D80 + flash + autoiso

[michal_urban2]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>some time ago I learned that while AutoISO works fine with my Nikon D80 when shooting without flash (pop-up), it doesnt when using flash - it simply stays on the manually selected ISO. Sometimes it would be helpful.</p>

<p>Is there a way to make it work, please?</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>Page 88 of your manual suggests how to make it work.</p>

[michal_urban2]

<p>Hi Jeff,</p>

<p>and thanks for your answer. Unfortunately, I dont really understand relevance of that part of manual as it only mentions autoiso and flash when describing underexposed foreground objects.</p>

<p>My setting is like this:<br />- M mode, 1/180, f/8, ISO 100<br>

- AutoISO set to ON, 1/125, up to 1600</p>

<p>Now<br />- when not using pop-up flash, ISO changes depending on the light conditions<br />- when using pop-up flash, ISO stays on 100, even whan I put the lens cap on</p>

<p>But maybe its how it should work as the flash controls its power itself. Its just that the change in behaviour surprised me ...</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Flash and Auto ISO scares me after reading <a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00blL4">this</a> thread.<br />

<br />

Does <a href="http://francoismalan.com/2011/04/auto-iso-on-the-nikon-d7000/">this</a> help?<br />

<br />

I read that and resolved never to trust Auto ISO in combination with flash. (Which is dangerous for me, because my default mode is manual + Auto ISO.)<br />

<br />

Executive summary: On a D80, try the slow sync flash mode. According to this thread, the D7000 does weird stuff. I've not checked out my D800 yet. Be wary of this if you update your camera!</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>flash and high ISO together can lead to overexposed photos. if you want a higher ISO value while using the pop-up flash, you'll have to turn off auto-ISO.</p>

[michal_urban2]

<p>Thank you all for your answers and links! :) Looks like my "problem" is in fact no problem at all. :)</p>

<p>Ad. Eric - As the autoiso doesnt seem to work with flash on my D80 I can leave it on and set the minimal ISO manually.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Michal - glad to help. If you're not on slow-sync mode, I believe auto-ISO should be doing something - but what it'll be doing is turning up the ISO only if the flash can't provide enough light. So you may just have been in a situation where the flash allowed the camera to stay at minimum ISO - but that doesn't mean you should turn auto-ISO off, in case you're in a different situation in the future.</p>

[wayne_f1]

<p>What you see is normal for the D80 camera. No Auto ISO with flash.</p>

<p>Nikon iTTL DLSR have implemented three plans for Auto ISO with TTL flash.</p>

<p>Auto ISO never advances in any case with a manual flash (not if the flash can be detected as present). And Auto ISO simply cannot work with any manual flash, because the manual flash cannot respond to changing ISO.</p>

<p>1. Older cameras, D70 to D300 era, including D80... Auto ISO did NOT increase from Minimum if you were using TTL flash, because, well, because you were using flash instead. However, exception, if the TTL flash were detected as not powerful enough, then Auto ISO would boost ISO to help it. No Auto ISO is true of Commander too, but it would not boost ISO to help weaker Commander flash.</p>

<p>2. Later cameras, from D300S to ALMOST today, things changed. Now Auto ISO is always set for the ambient, regardless if flash is to be used or not. So indoors where flash is needed, the flash will be working into high ISO, This will see the orange incandescent and green fluorescent, causing white balance problems with the more blue flash. You can filter the flash, or you can turn Auto ISO off with flash.</p>

<p>3. The most recent few models (D800, D600, D7100 - don't know about other recents) stopped that foolishness again, but (if external flash), it will advance Auto ISO up to two stops if TTL flash is present (typically to ISO 400, which is good for bounce). However, exception - the internal flash will still increase for the ambient, as in case 2.</p>

<p> </p>