New flash gun issues

Hi all,

Someone on another forum has kindly directed me here so hello to everyone as I'm a newbie

I've had a canon 550d for 18 months & feel I'm quite competent in the usual stuff but I've been struggling in low light & rather than going for a cheapy flash gun then upgrading later, I've gone for what I feel to be a decent one at the outset, a NISSIN Di622 Mark II Digital TTL Flashgun.

Anyway, early performance is good for macro stuff but when I'm in TV mode, no matter what ISO I use, I cannot get the f number above f4. The max shutter speed is 1/200.

The external flash C.FN setting part of the menu is disabled/not working. It says "this menu cannot be displayed. Incompatible flash or flash's power is turned off" - presumably because I've gone third party.

I'm aware my flash won't do high speed sync but does anyone have any idea how I could
vary the f number for group shots without using a tripod (ie I need to go handheld for groups at something like f7-f8 although I'm happy with the f4 it's giving me for individual people shots).

Thanks in advance.

Jason

What happens if you use manual mode on the camera?

dedsen wrote in post #15479078
What happens if you use manual mode on the camera?

Just tried that & its working fine - image is exposed ok as well & the DoF has varied as I'd expect Vs 1/200 & f4 - baffled why it's not letting me on the other modes though.

The guy on the other forum mentioned safety shift - could this be something that is set on Tv mode but not on manual?

As i said, i think it is that, the camera thinks ambient is wrong so will slow the shutter.

By taking off safety shift you can set any stop/speed etc. But as i also said why not stay on manual more control.

Oh and welcome to the world of Canon only forum.

Hows it now?

Dannybegood wrote in post #15481701
Hows it now?

hiya danny - only just seen your replies

it's working fine now so thanks very much - the guy on the other forum said id have it sorted thanks to someone's help on here

im still stumped as to why the option can't be "lifted" in one of the other modes but im happy to go manual as i understand the exposure triangle & all that but i think laziness sometimes mean i set the iso & either the speed or ap myself & leave the camera to do the rest.

wellsie82 wrote in post #15479135
Just tried that & its working fine - image is exposed ok as well & the DoF has varied as I'd expect Vs 1/200 & f4 - baffled why it's not letting me on the other modes though.

The guy on the other forum mentioned safety shift - could this be something that is set on Tv mode but not on manual?

In Tv mode, the meter always tells the lens what aperture to use, to take a photo with the ambient light in the scene -- without the flash. THEN it tells the ETTL flash how much light to output as fill light. If the ambient light is too low, then it simply selects the largest available aperture and then tells the ETTL flash to output an amount of light that serves as the primary source of illumination.

wellsie82 wrote in post #15483008
hiya danny - only just seen your replies

it's working fine now so thanks very much - the guy on the other forum said id have it sorted thanks to someone's help on here

im still stumped as to why the option can't be "lifted" in one of the other modes but im happy to go manual as i understand the exposure triangle & all that but i think laziness sometimes mean i set the iso & either the speed or ap myself & leave the camera to do the rest.

I don't know if you had noticed, but if you are talking about the "other" guy, check his user name then mine on here...............Tel​l me when the penny drops.