AF-540FGZ Flash - Tutorial for beginner needed

[jacques c pelletier]

<p>Hi !<br>

Just acquired a AF540FGZ flash. Maybe a mistake.<br>

Just way beyond me. So before I decide to go a photography school, I need to find a tutorial which will guide me, <strong>step by step</strong>, on how to use it properly. A visual tutorial would probably be the best for me.<br>

I read the manual .... big deal!<br>

I browsed the web ... not much for beginners. Yes, I checked the Strobist too.<br>

I asked questions all over ... confused now.<br>

I've been playing with that flash for two days now and I get nowhere.<br>

I mean, I am a real beginner at this flash photography thing and I realize that I have missed some would-have-been-great shots because I hadn't a flash unit. I have tons of questions which would be way too much to ask in one thread here.<br>

Cameras used: K20D/K7.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>JP</p>

[personalphotos]

<p>JP I may not be the best guy to answer this question because I shoot even that flash in manual. But because of the work I do, I probably shoot flash more than most.</p>

<p>This is a huge topic and I really think you need to take the time to outline where you are and the issues you are experiencing. Otherwise we are all typing thoughts and suggestions blindly.</p>

<p>To begin, have you used it in x sync mode on the camera and P-TTL on the flash? If so what were the issues?</p>

[jacques c pelletier]

<p>Peter:<br>

Thanks for your response.<br>

OK,so I did try it with the camera set on Av, flash on P-TTL. Took some shots at different flash strengths and I think somepics came oout OK ... all static objects.<br>

I did also turn the mode dial of the camera on "X", took some shots and pretty much same results.<br>

So, the question is: Where am I at? What do I want to do?<br>

Well, first I would like to be able to take some pics of my own children (grown ups!) and other people, without them having their faces washed out or too dark. A "gentle" light.<br>

I would like to take some shots using a "fill-in" light from the flash, either inside for people/objects or outside with people/objects. I.E.: especially while the subject is back-lit.<br>

Once I get acquainted with that, I will try to move on and learn other things such as the manual mode of the flash, High speed, etc ...<br>

For now, I just want to get started.<br>

Any help or advice will be appreciated.<br>

Cheers!<br>

JP</p>

<p> </p>

[personalphotos]

<p>OK the first thing to know is that shutter speeds don't matter in terms of exposure (not much anyway). If the speed is low, you can't freeze movement as well. You'll get blurred or double images of the motion. But with something static, a slower shutter speed might be desirable. It allows the ambient light to expose the sensor and so you don't get totally black backgrounds depending on how dark it is.</p>

<p>Second control is ISO. You want to increase sensitivity if the subject is further away or you again want to use some more of the ambient light. Try to keep the ISO's below 800 if possible but you can go higher.</p>

<p>Most important control is aperture. it allows how much light is coming in. So you will need to get some practice with what aperture can expose at what distance.</p>

<p>I shoot manual all the time and I'm used to what the distances are. So with the flash in "M" it's at full power and adjustable down to 1/64th power for much reduced and softer light. The camera is in "M" and I leave the shutter at 1/180th most of the time. I'll adjust ISO and aperture to suit the situation.</p>

<p>I would strongly suggest you try shooting the kids in P-TTL and x mode. Which leaves the shutter as high as you can and just make any aperture/ISO adjustments if you need more or less light. <br>

next practice with the flash bounced off the ceiling. Push the "S" button on the back and the display will blink. You then use the dial to compensate the output. For bounce, I might add +1 to offset the light lost to the rest of the room. But again in maual mode I can do that with ISO or aperture.</p>

<p>It's really not that tough, it's practice. It's understanding the exposure relationships and getting a feel for what's needed.<br>

Now with all that. In Av and P-TTL you should get very good results most of the time. If not, use the output compensation up or down to adjust the light. If the flash is bounced, it knows and will adjust to some degree as well.</p>

<p>Practice and report back, tell us what isn't working.</p>

 

[personalphotos]

<p>I'll explain shutter speeds better.<br>

If for example, you took a shot without flash at whatever aperture and ISo and 1/30th. You would get a picture. it might be underexposed but the sensor did capture some light. Now if you added a flash to this and adjusted aperture and ISO correctly but left the shutter at 1/30th and tried to capture a moving kid, where there is motion, the ambient light would be captured by the sensor as well as the brighter flash light.</p>

