20D- a couple of questions.

[Duder]

Firstly, let me introduce meself. I'm Pete. This is my frist post on this board, although I've lurked around since I got my 20D a couple of weeks ago. I used a Sony DSC S85 for about a year, until I decided to delve into the world of DSLR's.

Anyway, I just have a couple of questions relating to the 20D.

Is it only possible to use the onboard flash with a shutter speed of 1/250? I'd prefer to be able to shoot much faster shutter speeds using the flash.

and secondly, when charging the battery, when do you know when it's fully charged, is it the instant the light's stop flashing, or sometime after that? I'm kinda used to the InfoLithium batteries giving me reasonably precise times.

[Naytwan]

I believe the fastest the 20D can sync to the onboard flash is 1/250th. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, the battery is at 100% as soon as the light stops blinking.

[cmM]

there's a custom function that allows you to change your flash sync time. Also, if you have an external flash like the 550 or 580EX you have the choice to use high-speed sync which will allow you to shoot at much higher shutter speeds.
As far as charging the battery... constant light indicates a fully charged battery, but i usually leave it a little longer than that.

[FlyingPete]

Firstly, let me introduce meself. I'm Pete. This is my frist post on this board, although I've lurked around since I got my 20D a couple of weeks ago. I used a Sony DSC S85 for about a year, until I decided to delve into the world of DSLR's.

Anyway, I just have a couple of questions relating to the 20D.

Is it only possible to use the onboard flash with a shutter speed of 1/250? I'd prefer to be able to shoot much faster shutter speeds using the flash.

and secondly, when charging the battery, when do you know when it's fully charged, is it the instant the light's stop flashing, or sometime after that? I'm kinda used to the InfoLithium batteries giving me reasonably precise times.

Hi Pete, I'm Peter, and welcome to the forum :D

As far as I know the internal flash does not support any shutter higher than 1/250, as it does not support the high speed sync feature found in the external units, so you may have to go and get a EX series, the 420EX is a good start, but if you have the $$$ check out the 580EX or the older 550EX (there is a possibility the 420EX is to be upgraded shortly to support E-TTL2 though) all of these flashes support sync at higher than 1/250, however at the expense of power.

As a Sony Cybershot owner from old, I too was used to the measurements given by the InfoLithiums, after a while you get used to not having it. As for the flashing LED, once it has stopped flashing you're done, that’s a full charge. It blinks quicker as it gets closer to full, I think there are three stages.

[PacAce]

Is it only possible to use the onboard flash with a shutter speed of 1/250? I'd prefer to be able to shoot much faster shutter speeds using the flash.

You can set the shutter speed to 1/250 in Tv mode or M mode and the flash will sync up fine at that speed.


and secondly, when charging the battery, when do you know when it's fully charged, is it the instant the light's stop flashing, or sometime after that? I'm kinda used to the InfoLithium batteries giving me reasonably precise times.
As soon as the light stays on constantly on the charger, the battery is over 90% charged. You should continue to charge the batter for another hour to get the battery charged to 100% (see page 19 of your 20D manual).

[Andy_T]

The reason that the fastest shutter speed for the 20D with the onboard flash is 1/250 is a physical one:
1/250 is the fastest speed at which the shutter is open completely for a very short time.

The shutter basically consists of 2 curtains.
The first curtain goes down and opens the window so that light can hit the sensor, then the second curtain follows to close it again. These two curtains only have a certain speed at which they can travel.
If they have to travel faster than 1/250 second, the second curtain starts to descend before the first curtain is even fully opened. At the extreme at 1/8000 or so, the first curtain is nearly immediately followed by the second, so that only a tiny open slit lets light through to the sensor.

This has always been the limiting factor to flash speed, because if the curtain is not fully open when the flash fires, then there will be an area of the photo that is dark, because the curtain either has not opened or has already closed again. Then Canon (Olympus, actually) invented something ... the FP flash mode. The flash does not flash once, but rarther emits a lot of very fast pulses of light (50 thousand pulses per second) that are a lot weaker than the one single flash used before, but in total add up to a correctly exposed photo. This is only supported by Canon's EX range of flashes and compatible flashes (like e.g. the Sigma DG 500 ones) .

Hope that helps :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

[tim]

Get yourself another battery, keep it charged, when it runs out throw the spare in - that way you don't have to worry about the battery indicator. I got mine for $12 or so from http://sterlingtek.com and i'm very happy with it - it's better than the Canon batteries.

