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fill flash -setting compensation amount


david_simon

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I have a D500 and an SB800. I want to use mild fill flash, eg 1/16 or 1/32 on the combo for bird photography. The SB800 manual says I have to set the compensation on the camera but I can only find EV settings on the camera of minus 1 to 3 EV. Am I missing something?
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I don't own the flash or any Nikon stuff, but most high end flash units have manual mode that allows you to manually adjust the flash output from 100% or less, to like 1/16 of maximum, if that's what you want. I would expect this option to be on the flash unit itself. That is how my Canon and Olympus flash units worked.
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I have both the D500 and the SB 800 flash. Nikon cameras allow for both camera exp comp and flash exp comp. They are additive. And either or both can be set to + or - or a mix.

 

To set true fill flash, like from film days, The flash has to be set to TTL, not TTL BL. You make this setting on then flash with the Mode button. You could use TTL BL, but the control of the amount of fill flash is affected by other factors.

 

One way to set flash exp comp on a D 500 is to do it on the camera. In your manual go to page 229. The button to push to set it is on the back of the camera.

 

Flash Compensation - Nikon D500 User Manual [Page 229]

 

 

When I set fill flash I often use rear curtain synch. You could use front curtain synch if you wanted to.

 

You can also set flash exp comp on the back of the SB 800. The D 500 supports either camera or the flash to set flash exp comp.

 

For nature subjects, I usually start out at minus 1.3 to 2.3 and adjust from there.

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Weirdly, Nikon switches between EVs for flash compensation, and fractions for manual flash control. Traditionally that's how manual 'power' control appears on a hotshoe flash I suppose.

 

The relationship between the two is straightforward. Minus EVs are inverse powers of 2.

- 1 EV = 1/2 power

- 2 EV = 1/4 power

- 3 EV = 1/8 power

So you're limited to having the fill-flash at 1/8 of the key light by using flash compensation.

 

However, as mentioned TTL-BL is different from straight TTL. The BL stands for "Balanced Lighting", a non intuitive way of saying Fill Flash. So TTL-BL should never equal or overpower the ambient light, but always only give a fill light.

 

The SB-800 manual says that Flash compensation can be used in all modes, so presumably can be used to moderate the effect of iTTL-BL and give a less strong fill than normal. Since the default fill level isn't specified, this would obviously need a bit of experimentation to get a desired effect.

 

Another option is to use AA mode on the flash and set the aperture or ISO differently from that on the camera. Setting the aperture two or three stops wider on the flash gives a fill flash exposure that's 2 or 3 EV weaker than the full exposure.

Edited by rodeo_joe|1
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However, as mentioned TTL-BL is different from straight TTL. The BL stands for "Balanced Lighting", a non intuitive way of saying Fill Flash...

My usual mnemonic is that "BL" means Back Light (way more intuitive for me), since in this mode I want to think that the camera exposure maintains the brightness of the background and what it does is to increase illumination of the subject in focus (=fill flash). In certain scenarios this filling of the subject against the background light is insufficient or erratic (I currently use D850 + SB-800), so as Rodeo says, it is advisable to test if the result obtained is satisfactory.

Edited by jose_angel
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I think when the OP said 1/16 and 1/32 he didn't mean to have the flash 4 to 5EV less than ambient light but rather 1/16 or 1/32 of the full flash power. Please correct me if I am wrong in understanding the OP.

But if that's what's wanted, then you simply put the flash into manual mode and set it to 1/16th or 1/32nd. No need for TTL to get involved at all.

 

So I'm pretty sure the OP meant getting a weak fill of - 4 or - 5 EV below ambient with TTL. But IMO Nikon's i-TTL is too flakey to reliably give this sort of control - too many variables thrown into the algorithm mix that controls it. KISS is often the best approach. Nobody sensibly attempts to juggle 10 or more balls at once!

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But if that's what's wanted, then you simply put the flash into manual mode and set it to 1/16th or 1/32nd. No need for TTL to get involved at all.

 

So I'm pretty sure the OP meant getting a weak fill of - 4 or - 5 EV below ambient with TTL. But IMO Nikon's i-TTL is too flakey to reliably give this sort of control - too many variables thrown into the algorithm mix that controls it. KISS is often the best approach. Nobody sensibly attempts to juggle 10 or more balls at once!

 

I think a -4 or -5 EV fill would produce an invisible effect.

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I think a -4 or -5 EV fill would produce an invisible effect.

-5 EV, in theory, is below the threshold of decent shadow detail, but you have to remember that light is additive. So an ambient-lit shadow sitting at a very dim -5 EV becomes a very visible -4 EV when the -5 EV fill flash is added to it.

 

IMO, the generally touted guide to have a fill-flash at 2 stops below ambient results in very artificial looking lighting, especially when the flash is camera mounted and undiffused.

 

(Phew, I'm relieved that this discussion didn't end up involving the cursed Zone system!)

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iTTL is nowhere near as important with digital photography than it was with film for 2 reasons for me.

 

1) You can get an instant feedback as to whether you got the fill-power right or not and/or where the need for more. Blinkies are handy for highlighting (sorry!) where you've over done it..... and dial down the Manual power by 1 fractional unit.

 

2) You have so much ability, in post, to darken highlights or lighten shadows etc, it's not so crucial in the first place.

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2) You have so much ability, in post, to darken highlights or lighten shadows etc, it's not so crucial in the first place.

Better duck for cover after a comment like that Mike.

The 'Get it right in camera or go home' brigade definitely won't like that!

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The Art Department at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ has a large collection of Ansel Adams prints, negatives, his darkroom notes, and annotated test prints. If you are ever in Tucson, I recommend you take a look.

 

Adams did a large amount of "Post Processing", in the darkroom, of course. He was seldom satisfied with what he "got right", or didn't, in the camera. In fact, if he "got it right in the camera", he never would have written his book, The Print. Or it would have been a much, much shorter book. ;)

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The Art Department at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ has a large collection of Ansel Adams prints, negatives, his darkroom notes, and annotated test prints. If you are ever in Tucson, I recommend you take a look.

 

Adams did a large amount of "Post Processing", in the darkroom, of course. He was seldom satisfied with what he "got right", or didn't, in the camera. In fact, if he "got it right in the camera", he never would have written his book, The Print. Or it would have been a much, much shorter book. ;)

STill wondering what adaptations good old Ansel would have made when he would have experienced Digital camera's and Digital Darkroom equipment....

 

Espaecially because he avoided colour photography most of the time,,,

Edited by c.p.m._van_het_kaar
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Lifting shadow areas can often bring out strong color casts unless corrected region by region. It is no conincidence that Adams did black and white photography.

He also did coluur, but being the zone system a division of shades between absolute black ( zone 0) and absolute ( if possible) white ( zone 10) , in agreement with his friend Frad Archer, this sytem would get to complicated when also needing to iclude absolute red green and blue, never developed it for colour.

There is an impresive collection of landscape pictures in colur published though...

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