Unreliable flash with D1X

[robert_davis7]

OK, I'm not a Nikon user, but because my newspaper's photographer went

on vacation this week, I have to fill in on two assignments. One of

which was last night, and although it was by no means a disaster, I

was ready to destroy the paper's D1X after the assignment. Or, rather,

the SB-80DX.

 

DTTL flash seemed all over the place last night when I was using it

with the off-camera shoe cord. Some images were blown out, some were

wonderful -- but more and more were bad. i finally resorted to M,

which unfortunately slowed me down a bit.

 

These fancy programs are supposed to take all the guess work out of

flash photgraphy. I've used an old N90s and SB-25, and I regularly

shoot my Canon EOS 3 and 1n (even the primitive A-TTL gives me better

results!) -- and all of these have given me great flahs pictures. I

was excited about using the D1X, but as far as flash photography goes,

I'm disappointed. Should I just not rely on D-TTL and stick to AA?

[ray]

Since you are new to the Nikon system, is it possible that you inadvertently set the flash to

the wrong TTL setting?

<p>

There are two settings of relevance:

<ol>

<li>D-TTL-BL -- for fill flash in day light or strong ambient lighting. Nikon refers to this

as "Automatic balanced fill-flash with TTL Multi-Sensor for Digital SLRs" in their manual.

That's quite a mouthful. Essentially, what the flash is trying to do is bring the subject

lighting up to the same level as ambient lighting. The key is to only use this in daylight

fill-flash or indoors with very strong ambient lighting. <em> I believe the flash/camera

DEFAULTS to this setting when you turn it on</em></li>

<li>D-TTL -- This is referred to as "Standard TTL flash for Digital SLRs" by Nikon. This is

the correct setting for indoor (or nightime) flash photography. The flash will not take into

account ambient lighting and will expose the subject correctly.</li>

</ol>

In your post, you refer to "last night" which leads me to believe that the correct setting for

your application was probably D-TTL and NOT D-TTL-BL. Did you get that setting

correctly? In my experience this should give you 5-10 blown flash shots out of every 300

shots (my average anyway). So this is reasonably predictable and if you are not getting

these odds then there is a hardware problem or a setting problem.

<p>

Finally --am I'm sure you're aware of this -- the easiest recipe for getting blown ttl shots

is to not pay attention to the distance scale on the flash. The higher the ISO you are

shooting at, the greater the distance from the subject in order for the TTL to work. But

this is pretty straightforward, since the SB-80DX gives you a distance read out on the

back.

[Ed_Ingold]

Let's see, you pick up an important assignment using an unfamiliar camera and flash. The camera is obviously at fault.

 

Which cord did you use? Is the cord working? Was the flash mode set to DTTL? Was the camera meter set to Matrix (vs. spot or center-weighted)? The list goes on...

 

While you appear to be the brunt of a Nikon conspiracy, true Nikon users get off easier. I took nearly 10,000 flash pictures with a D1x last year, with none of the problems you describe, other than my own mistakes.

 

Next time, glance through the manual and take a few test shots. Better yet, go out with a camera with which you are thoroughly familiar, and carry a backup.

[robert_davis7]

Shourya Ray -- Yes, I failed to mention specifically that I was using the flash to illuminate people around dusk (when there was still some light in the sky). I read the SB-80DX's instruction booklet so I'm familiar with the two types of D-TTL. I guess I set the D-TTL incorrectly. No worries, though - I got what I needed! I guess I just need to pay more attention to which mode I'm using next time. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

[robert_davis7]

Edward Ingold - Truth be told, I AM familiar enough with the Nikon D1X to be confident when I use it -- I wouldn't have accepted the assignment if I wasn't. I just tried to do something last night that I had never attempted before. It didn't work (although I got the shot I wanted) and I posted this question to find out why it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

 

No conspiracy here. The assignment just took a little bit more time than I thought, and next time I will have a much better experience.

 

But nonetheless, it's ironic that in a forum that's supposed to be one of discussion and assistance, you did just the opposite of that. Really, what's the point of responding when you chose to respond like you did?

[Ed_Ingold]

"I'm not a Nikon user." "These fancy program are supposed to take all the guess work out of photography." "I regularly shoot my Canon EOS 3...have given me great flash pictures."

 

There's nothing in your statements (or results) that gives the slightest indication you are familiar with a D1x. Instead, you clearly bash the D1x/SB-80DX for problems of your own making. By your own pen, every other camera you use takes better pictures.

 

There are a lot of things that could go wrong, so where to start?

I did suggest several places to check. But the most aggregious problem is that you weren't prepared, and you didn't have a backup.

[el_fang]

I suspect either a bad/wrong cord or user error. One of the reasons why I use Nikon is the flash system, based on my own experience with everything from the N90s and SB-28 to the D70 with SB800.

[dante_stella]

I have been trying to decipher similar problems; I think that in some cases where there is flash underexposure the Monitor Preflash saw that a big part of the subject was non-reflective and tried to make things dark.

 

Odd thing is that DTTL problems seem to crop up a lot with D lenses but not a lot with the non-D.

[anagai]

I also have unreliable flash results with my d1x and sb-800. doesnt really seem to make a diff with ttl or ttl-bl for indoors. If there is white in the pic, it will almost always overexposed. I tried shooting -1 flash comp and seems ok. When I shoot with my d70 its always underexposed indoors. at least i can lighten in photoshop.