Noob question about outdoor flash

fatmarley

fatmarley

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Hi Guys,

Thought i'd have a go with the flash outdoors today. The sky is overcast, so I thought it would be the perfect conditions to try out the flash.

I set the flash (430EX 2) to -1 stop and took some shots in AV mode with my Canon 450d. To get the correct exposure I had to set the aperture to around f11. At f5 the picture was far to overexposed and the shutter speed wont go above 1/200.

Stupid question time:

Is the maximum shutter speed 1/200 when a flash is used?

And is there a way of using flash with a wide apurture to blur out the background?


EDIT:
Forgot to say that I tried setting the flash to -3 stops but that didn't help.
 
Last edited:
fatmarley said:
Hi Guys,

Thought i'd have a go with the flash outdoors today. The sky is overcast, so I thought it would be the perfect conditions to try out the flash.

I set the flash (430EX 2) to -1 stop and took some shots in AV mode with my Canon 450d. To get the correct exposure I had to set the aperture to around f11. At f5 the picture was far to overexposed and the shutter speed wont go above 1/200.

Stupid question time:

Is the maximum shutter speed 1/200 when a flash is used?

And is there a way of using flash with a wide apurture to blur out the background?


EDIT:
Forgot to say that I tried setting the flash to -3 stops but that didn't help.
Click to expand...

Edit: crossed post with above :)

Yes, 1/200sec is the normal x-sync ceiling imposed by the shutter. All DSLRs are similar. But your gun has a high speed sync mode - switch it on!

Just be aware that HSS mode works the gun very hard so it'll run out of range sooner, and recycle times might be longer than usual.
 
I always have safety shift on so the camera can try to get the correct exposure by overriding your preset aperture or shutter speed.

Did you have a high ISO set. Dial it down to ISO100 when outside as a starting point.

Canon fill flash works good at no FEC.
 
Cheers Richard :)

Because I always shoot handheld and my only lens is a 50mm prime, it would be nice if there was a way of not letting the shutter speed drop below something like 1/100 to minimise the chance of blurry shots. I know I could use TV mode or Manual but I prefer AV mode.
 
john5189 said:
I always have safety shift on so the camera can try to get the correct exposure by overriding your preset aperture or shutter speed.

Did you have a high ISO set. Dial it down to ISO100 when outside as a starting point.

Canon fill flash works good at no FEC.
Click to expand...

Never heard of "Safety shift" Do you know if I have this setting on the 450d?

I had it on Auto ISO so it would have been on ISO200 (the lowest ISO on a 450d) I would have thought.

What's "no FEC"?
 
fatmarley said:
Cheers Richard :)

Because I always shoot handheld and my only lens is a 50mm prime, it would be nice if there was a way of not letting the shutter speed drop below something like 1/100 to minimise the chance of blurry shots. I know I could use TV mode or Manual but I prefer AV mode.
Click to expand...

With most Canons you can set shutter speed not to go below 1/60sec with flash, in custom functions, but I don't think that option is available on a 450D.

Sounds like you could do with a good handbook session :D
 
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