D700 pop-up flash

[tom_dwyer]

<p>Good Morning,<br>

I tried to have Nikon tech support respond to this question but I don't think they're understanding what I'm asking.<br>

If I'm shooting in bright daylight, human subject, large aperture for an out-of-focus background, ISO at 200 (lowest), synch at 1/250, I often encounter the camera giving an error message of "HI". I want fill-flash to eliminate face shadows, etc. I'm assuming there's too much light for the camera to fire at 1/250 and a large aperture. <br>

My question is: can I override the camera somehow to shoot at a large aperture in bright daylight and simply get fill flash? Or is it simply a matter of choosing a smaller aperture opening to allow the flash to fire?<br>

Thanks!</p>

 

[waltflanagan]

<p>The max flash sync speed is 1/250 so you either need to reduce the amount of light by either using a smaller aperture or neutral density filter. The third way is high speed sync mode but I think this only works with certain external flashes. There are limitations as it "wastes" light and runs your battery down quicker. Google "flash high speed sync" to learn more.</p>

[bms]

<p>I think you are correct - two solutions<br /> 1) if you use a Nikon strobe, you can use Auto FP High Speed Sync - well explained <a href="http://nikonclspracticalguide.blogspot.com/2008/03/10-auto-fp-high-speed-sync-explained.html">here</a>.<br /> 2) You can use a ND filter, which I sometimes do for my 85mm f1.4 in particular. However if you make it too dark, you may have a problem focusing (my ND 1.2 gives me a pretty dim viewfinder image).</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Hi speed sync to something like an SB-700 or SB-900 would be better in bright outdoor light. But if the camera thinks you're simply letting in too much light, it's not lying to you! And ND filter and a powerful flash are the solution ... or, waiting for a different time of day, or moving to some open shade, etc.</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>Also, sometimes it helps to use "Spot metering "on your subject. When using matirix metering the camera judges the backlight and takes it into the calculation, when using spotmetering (And your subject is in the center of the image) , chances are that you just meter for your subject, which you want to lighten up by your flash ( indicating that your subject is otherwise underexposed anyways...) .<br>

Your background will get overexposed this way, that's true, so experiment , experiment , and more ..experiment.. :-)</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>As other have already said, your options are: 1) A hotshoe flash that allows high-speed FP synch - Nissin's Di866, for example, has this feature at a lower cost than Nikon's guns. 2) An ND filter using the built-in flash. You might also want to consider a third option, which is to forget the flash and use a reflector to lighten the shadows.</p>

<p>An ND filter is probably the cheapest and most portable option, or at a push a polarising filter will allow you to open up by 1.5 to 2 stops more. Also I wouldn't worry about focusing issues with ND filters. In average daylight my D700 has no trouble focusing with a 128x (-7 stop) ND filter in place. I also have a -12 stop filter that the camera manages to focus through when I can hardly see a thing in the viewfinder!</p>

[tom_dwyer]

<p>Thanks everyone.</p>