<p>The flash might fire at 1/1000th (up to about 1/10,000th). So it is only on for part of the time the shutter is open. But the sensor is still gathering the room light as long as the shutter is open. So the moving subject could be almost a double or multiple image. If you want to freeze the action, then most of the time 1/180th will do and since the room is dark, the sensor would get almost no light from the room to blur the subject. You cn go higher with HSS but that is an entirely different shooting situation.</p>

[mcmanamey]

<p>Well, being a user of this flash, I would be glad to try & diagnose problems if given DETAILED examples (show a pic & name the camera settings & state what you think is wrong/right w/ the photo).</p>

<p>In general - When in P-TTL mode, this flash does generally well. The big problem we run into is itty bitty items that shine back. The diamonds on a bride's neck, the DJ's disco ball, the SINGLE sequin on a dress. Yes, a SINGLE sequin, caught just right, will cause your camera to think it's getting too much light on the subject and it will shut the flash down far too prematurely.</p>

<p>For fill-in light, keep it in P-TTL, meter your scene as if you're not going to use the flash, then let it fire.</p>

<p>For "gentle" light - get a DIFFUSER. I'm sure me typing this word will trigger ads for funny little diffusers up on the top right there. We use the Phong thing. I find it to be a little heavy for the flash head, and it irritates me just a little more w/ every photo shoot.</p>

[jgredline]

<p>I may as well learn to use my flash properly as well. I imaging that the 360 is close enough to the 540 that all settings should be the same or close.</p>

<p>Now, let me start off with a simple question. I have found that Manual works best for me. I have also found that the Histogram is my best buddy, but found that I need to expose center left as opposed to the right. Does this make sense?</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>I don't think Peter's suggestion for using P-TTL is quite right, unless I misunderstood.</p>

<p>P-TTL is essentially another autoexposure mode--so even if you're on manual shutter, aperture, and sensitivity (ISO), the flash will attempt to adjust its output to expose the image "properly". </p>

<p>The way to adjust flash output with P-TTL is primarily flash exposure comp. This can be adjusted either on-camera and/or on-flash; in both cases with range of +1EV to -3EV. The values are added, so if you do -2 on body and -1 on flash, that's effectively -3. On flash, in P-TTL mode, press the 'S' and turn the dial to adjust flash comp in 1/2 EV steps. On camera, go to flash settings (K20D Fn + D-pad-down; on K-7, just D-pad-down) and use the rear e-dial to adjust flash comp, or green button to reset to zero. </p>

<p>There are a few reasons that flash comp can be controlled on camera or on flash, one of which is that some of the first P-TTL-supporting bodies such as ZX-L/MZ-6/MZ-S did not have an on-body flash comp control, but having centralized on-body control can be advantageous, especially when using multiple flash units wirelessly.</p>

<p>The rest of what Peter says is all true--shutter speed has relatively little effect in flash photography when flash is the dominant light source as the duration of the full flash output is emitted in a much shorter than the shutter is open. This leaves ISO and aperture as the major remaining controls--they will have a significant affect on how flash and ambient light are balanced. If you shoot with wide open lens and high ISO, you'll get more ambient light and less flash power will be required; this can help produce a more natural (less flashy) look.</p>

<p>'X' mode is essentially the same as 'M' but with the shutter speed locked at max X-sync speed, 1/180. Otherwise pretty much the same, as far as I know. I never use it, I just use M.</p>

<p>Also note that P-TTL will automatically adjust output when you bounce the flash. In many residential settings, a pretty easy-to-follow formula is to set camera at ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/125 and point the flash at the ceiling, bounce-card extended. You can tinker with this, but it's a pretty good starting point. You can change to ISO 800 & f/8 if you want a little more depth-of-field. If your subjects aren't really moving (adults), you can probably drop the flash to 1/focal-length or even slightly slower to increase ambient light; the flash helps freeze movement (including camera shake) so 'dragging the shutter' can offer some benefit.</p>

[personalphotos]

