get a result you like.

I would recomend useing a tripod, or something like a small bean bag or even a bag of flour to mount the camera on.
Flip out the LCD so its easy to see.
Use a flash setting of 1/3 or 2/3 depending on how much light there is in the room.
Put the camera in Macro (down on the direction button, a little flower shows on the LCD)
Use a shutter speed of around 1/800s and an appature of around 5.6 and work you way faster or slower as needed, also adjusting the flash as needed to cut down on glare and highlights.

With a tripod or solid mount you will also be able to take long exposure's, so you won't need a flash.

Also, since your trying what sounds like a very basic studio set up, don't forget about adding extra light.
Things like bedside reading lamps, or desk lamps can work quite well. They are usualy to bright to shine directly at the subject, but you can put a piece of paper or cloth in the way (not against the bulb though) to defuse them, or even point them off at an angle.

And dont forget to set the white balance!
Set it against you background obviously, its also explained very clearly in the manual, but basicly you select custom white balance from the shooting menu (press the "function" button) and then press the "set" button with something white filling the lens.

[prtstrdj]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the info! I am now shooting with the camera set on 1/3 flash level, shutter speed of only 1/50 and appature of 7.1. After quite a bit of "trial and error" (though I'm sure I'll have more of this) these settings seem to work best for what I'm doing.

I'm going to try to post some pics here to show my progress. The first one shows the high level of brigtness on the front of the model (though previous shots I didn't bother to save were MUCH WORSE). The second shot shows the improvement. There is still room for me to practice and I will be sure to do so! Again, Thank You SO VERY MUCH!

http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/prtstrdj/5130Test0002.jpg



http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/prtstrdj/5130Test0003.jpg

[Moppie]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the info!


Your quite welcome, Im just glad I was able to help, Im still learning much of what the A80 can do myself :)


One more tip, I got this from another forum with a larger number of scale modelers on it, use the manual focus (press the macro button once more) and see if you can get the whole model just out of focus, try and give it a soft edge. Once you get your lighting perfected, when combined with a soft focus and the right back ground the model can be made to look very realistic :)


Have fun!

[michun]

I would say that if you taking a image of a still objects, you have a plenty of time to set up light and conditions.

Try to avoid flash for this kind of images, if you have low light conditions try to put camera on a tripod or some solid place. Use 2 sec. selftimer if time of exposure is long. For greater DOF use F8. Set WB manual.

And as moppie mentioned you can adjust flash at "M" mode.

Regards,
Michun