Manual Balanced Fill Flash Procedure

<p>Anyone have a "manual" balanced fill flash procedure? (not overall flash exposure adjustment, but shooting at correct exposure, and filling in shadows at a -1.7 or -0.7 stops)<br>

Galen called it his magic setting (-1.7), John Shaw preferred -0.7 (hmmm might have to dig out my old Rowell books)<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VsRW?start=0<br>

Yes, I know, I can do do this pretty easy with a setting on a D40 and a iTTL flash, or a Nikon AF film body and a SB-24/25/26.<br>

But how about this:<br>

I give you an old Ap-priority, TTL film body (e.g. FE2, FG) and an older TTL flash (SB-20)... how do you set it up?<br>

I know I have to "separate" the exposures -- base and fill. I know I have to set base exposure manually (manual mode), and that the shutter speed can't exceed the max sync of the camera). Ok, set. Now, how do I set up the flash? Since it's TTL, do I just increase the ISO setting on the flash by the desired number of stops I want to dial down the fill? Is it that simple, or do I have to be more creative -- matching apertures and messing with the 1/4 and 1.8 power settings? How did people do this on a Nikon before the SB-24?<br>

Bill</p>

<p>Shutter speed controls your ambient exposure. f-stop controls your flash exposure. If you just want to pop some light into the shadows, dial your flash down -1.5 or -2 stops. Nikon TTL flash units all have a + and - control, easy to use. Shoot a bunch of tests with slide film to find the optimum setting. I used a Nikon FM2 and Vivitar 285 flash at all the wedding receptions I shot. We set our cameras to 1/60 or 1/30 (depending on how dark the room was) and the f-stop to f5.6.5. The Vivitar 285 had a color-coded dial, which either lived on the flash, or could be placed remotely with an accessory cord (which I have). The color we used most often was red. All our results for interior reception shots turned out superbly. If we walked outside, crank the shutter speed up to 1/250, maybe we changed to Yellow on the flash (can't remember, it was more than 10 years ago now). Oh and the lens of choice was the Nikon 35mm f2 manual focus. Place an 81A filter on the front as well. And the flash was on a Strobo-Frame with a bantam battery for fast recycles and the ability to shoot 5 rolls without any battery issues. Honestly I never saw the bantam battery go down in power on any wedding we shot. Those things were incredible. Later we switched to N90s and Nikon SB-28, and eventually to the F100, so we said goodbye to manual focus in dimly-lit rooms. The SB-28 had a neat grid it would project for camera body focus assist, so no need for a huge f2.8 zoom (like the massive Tamron 28-105mm f2.8 I had to lug around at times).</p>

<p>Personaly I don't do manual fill flash with TTL. I set the base exposure on the camera then adjust the flash power of the flash to give the required fill. I either used a flash meter in the past to meter the flash or nowadays I adjust the power of the flash based on distance. Eg. At ISO100 1/4 power on an sb28 with give around F11 at 1.5 meters so I would used 1/8-1/4 power at that distance depending on how harsh the shadows are how much fill I want. Negative is pretty forgiving but you need to avoid giving too much fill as it starts to give that pasted on the background kind of look.</p>

<p>I’m no longer familiar with the FG, having donated it to a good cause, but can offer some info about the FE2 (and also applies to the FM3a). If shooting in Ap Priority with a compatible Nikon TTL flash, the camera’s shutter speed will default to 250^th. Also, if shooting in manual exp mode and you set the shutter speed faster than 250^th, the camera will override the setting you made on the shtr spd dial and default to 250^th. Thus, it’s important to remain at or below the sync speed (250^th).</p>

<p>Flash comp is fairly straight forward when using the match/needle of the FE2 (or FM3a). Manual exp mode is required for the following scenario: dial-in the desired amount of flash compensation using the exposure compensation dial below the film-rewind crank. In this scenario let’s say you want -1 (negative one) flash comp. Set exp comp dial to -1. Next, and this is the critical part, ensure that the thin, black meter NEEDLE, is aligned to the next fastest shutter speed (e.g. 125th) relative to the thick green Shutter Speed indicator (e.g. 60th) in the viewfinder when setting aperture / shutter speed combo. Or for -2 flash comp: set exp comp dial to -2 and ensure that black needle is at 125^th and green shtr spd indicator is at 30^th.</p>

<p>The objective is to essentially fool the meter. Your ambient exp remains normal and unaffected by the meter during exposure but the meter is taking a reading off the film during the exposure and will quench the flash output based on the comp setting.</p>

<p>As for preferred amount of flash comp, in round numbers -.7 is good for very bright sunny conditions whereas -1.7 is good for cloudy or shadowed area. Experiment to determine your own preferred compensation setting. Of course, after removing the flash from the camera, be sure to return the comp dial to zero and resume ‘normal’ match metering, aligning black with green.</p>

<p>I'd do tests and come up with my own numbers.</p>

<p>I used the following technique with my Nikon F and FM2n with both a Vivitar 283 and Metz 60CT1 successfully for years.</p>

<p>Set your camera to any correct exposure for the ambient light which includes a shutter speed at or slower than the max x-sync. For example 1/125th and f/8. Set your flash to produce f/5.6. Presuming ISO 400 for the moment, that's the yellow setting on the 283. There's nothing else to set.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>i did the same like henry did on my F2AS, F3 and FE2 but with the 285HV.</p>

<p> I would like to add that while it is good to know a generic fill ratio and how to use it, there's more potential to it than that. By subtly varying the ratio intentionally, one can cause the subject to "pop" or emerge out of a (busy?) background, or to recede into it. Fill flash also adds a certain three-dimensionality with subjects somewhat close to the camera, and in close proximity to each other.</p>

<p> There's no ideal setting for this, because it depends on the situation and your visualized interpretation of it. This is best learned via experimentation, and <em><strong>not</strong> while shooting a job. </em></p>

<p> </p>