Real life night time EOS 300v + 420EX + 50mm f1.4 Question.

[digitalirony]

Hi All,

 

My question relates to setting the aperture of the lens.

 

I was taking some photos last night using my EOS 300v, 420EX a 50mm

f1.4 (and occasionally 100mm f2.0 or 24mm f2.8) and Kodak UC 400. I

was very pleased with most of the results. Well done canon!

 

It was very late, after 22:00 and we were outside in the garden with

a few candles. I tried using program mode and auto everyting mode

(previous experience with aperture or shutter priority mode at night

has taught me not to use these in pitch black conditions).

Regardless of the mode or lens the camera set an aperture of f2.8,

and a speed of 1/90th second (flas synch spped).

 

I knew that in certain circumstances that this wouldn't be small

enough to get enough depth of field but try as I might I couldn't

get the camera to change the aperture to f4.0. I know that I may

have been able to set f4.0 and 1/45th in manual mode, but as I am

very much still learning how to use flash and I'm not so familiar

with manual mode I hose not to do this.

 

Looking at the results of my efforts I may have to learn how to do

this as the flash was just a little hars and the body doesn't do FEC

so I'll have to do it manually in the future.

 

now that I have outlined the situation, back to the question. Does

anyone with more experience know if I should have been able to

change the aperture using program mode and if so how to do it? I had

a look at my favourite eos flash site

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ but couldn't find what I

was looking for.

 

Any help of suggestions appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[paul -]

Hi Jon, although Program mode is normally "shiftable" (you could turn the dial to change a Program selection of say 1/60 @ f2.8 to 1/30 @f4), this is not possible when using flash. PhotoNotes.org describes it<a href="http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html#programflash"> here.</a><p>Keep reading PhotoNotes.org (after all, it <i>is</i> "the EOS flash bible") and experimenting until you understand how to use the camera's Manual and Av modes with flash when you want any kind of control.<p>While learning, shooting slide film would give you a better idea of your actual results, as negative film's latitude makes it possible for the lab to correct over/under exposure when printing, thereby preventing you from seeing exactly what your settings captured.

[mark u]

Flash in manual mode really is very simple - you just set the aperture you want for depth of field, and a shutter speed of X sync (1/90th on your 300V), and provided the flash is within range its power output will adjust automatically for the aperture you are using. If you set a slower shutter speed you will get more of a contribution from ambient light (the candles, streelights and moon) - potentially at the risk of visible camera shake or movement blur if you overdo it.

 

The corollary of this is that you need to resort to extra tricks if you wish to achieve FEC to reduce flash output. One is to use * to give you flash exposure lock with the camera held closer to the subject. Another is to set the ISO to a higher value and continue to shoot normanlly in M mode - the flash output will be reduced as if the film were faster. Don't forget to re-set the ISO afterwards.

 

The hard look is probably more due to using direct, undiffused flash. You may find that all you really need to do is to diffuse the flash rather than reducing its output. A Stofen Omnibounce or Lumiquest Pocketbounce may help somewhat with this. Even a clean white handkerchief held in place with an elastic band loosely over the flash head can be effective. Of course, diffusers will reduce the range of your flash (it puts out more power to compensate for the diffuser, but that is limited to its maximum output), but this is unlikely to be limiting working with 400 ISO film in your situation.

[digitalirony]

Thanks for those responses Paul & Mark!

 

I don't know why I didn't notice the section in photonotes. The explaination of how to use manual sounds so simple I don't know why I haven't tried it before. I definately will give it a go next time round.

 

Regarding the hashness of the flash I was using a stofen diffuser but the subjects were quite close and highly reflective (pasty white faces arms and occasionally tee shirts).

 

I had thought of the FEC trick of changing the ISO but not beeing sure of what the results would be like I didn't want to risk it.

 

I had a close look at the densities of the negs and they seem just about right, I don't use slide film as I make lots of prints for friends and family and give them away and the cost using slides would be prohibitive.

 

Once again - Many thanks,

 

Jon

[mark u]

A further thought I have is that the washed outlook might actually be due to poor printing by your photofinisher. These days, the machines are often left on purely automatic settings that aren't appropriate for all images (try submitting a bracketed series of shots of a sunset to see what I mean). Your comment that the negs seem to be OK is the clue. Another clue that the prints have been overexposed may be that you can see a lot of mottled chroma noise (usually predominantly red speckling) on a dark brown background in what should be deep black shadows on the prints.

 

E-TTL usually provides very good exposures on a film body although it could be fooled to overexpose if the subject is predominantly black, or underexpose if it is predominantly white. Since you state that your subjects were wearing white shirts, if anything the flash should have underexposed, further confirming the idea that the printing is at fault.

 

I think it may be worth trying scanning and printing these images yourself if you have the necessary hardware/software, or asking for the shots to be reprinted. If you have similar shots processed in future, it is worth discussing optimal printing of them and agreeing special instructions to ensure that it is not left to the vagaries of the automatic machinery.

[digitalirony]

Thanks Mark,

 

The film was processed at Jessops in Richmond and they are the best printers in my neck of the woods by a fair margin. Although the manager and some of the staff are ignorant and rude the two guys (and occasionally a lady) who run the Frontier machine are quite knowlegeable and dedicated and do a really good job.

 

I've had nice prints that I had processed and printed somewhere else reprinted (and ocassionaly enlarged) by them and although it costs more the results are always a pleasant improvement.

 

In any case my brother in law was well chuffed with the results (it was his birthday bash), he's more interested in recording the memories than spot on exposures and prints :)

 

I'll try manual mode next time round as I could really use the extra DOF and I may have the negs hand assessed and see if there is a noticable difference.

 

Once again... many thanks for your input.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon