TTL or TTL-BL ?

magpieant

magpieant

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Just a quick one that I feel I should know the answer to - but don't!!!!

The scene .... outside shooting people (well, I do live near Manchester ;) ). Bright background so I don't want shadows on faces.

Using aperture priority mode and spot metering with a D50 and an SB600.

Am I right in thinking I use TTL-BL mode - expose for the face and let the flash / camera combo sort everything else ?

Any help very much appreciated.

Cheers.

Anth.
 
When I use TTL-BL I often expose for the background (remember to use matrix metering) and then dial in about -1EV on the gun to give just a splash of flash.
 
A little pet hate of mine !
Nikons SB800 and 600 promise so much with fancy features blah blah..... but in reality its more of a diy affair
Forget about BL
Use TTL and then reduce flash exposure by 1 - 1.7 stops and you will get perfect fill in flash - 1.3 seems good most of time.
Personally I think BL should work perfectly everytime but sadly its very hit and miss
 
Ok - a few good suggestions here .

Not managed to try any of these out as yet - decided to play with Samuel and watch the Germans get beat instead!!!!

Cheers for the advice folks - will let you know how I get on. Thanks.

Anth.
 
Attended the Speedlight course this week with Nikon training and TTL-BL would be right in most situations for fill in. The important fact here is NOT to use spot metering (which I tended to use most of the time) for shooting outdoor portraits with flash. Matrix metering is best to get the right fill in.

Also, for me, the biggest difference between the SB600 which I have vs the SB800 is that the SB800 gives you a distance reading and will give you a warning if you are outside the range for the exposure metering which is a big help.

Of course there is no wrong answer here and the other recommendations are equally valid, a bit of experimentation will guide you to your own path.
 
I use the SB800's TTL-BL on my D2Xs and it's brill, no hit & miss at all - depending on the effect I want I'll also use it +/- 1 Ev too

So you should be totally confused by now !!!

Just try it lots of times and you'll get the hang of it

DD
 
Agree with what has been said, I do find it's not perfect and you do need to compensate, as you're shooting Nikon then try FV lock (Flash Value) it's a setting under the AE button, I use this all the time.
I'f I've got a bit of time to set up the shot then I go Manual.
 
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