430EX & Stofen

[frank]

Just purchased a Stofen Omnibounce for my 430EX on a 40D. First couple of shots were grossly overexposed, it seems to have settled now but I'm not too impressed.

Ceilihng in room is approx 8ft high and white should flash head be straight up or 45o angle.

I played around with FEC in camera menu adjusting it to +1 seems to be a better shot, should I just leave this at this setting?

Final question, maybe a stupid one. Why is it when I go into the camera menus/flash control/external flash C.FN Setting a error message appears telling me "This menu canot be displayed. Incompatible flash or flash's power is turned off." Also FEB, shutter sync is ghosted.

There is a Canon 430EX Speedlite attached and powered on, I thought these were compatible?

 

[Chappers]

Frank

I use a 430 + Stofen on my 5D and 20D, without to much trouble. I use either the straight up or angled position for the head depending on the shot. In most cases I'm using the 430 as a fill light.

Have you tried using the AE/FE button to fire the flash to set the exposure? Then shoot the picture. If you are just shooting without doing this then you may very well get an overexsposed result.

If that's the case, and there are occasions when you can't pre-fire, I tend to cut the exposure by about a stop, generally on the flash not the camera. I prefer to do it onthe flash just in case I forget to reset the camera for non flash shots.

Hope this helps

 

[pxl8]

First couple of shots were grossly overexposed, it seems to have settled now but I'm not too impressed.

I played around with FEC in camera menu adjusting it to +1 seems to be a better shot, should I just leave this at this setting?

+1 FEC corrected the over-exposure?

I prefer to do it onthe flash just in case I forget to reset the camera for non flash shots.

FEC set on camera (or flash) shouldn't affect non-flash shots.

 

[Chappers]

+1 FEC corrected the over-exposure?



FEC set on camera (or flash) shouldn't affect non-flash shots.

Yes your right it wont. Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to the camera exposure compensation rather than the flash.

 

[frank]

+1 FEC corrected the over-exposure?

Now I look at it I think I phrased it badly Probably just me in the excitement of a new toy not having it on right.
I've no experience in flash photography, I'm just getting used to the camera settings after a year, using a external flash is a new ball game to me.

I did go through the FEC settings on the camera menu. Would it be possible to get your opinion on which of these===> http://www.axvk01.dsl.pipex.com/tdall.jpg is the better setting, (just one pic). They were all taken at F5.6 @ 1/6, FEC started from 0 and moved + one notch at a time. To me its a toss up between TD 3 & TD 4. I think I just need a experienced eye to confirm I'm moving in the right direction. If the jargon is wrong excuse my ignorance.
Thanks

 

[pxl8]

In the example shots you're using the flash for fill rather than as the main light source.

It gets a little complicated but in simple terms here's what happened.

The camera metered the scene based on the available light and gave a reading of 1/6 @ f/5.6. The light background has fooled the meter into under exposing the shot.

The same background will also fool the flash into under exposing for the same reasons, the light background is returning more than 18% of the flash burst. As a result you've had to compensate by adding some +FEC to get the correct exposure.

Normally with fill flash you would dial in some -FEC because you only want to lift the shadow areas a bit but in this case you've used the flash to compensate for the camera's meter being fooled by the light background.

I would try the test again with a mid-grey background as you did before, this time you'll probably find very different results and will need -FEC to get a good result.

Also try with the camera in manual mode, ISO 100, 1/125s, f/5.6. Now the flash will be the only light source and you'll be able to compare the results of fill and flash only lighting.

 

[frank]

Thanks for that info Pxl8, I'll try as you suggest. Computerised flashes and camera eh! Can't wait for the star trek type computers/cameras to come out. Just tell it what to do