<p>Andrew, that's what I meant, you just explained it much better :)</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>Javier, operation of the AF-360FGZ is the same as AF-540FGZ. Only important differences are power, swivel head, and built-in connectors for wired flash and external power pack.</p>

<p>I use manual mode too. Don't know about the difference in histogram exposing but suspect it may look different than normal daylight shooting because near objects will get a lot more illumination and the background will tend to darken. I don't know why expose-to-the-right wouldn't be good advice for flash as well--the reason for expose-to-the-right is to maximize the signal to the sensor while not blowing the highlights. Get white whites...you can always darken the picture during PP if not too overexposed but brightening it will make noise much more visible.</p>

<p>Maria makes a good point about one of the primary exposure problems with P-TTL; there's a tendency if anything reflects back to the camera to cause P-TTL to significantly diminish flash output and make your photo quite dark. This is particularly a problem with direct flash as the subjects are more likely to reflect directly back at the camera. Bounce helps alleviate this as the light is much more diffuse.</p>

<p>I also forgot to mention daylight fill flash--typically you expose as normal (you can use Av, P, etc.) and use P-TTL direct flash with some amount of negative flash comp dialed in--I'd try -1 1/3, -1.5, or -1.7 and see how those work for you. Note that in daylight, with your aperture fairly wide you'll need shutter speeds higher than 1/180; to use higher speeds with flash you need to use the HSS (high-speed sync) feature on the flash (there's a sync mode switch on the back of the flash unit), though this can significantly reduce effective flash power/range so be aware that even the powerful AF-540FGZ may not be enough at times. To use the higher shutter speeds you may need to use Tv or M.</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Jacques,<br>

I tend to follow the good practices as aptly outlined above. I like to combine a few preferences (on-camera flash comp, file format, shooting mode) into a USER setting.</p>

<p>For outdoor fill flash I like to set the flash to A--but this may work well due to the Metz 58 AF having two lamps, one below the larger head, but test it with your flash.</p>

<p>See if your flash on the K20D will provide an AF-assist light when the camera is set to AF.S. I find this very helpful.</p>

<p>Consider purchasing a bracket and a diffuser. A bracket will help you manage shadows and avoid the full-on police booking look. It will make vertical shooting much easier too. A diffuser will help you obtain that 'gentle' look. I prefer the Joe Demb<a href="http://www.dembflashproducts.com/diffuser/"> Flip-it diffuser</a> and his <a href="http://www.dembflashproducts.com/bracket/">bracket</a> because they compress for travel nicely. I know several shooters who have purchased the Gary Fong-like tupperware diffusers because they look real "pro." Unfortunately these bulky devices often require a separate bag, and with airline luggage requirements being so crazy, that's one diffuser that gets left home.</p>

<p>Useful sites:<br>

<a href="http://photo-tips-online.com/test/flash-diffuser-frame-coverage/">Flash diffuser testing</a></p>

<p><strong>Neil van Niekerk flash photography techniques </strong><br>

<strong> <br /> </strong></p>

<p><a href="http://webs.lanset.com/rcochran/flash/hss.html">High-speed shutter (HSS) vs. Ordinary Flash Sync</a></p>

<p>Be patient with yourself, it takes a while to learn all this.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>The problems with wrong exposure using P-TTL when there is a shiny surface in the frame are a problem of the camera, not the flash (I know most of you know this, but I wanted to make it clear for those who didn't). On thing that Pentax improved on the K-7, but didn't really make a fuss about (per their usual <em>silence is the best marketing tool</em> approach), was precisely this. I've seen test photos people have taken standing in front of a mirror with the K20D and the K-7; the K-7 exposed correctly and was not put off by the mirror while the K20D was.</p>

<p>I thought I would exemplify one of the things Peter was talking about: <em>The flash might fire at 1/1000th (up to about 1/10,000th). So it is only on for part of the time the shutter is open. But the sensor is still gathering the room light as long as the shutter is open. So the moving subject could be almost a double or multiple image.</em></p>

<p>In this photo I used a flash, but because the exposure was so long (0.5s) and the ISO hight (1600) the camera also picked up the subjects illuminated by ambient light, thus creating the ghosted image of the guitar player as he moved around. I did this for artistic effect, but when I don't want this to happen I just up the shutter speed to 1/180s.</p>