[donlavange]

Get yourself another battery, keep it charged, when it runs out throw the spare in - that way you don't have to worry about the battery indicator. I got mine for $12 or so from http://sterlingtek.com and i'm very happy with it - it's better than the Canon batteries.
I need to try that site! Their prices seem fantastic and the batteries have more capacity than the Canon! They should raise their prices, Tim, and give you your commision for all the business you throw them.

[tim]

Heh heh, a referral fee. I don't think they'd go for that. Good product, very low prices, you have to wonder how much profit other places are making.

[Duder]

thanks for all the replies.

I figured the shutter sync speed was fixed.

but there still seems to be a bit of debate over when the battery is fully charged. It's seems a bit odd that the constant light only indicates 90% and then you need up to another hour for full charge. How long does it take a depleted battery to reach 90% then?

also, brand new spare battery for $12 sounds like a scam to me. Has anyone actually bought from that place? Are the batteries genuinely compatible, and won't explode or something after a few months?

[tim]

Read my post, and there's a thread about third party batteries around somewhere. It's not a scam, I bought seven and they all work perfectly, better than the Canon bats for sure. I sold a few to people here in NZ where they're reasonably expensive, and i've not had any reports of problems.

[Duder]

interesting. How long have you been using them for?
For $12 it's not much of a risk. I don't shoot enough to need loads of batteries, but it'd be nice to have a back-up.

[tim]

I must have been using them for a few months, and a mate of mine's been using batteries from them for a good while longer than that - I can ask him if you like. Cheap doesn't always mean bad, just like expensive doesn't always mean good.

[donlavange]

Heh heh, a referral fee. I don't think they'd go for that. Good product, very low prices, you have to wonder how much profit other places are making.

I have 4 Canon batteries. 1 came with the camera and I bought the other 3 in camera stores @$58 each!!! I guess I will buy 4 more from your source, not because I really NEED them, but to lower my average cost.

[snibbetsj]

[QUOTE=Andythaler]The reason that the fastest shutter speed for the 20D with the onboard flash is 1/250 is a physical one:
1/250 is the fastest speed at which the shutter is open completely for a very short time.

Thanks for that info Andy, I was wondering about that and thought that may be true but you've confirmed it for me.

Jeff
:)

[tim]

I have 4 Canon batteries. 1 came with the camera and I bought the other 3 in camera stores @$58 each!!! I guess I will buy 4 more from your source, not because I really NEED them, but to lower my average cost.

That sounds like a terrible reason to me. Look at it this way: you can have something you don't need, or you can have about $50 in your pocket. I know which i'd rather have.

[michael.luczkow]

just got 3 from that site you mentioned... and for 36 bucks who cares if they don't work... thanks for the tip tim. This will be great if they end up working as well as you say (or working at all for that matter)

[tim]

Why would I lie? I have no connection with them, a mate told me about the site, I liked it, so I pass it on. Hope it works out for you :)

[Zamora3]

Is this the correct charger for the batteries? http://store.yahoo.com/sterlingtek/canbp511acba.html

I'm going to order myslef a couple as well as an extra charger, just making sure its the right charger.

[Duder]

how can that place sell the batteries and chargers so cheaply? I see they got good ratings on Pricegrabber.

[michael.luczkow]

how can that place sell the batteries and chargers so cheaply? I see they got good ratings on Pricegrabber.
you know, batteried arent REALLY that expensive, it's just the proprietary shapes that makes them jacked up so much by the manufacturers...

[Duder]

so does everyone here buy from SterlingTek or what?

also, does anyone use the car charger for the BP-511A? Does it work well?

[Duder]

Does anyone know what's the best WB setting on the 20D for city street light photography? I've noticed on the two digital cameras I own that the greens come out particularly badly, and rarely look green enough.

[glangston]

Have you tried the Custom White Balance?

Expose a white card under the scene lighting and designate it as your "custom white balance" and then see what you get.

[michael.luczkow]

RAW :)

[Duder]

Have you tried the Custom White Balance?

Expose a white card under the scene lighting and designate it as your "custom white balance" and then see what you get.

haven't tried that yet, although I tried a bunch of K temperatures and none of those seemed to help much.

[donlavange]

That sounds like a terrible reason to me. Look at it this way: you can have something you don't need, or you can have about $50 in your pocket. I know which i'd rather have.

I did order 4, but the reason really is that you can never have too many batteries when you are traveling as much as I am.