advice: 500D with Di622 MkII.. best settings?

salsa-king

salsa-king

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Phil
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using the Nissin on my 500D, someone told me last week I'm best to put my camera into 'P', (programme setting) as this 'syncs with the flash gun and works better.
I'd had been using 'M' manual.. but not always happy how they came out.

So is that true, 'P' is the better setting to use?

if so.. why?

If not, is there any tips on using the 500D with the Di622 MkII to make the most of what I've got.
 
No, at least not for the reason given. The flash will always sync in any mode, and the camera won't go above the x-sync ceiling when the flash is switched on and ready to fire.

Av is usually the preferred mode, especially for fill-in flash when the camera will attempt to balance flash and ambient exposures equally by moderating the shutter speed as necessary (note, that's the default, though there are other options in the menu). Then use +/- exposure comp on the camera to brighten/darken the ambient (adjusts shutter speed) and +/- on the gun to change flash (adjusts power output). There's a lot of control that way, and it's very easy.

Or use manual if you prefer, though P is fine too if it suits.
 
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Hi Hoppy,
In 'P' the f: seems to be at f:2.8 all the time (Tamron 17-50mm f:2.8). Can this be altered to say f:5.6.

Or do I need Av & M to adjust that setting?

My fear in Manual is having the speed too slow or too fast for the flash and the flash not lighing up the subject correctly.
 
What are you trying to achieve?

P will always get you a shot, but it'll not necessarily be the shot you want. I always use AV for fill (usually -FEC) and M where I want the flash to be the primary light source. But none of that's any use to you if you don't set off to produce a particular look.
 
salsa-king said:
Hi Hoppy,
In 'P' the f: seems to be at f:2.8 all the time (Tamron 17-50mm f:2.8). Can this be altered to say f:5.6.

Or do I need Av & M to adjust that setting?

My fear in Manual is having the speed too slow or too fast for the flash and the flash not lighing up the subject correctly.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about the flash, the camera will always sync with flash regardless, and not allow you to set anything above the x-sync ceiling (1/200sec).

Yes, in P it will often be f/2.8. Because it's obviously quite dark, and in that mode the shutter speed won't go below 1/60sec (safety feature, to prevent movement blur) at the lowest f/number. The flash will then balance to the f/number. So if you want to change that, you'd have to bump the ISO, possibly quite a lot depending on the ambient level.

In Av, you can set any f/number you want, the flash will exposre for that, and the camera (in default setting) will drop shutter speed as long as it needs to go to balance the ambient - possibly very long, so you have to keep an eye on it, and change the aperture or ISO if needs be.

Or you can do anything you like in M.

Edit: you understand that with flash there are two exposures going on - the flash and ambient? And you can mix and match them any way you like, or at least as far as the situation will allow. Need to answer Phil's question really about what you're trying to do :)
 
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situation like last night I was put on the spot to take photos for the golf club prize giving..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neoquip/sets/72157631913845611/

for ease I set the camera to 'P'
bounced flash off the ceiling with a slight angel towards the subject and also had a defuser cap in the flash too.

Not come out too bad but wonders if I'd of used 'M' they'd have been better.. as I'm hand holding.


Hoppy.. go on then.. tell me.. Flash & ambiant :?:
 
salsa-king said:
situation like last night I was put on the spot to take photos for the golf club prize giving..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neoquip/sets/72157631913845611/

for ease I set the camera to 'P'
bounced flash off the ceiling with a slight angel towards the subject and also had a defuser cap in the flash too.

Not come out too bad but wonders if I'd of used 'M' they'd have been better.. as I'm hand holding.


Hoppy.. go on then.. tell me.. Flash & ambiant :?:
Click to expand...

Okay, unless you're shooting in total darkness, with flash photography there is always at least some ambient/available/normal light present. There's not enough to really shoot with, but often enough to make good use of.

Typical social situation, birthday or wedding reception with normal room lighting, usually tungsten bulbs or similar. If you shoot with flash at the normal x-sync speed, at around 1/200sec the flash will be fine on the foreground but flash illumination falls off very rapidly with distance so the background will go very dark or even black.

Then you 'drag' the shutter, dropping the shutter speed to maybe 1/30sec, and that will pull up the background exposure to balance with the flash and the whole thing looks much better. You are effectively balancing two exposures in one, flash and ambient. You might have to juggle with ISO and aperture, depending on how bright the ambient actually is, but if you don't go too far a bit of movement blur in the background won't matter too much, and the flash will freeze the main subject in the foreground. For the finishing touch, gel the flash with a light orange CTO gel, so the colour matches the ambient too, and set WB to tungsten.

You seem to have done a decent job at the golf club, and what you have there with the diffuser cap (Stofen-type) is actually three exposures going on. Let's not go there now but with a Stofen there is light bounced off the ceiling, direct flash light from the gun, plus ambient. When there's a white ceiling available, Stofens work really well - the combination of big soft light from the ceiling bounce covers a wide area nicely (often less need to drag in the ambient) and then the direct flash component fills in shadows under eyes and chins (and hats!) very effectively and puts a nice sparkle in the eyes :thumbs: Just remember that any kind of bouncing gobbles loads of power, high ceiling especially (bump the ISO), and Stofens are useless outdoors as they need a bounce surface to work with.
 
hmmm, maybe I should have pointed the flash all the way up.... then I wouldn't have had so much shadows?
 
salsa-king said:
hmmm, maybe I should have pointed the flash all the way up.... then I wouldn't have had so much shadows?
Click to expand...

Yes, for sure. With a Stofen, the flash should always point up upwards. I don't use one much but usually straight up when fairly close. This puts the pool on the ceiling in the best place, and the extra height helps a little to put the shadow cast behind a bit lower down.

I prefer Lumiquest QuikBounce for this kind of thing. Allows more control over how much light goes up and how much goes forward, plus it softens the forward component, because it's bigger http://store.lumiquest.com/lumiquest-quik-bounce/ Works well (including outdoor), versatile, fast and easy, doesn't waste any light, folds flat :thumbs:

All these bounce/diffusing devices work in basically the same way, including the humble bounce card www.abetterbouncecard.com that you can make in ten seconds with an index card and rubber band
 
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