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_i6tc3TCyOTA/SlgEwXtLx0I/AAAAAAAACU4/dzkdG4Gl2N0/s800/The%20Franklin%20Kite%20-%202009-07-06%2019.jpg" alt="" width="765" height="512" /></p>

[jeremy_corbin]

ME,

 

<P>

You really like that Demb Bracket? I will have to shoot a 1st Birthday party in a few months and I'm looking at getting a bracket for my LP120 cause setting up a light stand and umbrella for every shoot at an event gig sounds awful to me. I figure a bracket, a lumiquest softbox, and the off camera-hot shoe cord that Peter Zack suggested to me a while ago should work nicely. I thought about one of those stoffen omnibounce things, but I like being a tad more directional than that, while the bounce cards and such aren't soft enough for my taste.

<P>

 

One issue enough this that I have is that event photography has subjects that are constantly changing distance from shot to shot. The flash to subject distance at this range is going to change exposure like crazy, and the LP120 is full manual. I see that the Metz48 looks nice but $200+ is a purchase that I can't make if I'm getting paid in food. :-) Is the Auto and P-TTL feature really that cool? (in this scenario of course...)

 

<P>

<P>

Jacques,

<P>

The Flash Photography thing is challenging, but rewarding. A flash isn't always required (you shouldn't light things that don't require being lit), and you aren't missing a whole lot without it, but the flash creates options. Options are good! You'll need lots and lots of practice to make the whole thing usable and reliable in situations that count. I'm still learning about what I can do with my flashes, but I still have more trash shots than I do good shots, but the advantage of digital is you don't have to pay for your mistakes through developing film!

[michael_elenko]

<p>Jeremy,<br>

I like the Demb bracket because it is so light and well engineered. Joe has posted a video on his site that shows the ease of moving to a vertical position. All the other, old-style brackets are both heavy and awkward to use. When shooting events for 12 hours, one's arms appreciate every reduction in weight. And you can put the thing in a pocket.</p>

<p>I'm unfamiliar with the Metz 48, but since you are in this for the long-term, I'd recommend you save your shekels and get the Metz 58. The extra power and the presence of the second lamp is worth it. What is shared by both strobes is the ability to have their firmware updated via USB. I just upgraded to v1.1 last week. If you change platforms, you can also have your firmware reflashed. That alone is worth the cost. Auto has been common to strobes for decades; P-TTL is handier a lot of the time. But the pure manual capability is excellent--you can configure it with increments of 1/256 if you are so inclined--and sometimes you just need the full monty.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>A flash isn't always required (you shouldn't light things that don't require being lit), and you aren't missing a whole lot without it, but the flash creates options.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>I disagree with part of this statement. Without a flash you miss the opportunity for just about anything and that's a whole lot to me. Also, careful about shutting off the creative channel--sometimes it works to light things that don't require being lit.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[miserere_mei]

<blockquote>

<p>One issue that I have is that event photography has subjects that are constantly changing distance from shot to shot. The flash to subject distance at this range is going to change exposure like crazy, and the LP120 is full manual.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Jeremiah, I own that flash too and like it a lot. As to your comment, I would recommend you use bounce flash, and not just because your subjects are moving, but because it creates a much more natural light. Shooting a birthday party is not the same as shooting in a studio where you will point flashes at your subjects because you can control lights and shadows. At a party, aiming the flash at your subject is going to create shadows; a diffuser will alleviate this somewhat, but there's a reason people spend $200 on a Fongspherethingy. I don't like worrying about this stuff (or spending $200 on a plastic bowl), so I simply bounce the flash off the nearest wall. Here's a photo from a session photographing a crawling 1-year old; I pointed the flash towards the line where wall and ceiling meet, which is where I always aim for so I can get light from two different planes.</p>

 

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_bj304Bm54bU/S0Dbs_cTFjI/AAAAAAAADfk/GUD4RH9ajFI/s800/IMGP6557-corrected-small.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p> </p>

[jeremy_corbin]

ME- That's a good point; I should clarify my statement. :-)

