5D rear curtain flash problems

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drifteroo

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Hi all,

I've been given a 5D to use for an evening and I know it'll be very dark in the room so I'll need to use the flash. I don't want to use "normal" flash, or so to speak, as I think it can look too harsh. I really want to use the rear curtain flash so I can have a bit more colour to the images.

Trouble is, I'm unfamiliar with 5D's and their flashes! I've found the custom function 15 and set it to rear sync, and the 580 EX II is also set to rear, yet it makes no difference whatsoever to the images.

I tried several different shutter speeds, but there is never any difference between the "normal" and the rear sync photos. I have tried this in M, TV, and even AV - but nothing.

The one and only time there's a difference is when I go to bulb mode and then I can see a subtle difference.

Is there one simple setting that I'm missing here?? It's really frustrating not being able to put it to rear sync and not being able to choose my shutter/aperture.
 
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Am I missing something, I thought rear curtain was just to get car tail lights for instance to show across the picture correctly.
I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to achieve when you say get more colour and normal flash is too harsh.

Matt
 
Rear curtain sync is only useful when a) you are combining a long ambient light exposure with flash, b) there is subject movement creating ambient blur, and c) the direction of that movement is both important and predictable.

Usually, even when a) and b) apply, c) often does not, and you are better off using normal first curtain sync. If there is no subject movement, or the shutter speed is short anyway, you won't see any difference. Certainly no increase in colour.

Some folks believe that second curtain sync is some kind of magic bullet for flash photography, but it isn't. It can be extremely effective when approriate, but these occasions are usually limited and there are also downsides.
 
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When shooting people I try to avoid rear curtain. They see the pre-flash and think that's the photo done so start to look away. Never had an issue using regular flash in a nightclub environment.
 
drifteroo said:
Hi all,

I've been given a 5D to use for an evening and I know it'll be very dark in the room so I'll need to use the flash. I don't want to use "normal" flash, or so to speak, as I think it can look too harsh. I really want to use the rear curtain flash so I can have a bit more colour to the images.

Trouble is, I'm unfamiliar with 5D's and their flashes! I've found the custom function 15 and set it to rear sync, and the 580 EX II is also set to rear, yet it makes no difference whatsoever to the images.

I tried several different shutter speeds, but there is never any difference between the "normal" and the rear sync photos. I have tried this in M, TV, and even AV - but nothing.

The one and only time there's a difference is when I go to bulb mode and then I can see a subtle difference.

Is there one simple setting that I'm missing here?? It's really frustrating not being able to put it to rear sync and not being able to choose my shutter/aperture.
Click to expand...

I think it would help if you could post a few of your test images, with the EXIF intact, then someone will be able to give you pointers as to where you're going wrong.
 
drifteroo said:
Hi all,

I've been given a 5D to use for an evening and I know it'll be very dark in the room so I'll need to use the flash. I don't want to use "normal" flash, or so to speak, as I think it can look too harsh. I really want to use the rear curtain flash so I can have a bit more colour to the images.

Trouble is, I'm unfamiliar with 5D's and their flashes! I've found the custom function 15 and set it to rear sync, and the 580 EX II is also set to rear, yet it makes no difference whatsoever to the images.

I tried several different shutter speeds, but there is never any difference between the "normal" and the rear sync photos. I have tried this in M, TV, and even AV - but nothing.

The one and only time there's a difference is when I go to bulb mode and then I can see a subtle difference.

Is there one simple setting that I'm missing here?? It's really frustrating not being able to put it to rear sync and not being able to choose my shutter/aperture.
Click to expand...

You don't see a difference because the you are taking fast exposures. Slow down the shutter speed and you should see a difference...
 
Edsport said:
You don't see a difference because the you are taking fast exposures. Slow down the shutter speed and you should see a difference...
Click to expand...

Only if the subject is moving. And then second curtain sync only changes the direction of the ambient blur, by putting the flash at the end of the movement, instead of at the start.

Apart from that, the downside of second curtain sync is that it makes the timing of the actual flash harder to predict, ie if you see an expression or some other movement and press the shutter release, but the flash doesn't fire immediately so you miss it. The other thing is that shooting in auto-TTL the pre-flash still fires immediately, the subject thinks the picture has been taken and then moves before the main flash is triggered. That happens a lot in social/party situations.

Basically, second curtain sync is either unnecessary or even a bad idea unless you really need it.
 
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