D3200 and Fill Flash

<p>I have read this camera does not do fill flash, but is that with the on camera flash, or with all flash units as well? I'd like to buy a SB700, but wonder if it will do fill flash or not on my camera. If not- I suspect I'd have to go to the 5000 or 7000 series cameras to get that feature? I do know the internal flash does not work with this, since I have tried it. Any word on a D7100 coming down the pike?</p>

<p>You read wrong, or from a bad source. The specifications for the D3200 clearly state that it is capable of i-TTL balanced fill flash.</p>

<p>What did you read that makes you think you cannot do fill flash with your camera?</p>

<p>It can do fill flash. I still recommend an SB700. Fill flash with on camera flash is best outdoors in daylight (if your shutter speed allows it).</p>

<p>Getting the SB700 will improve your pictures more than any lens will if you bounce it off ceilings, walls, etc.</p>

<p>The SB700 will work every bit as well in the hot shoe of the D3200 as it will in the D51/5200 or the D7000. <br /><br />The D3200 and the D5100/5200 cannot natively remote control the SB700 if you want full CLS features when the SB700 is used as an off-camera slave. You can, though, put the SB700 in simple SU-4 slave mode, and use the D3200 or D5100/5200's pop-up flash in manual mode (no iTTL pre-flash) to trigger the SB700 remotely.<br /><br />But used in the camera's hot shoe, the SB700 will work very, very well with any of those cameras. And if you get a second one, the in-shoe SB700 can act as a commander for a remote unit (or a remote SB600, SB800, SB900/910, etc) with full TTL mojo.<br /><br />For classic bounce-flash and direct-flash use onboard the camera, the SB700 is a great choice for the D3200. Though that small body can feel a little top-heavy with a mounted flash. Not so bad, though - I've used the D3200 with the huge SB900 - you get used to it!</p>

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<p><em>"I do know the internal flash does not work with this, since I have tried it."</em></p>

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<p>Try again, after reading page 48 in the D3200 manual. You need to be in P, S, A, or M modes for fill flash.</p>

Scott, I was just fiddling with a d3200 and had no problem setting fill flash. Andy

<p>Scott, your built-in-flash will do very well as a fill flash. You just have to learn how to use it for all it can do. You can do a searh on youtube to find good know-how videos. Then, if you find that the built-in-flash is limiting you in what you want to do, you could buy a SB700 and start exploring lighting with two flashes, or have the SB700 on-camera to get bounce abilities and a stronger flash.</p>

<p>Just my guess since I do not know the D3200, but I believe the camera provides many ways to evaluate/measure the needed amount of static light, and only one mode enables the balanced flash fill mode, with a compatible lens.</p>

<p>To use flash fill mode, also the camera metering must be in appropriate metering mode, and perhaps that mode is the MATRIX mode ?. If you set your camera metering mode to a SPOT or a CENTRAL, so the flash perhaps does not have sufficient information about the abmbient lighting level, and could refuse to do the flash matrix ? or could do it poorly.</p>

<p>Perhaps your flash fill mode would be more meaningful if you have a lens that provides focus distance information to the camera.</p>

<p>The camera flash output in fill mode is based on knowing the static light level, and the focus distance. If any of the information is missing or improper, then the flash fill effect is less acurate. As always Nikon will try to salvage the picture, even though some information could be missing - e.g. imprecise light metering from a spot metering, instead of entire frame matrix data.</p>

 

<p>Matrix metering makes light measures from many points spread over entire frame. Number of CCD points varies with camera model.</p>

<p>The best automatic flash fill in mode works when the external flash head is in straight ahead position, that is not rotated and not tilted, and the flash sits in the camera hot shoe. This way the flash has the controlled opportunity to expose the same surface of the picture as the Matrix measuring was obtained from. For proper fill in technique the flash head should not be tilted or rotated, or else the fill effect could be different, and usually poorer.</p>

<p>With built-in flash we do not have chance to rotate or tilt the flash head, so this does not apply to internal in-camera popup flashes.</p>

<p>Built-in flash on D3200 works well. The Nikon clip on flash will work better and the Nikon flash, off camera, with an SC-17 cord works best. But to answer your question the built-in works fine for fill. Good luck with your photography.</p>