<P>

Most people I knew had no clue how to use a flash and still got decent results. I suppose that the times where their results would have been poor they didn't shoot at all since they knew the situation wasn't ideal. Using a flash creates tons of options, just like a tripod creates tons of options. My situation at the time, like most high school students, is that I didn't have a flash.... or a tripod. I was happy to have a camera and a lens and some film. I managed to take some decent shots for not having any clue what I was doing. After I finally got a flash, those situations where I wouldn't have considered shooting were now more available for shooting, but I still didn't use the flash very much. I'd developed habits of staying very still to use longer shutter times, and rarely shot things that moved fast. But the flash gave me options. Instead of being forced to turn on lights or move the location of the shot (students are bribed easily with pizza and flickering lights, I'm sure brides and wedding parties are less likely to move on command....) I could use the flash as an additional option to change the lighting situation.

<P>

I suppose most of photography in general is personal experience and some collaboration with fellow photographers to build a knowledge base about what works for everyone. I don't use my flash much, even the *istDS on-board flash since my ZX-M didn't have one built-in and now I have my own habits to embrace or resent. :-) When I do use my flash it's usually off camera and I love the results I get most of the time. it's simply how I know how to use the tools I have. But I'm still learning from all ya'll and I'm thankful for your patient answers, even if my statements were...unclear. :-)

<P>

Speaking of which, I should post more... I get great information when I do.

<P>

<P>

Mis- Thanks for the advice on the bounce flash. You might remember 4 or 5 months ago I posted some shots that I had bounced and I hated them, but it was an issue of getting the consistent results I wanted. Now that I own the LP120, I'll go ahead and try some bounce shots so I can get a feel for it. It might be just what the Doctor ordered: Not buying anything so I can keep saving for my DA70....and a 2nd body to put it on.... :-)

[andrewg_ny]

<p>Mis, that's a really nice shot. I suspect good flash exposure is ingredient #1 and good PP incl. b/w conversion is #2. Nice to have the open background where the flash illumination can fall off. No room in my house has so much space! Certainly your approach can work well, and this is roughly what I try to do too. There are a lot of variables here though and for an amateur who isn't in a hurry or thinks its OK to miss some shots, some of the trial and error involved with bouncing is a pretty reasonable approach (though I'll say my results with bouncing P-TTL are usually pretty decent). I don't know what flash you're using--is using the LP120? If not, is that P-TTL, auto, or manual?</p>

<p>I think one of the advantages of a good direct-flash setup is that once established it can be a little more reliable and repeatable and being less reliant on your shooting environment is probably attractive to someone shooting an event for someone else, and possibly being paid for it.</p>

<p>As for equipment, there are some drawbacks to old-style autoflash (flash has built-in sensor) but some get good results with an inexpensive used flash like AF280T in the auto mode (it also has manual). There are probably many other good third-party alternatives that will work well, possibly some more modern and/or more powerful. This can be an approach to automating flash exposure when the distance to subject varies more than you're comfortable with.</p>

[jeremy_corbin]

I have a Vivitar autoflash, but since I don't know the trigger voltage I haven't dared attach it to my DS. It might be something to measure out and test.

<P>

I'll stop hijacking the thread now... Sorry JP! :-)

[miserere_mei]

<p>Andrew. thanks for compliment. I'd like to believe that by now I'm getting quite good at B&W conversions, so yes, it's a factor. Having the large room does help, but I'm pretty sure I added some vignetting in post. And no room in my house is that big either! :-D I agree that the bounce approach involves trial and error, but I keep practising and each time I do it better. Maybe one day I'll shell out for a P-TTL flash and find out it's much easier that way, but right now this is what I have. I do own an LP120, which is 100% manual, but this particular shot was taken with an old <a href="http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/flashes/TTL/AF200T.jpg">Pentax AF200T</a> (Peter gave me) off-camera (in my left hand) attached via a sync cord. This is my most used flash because it's small, light, and offers decent manual power settings. When I want more power an/or need a swivel head, I use the LP120.</p>

