Canon 430 EXII and 5D2 - Birthday Party Settings - Help

Vcanon · 1 Oct 2011

Hello Everyone,

I have my daughters birthday party coming up tomm. for which I need some advise.
They party is scheduled at Pizzahut where the light is not going to be great.I have requested if I can get the corner side where there are big windows to have some good natural light.However,if things don't work as planned I wanted to have my flash help me.I have never used a flash and this will be the first attempt.With this, can someone please help me what the settings should I use for this party situation?

Kit: 5D2,430EXII,24-105L

Thanks

HoppyUK · 2 Oct 2011

It's a rather vague question, but if you're new to flash and can't afford mistakes, put the camera on P, flash on E-TTL, and shoot as normal. The camera will sort something out for you.

ohara · 2 Oct 2011

I'd say start with Av and keep the aperture as wide open as you can, I think it's f/4 for that lens. Try not to use the flash directly unless it's really dark, bounce it off the ceiling or a wall. If it's very bright outside then get yourself with your back against the window and just use the incoming light.

If worst comes to worst then just switch to P mode and use direct flash. If you have a stofen diffuser it will help a lot.

Make sure you keep the flash on ETTL mode at all times.

Vcanon · 2 Oct 2011

Thanks a lot Richard and Ohara.

stevewestern · 2 Oct 2011

Bouncing the flash off any surface - the wall behind of off to one side of you or the ceiling will spread the light, giving much softer shadows and more even lighting. The 430 is plenty powerful to allow that in any of the pizzahuts I have ever been into especially given the 5d2's ability to cope with high ISO's.
Also, upping the ISO on a 5d2 is not a problem if you want to get some narrow DoF shots without flash and I would expect there to be plenty of light to allow that and still get useable pictures.
Have fun !

irelanst · 4 Oct 2011

ohara said:
I'd say start with Av and keep the aperture as wide open as you can

I would stay away from Av mode personally. You can get some very long exposures as the camera tries to expose the background correctly and uses the flash for fill.

As mentioned sticking to P mode will get you something, if your a bit more confident then manual mode with the exposure 1 to 2 stops under exposed and use the flash to lift the subject.

Vcanon · 4 Oct 2011

Thanks a lot everyone.

ohara · 5 Oct 2011

Don't be afraid of going to ISO 1600 etc too, as said the 5Dmk2 will handle the noise with no problem.