External flash with G6

A couple of years ago I did a flash test with my Olympus E20/FL40 combo and the Omnibounce, Lumiquest Promax, and the bare flash to show the differences in the output from each. Might be worth looking at:

http://www.toddwalker.​net/e20/flashtest/inde​x.htm

I now have a 10D/420EX and I am planning on doing a similar test. I have recently purchased Gary Fong's Lightsphere II and it's the best flash modifier I've ever tried, so I want to include it as well.

Todd

what mode are you shooting in? In Av and Tv mode, the camera is metering ambient light and is setting the exposure for ambient light only. it's not taking the flash into consideration. It only uses the flash to fill/illuminate the foreground.

yep, and the centre of gravity is way out of the centre of the camera/flash - IME it makes the camera hard to keep vertical....but you can use bounce/the diffuser which is good
- anyone tried it off camera as a slave or with a hotshoe replicating cable?? (or can't that be done?)
...also black flash and silver camera...dear me darlings will just not do....:p

Mark, if you are around, could you please explain this quote better for a relative newbie. I generally use my G6 in AV mode. I find F4 works best for me indoors, while I tend to use F5.6 outdoors. Are you saying that I am losing some functionality of my 420EX when using my G6 in AV Mode? I may be misreading your post. Does P mode work better with the 420EX? I am not really interested in using Manual mode. Thanks in advance.

Does anyone use a non-EX flash on their G{5,6}?

I have a Jessops 400AF, which should zoom with, fire its own AF light and generally integrate nicely with EOS system cameras. I've pretty much resigned myself to using it manually now.

Just wondered whether any other paupers were in the same boat as me / had discovered any workarounds.

Cheers.

Hi Jeff -
You are not losing any functionality of your flash in Av mode. that's just the way it works. You choose the aperture and based on the ambient light, the camera chooses the shutter speed to best expose the shot. It will only fire enough flash to light the foreground.

I am, in no means, an expert either, so instead of me incorrectly explaining anything, here is a quote that I took from the EOS Flash Bible http://photonotes.org …flash/index2.ht​ml#avflash

(I would suggest reading the above link when you have the time, as it really explains in detail how flash photography works.)

That's pretty intersting. What is it, 5 years old? 10? IF the 420ex works on the G6 like those archaic flashes (they don't use black powder, do they?) do on the museum pieces they mention, it would be very informative.

I just think if Canon is going to put a hotshoe on the G6 and sell us a flash for it, they ought to tell us more than how the flash operates on the Canon equivalent of the Argus C3.

It will be intersting to see how they update the manual for the 430ex. Bet it will be EOS this and EOS that.

Thanks Mark. I've actually already printed out those flash articles, but just haven't had time to read them. Guess I should.

The principles of flash photography havent changed over the past 5-10 years any more than the principles of exposure. Whether you shoot with an EOS body or a G6, the concepts are the same.

Once you understand the logic behind how E-TTL works, it makes perfect sense: use camera's shutter/aperture for the background, and the flash for the subject.

The only major update, as I understand it, with E-TTL2 is that the flash metering system no longer gives too much weight to the chosen focus point - this avoids the whole "FEL lock/recompose" dance and is also supposed to yield better results. Just got my 580EX a few days ago, but havent had chance to use it yet, so will have to wait and see about that.

Vandit

markubig wrote:
Hi Jeff -
You are not losing any functionality of your flash in Av mode. that's just the way it works. You choose the aperture and based on the ambient light, the camera chooses the shutter speed to best expose the shot. It will only fire enough flash to light the foreground.

I am, in no means, an expert either, so instead of me incorrectly explaining anything, here is a quote that I took from the EOS Flash Bible http://photonotes.org …flash/index2.ht​ml#avflash

(I would suggest reading the above link when you have the time, as it really explains in detail how flash photography works.)

Please forgive me but I have read this several times and it still puzzles me.

Here is the confusion "In other words, the camera always works in fill flash mode when it’s in Tv mode - it always tries to expose the background adequately, unlike P mode."

Then comes "Otherwise the camera will just try and expose the foreground with flash and the background will come out dark."


So does it always work as fill flash or does it just expose the foreground??? Does it expose the foreground in "fill" mode or just like a regular flash?

I have a G6 and a 420ex.

So if I'm outdoors and want a little fill flash in daylight, do I:

Use the camera in AV, or P mode or automatic?
Use the OmniBounce, do I use it straight on since there is nothing to bounce it off?
Reduce the flash output?
Any advice appreciated?

Hi,

I am new to this forum. I try to post a new message but can't find a button to do that. So I use the reply method to get around this problem. I just want to know if you and others in this forum have some expereinces using G serials camera to take pictures under microscope.

Thanks,

Li

chen_li3@yahoo.com