<p>Jeremiah, now that you mentioned it, yes, I remember that thread. Do play around with bounce in manual mode; in some situations it's the only way to light. For example, at a party, you stand in a corner with your wide angle and camera held above your head—using direct flash is going to look crap (and your flash might not even cover your wide FoV) but bouncing it will give you a nice light that will illuminate the whole scene more or less uniformly. To illustrate my point, and hijack this thread for the last time, two pics: the first with direct flash (note shadows behind people and blown shirt on birthday boy); the second with bounced flash off wall/ceiling (note more uniform illumination and absence of people's shadows, no blown shirt either). I should note the only light in this room were candles on a birthday cake to my right, and a dark red light behind the people in the back. There was no way to take these photos without a flash.</p>

 

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_i6tc3TCyOTA/Ska7P-e6IyI/AAAAAAAACP8/2XH70v040e4/s800/IMGP4029.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p> </p>

<p align="center"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_i6tc3TCyOTA/Ska7RGD9QyI/AAAAAAAACQA/rdtGSplvN5o/s800/IMGP4030.jpg" alt="" /></p>

 

[michael_elenko]

<p>Jeremy,<br>

A Vivitar 2500 will work quite well on a *DS. I found mine at the bottom of a drawer and use it occasionally on my *DS with no problems. That thing pumps out a lot of light!</p>

<p>ME</p>

[dawsonjm]

<p>Jacques and all,<br>

There has been some great discussion here already, but I want to second Michael's endorsement of Neil van Nickerk's web site planetniel.com. I have learned a great deal from him, and go back and read it over again whenever I know that I will use my 540GZ.</p>

<p>The other item that I want to share is that with my K10D, and again with my K20D, it was impossible to use P-TTL when I had my Katz eye focus screen installed. It simply would not work. After I read of that possibility, I took the Katz eye out, and P-TTL works amazingly well. I always use the bounce, and am very happy with the 540. While I had the Katz eye screen in, I thought that I had wasted a lot of money on a good flash. Love it now.</p>

<p>Good luck, and if you have an alternate focus screen, put the original back in and be amazed at the difference.</p>

<p>John</p>

 

[michael_elenko]

<p>@John D--That's interesting. I've had a Katz eye installed for the past 14 months and haven't had any issues. What specific problems were you encountering? Just for the record, I haven't had any issues with spot metering either or AF. Maybe if I get real bored this weekend I'll exchange the Katz eye for the OEM and see if anything changes.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[dawsonjm]

<p>Michael,</p>

<p>The issue that I encountered with the Katz eye was that every time that I tried to use PTTL, even with a DA lens, my exposures were very dark. I could use the flash in manual, adjusting the power level as I moved around, but that was a real pain unless conditions were static. Of course that is always the case with older lenses, but that just comes with the territory.<br>

With the Katz eye out of the picture I can leave the flash in auto (PTTL), and move around, vary my distances, use bounce flash, and the flash pretty much takes care of the light. Much better for my taste.</p>

[Tony Evans]

<p>Jeremiah,<br>

Somewhere on this forum there was a recent post saying the voltage threat was all nonsense (up to 250V I believe). My old Image CZ55 (made by Vivitar, puts out 200V and is fine on the K20D).<br>

JP, sorry for the intrusion.</p>

[personalphotos]

<p>Tony, I'm no electrical engineer but I'd like to comment on trigger voltages. I took a couple old flashes to my local authorized Pentax repair shop. He's independent and services all brands. He emphatically said that with Pentax DSLR's the flash trigger circuits in the body are electronic. This is basically a computer after all. Old camera bodies from the film era used mechanical contact points.</p>

<p>Those old bodies could handle just about anything. On new bodies, the electrical circuits are designed for certain tolerances and may withstand moderate high trigger voltages for a time but will burn up after awhile. He said that the max trigger voltage should be 30 volts and you should <strong>never </strong> use a flash with more than 20 volt trigger voltage. Pentax flashes are all very low at around 4-6 volts.</p>

<p>Look at this logically, every electronic circuit is designed to handle a max limit of incoming energy. Beyond that it will most likely fail. Take your 110v toaster and plug it into a 240 volt service and see what happens. Keep a fire extinguisher handy though. Even the flashes themselves are very sensitive to energy input. If your flash is designed for 4 "AA" batteries at 1.5 volts each and you found a set of 3 volt AA's totally 12 volts, you'd cook the flash circuits.</p>