dave_lewis Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 Hi, I own an Olympus C-5050 and use it as a supplement to my regular film cameras. I've noticed an interesting trend when I use the flash. It seems that most of my shots are overexposed -- especially in daylight/fill conditions. I've attached a picture I shot today in open shade during lunch. I'm wondering is this normal? I also played around with a friend's Nikon Coolpix 3100 today and its flash pictures were just fine. Your thoughts?<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted December 10, 2003 Share Posted December 10, 2003 My experience is that the C5050 is programmed to yield little more fill than I like,however indoor flash usually not always come out reasonably well- unless the metered area is very light or dark,natch. I usually adjust the flash down rather than up so its a powerful little bugger. Latter case I usually opt to adjust down the flash level by as much as 1 EV. A test against a neutral 18% card may tell something,what you think,if one wants to be scientific that is. Your sample photo is way off for sure and I'd be lead to think something was amiss w your equipment.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd frederick Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 I'm not sure what the problem is for the photography you posted. I generally use just "P" mode for on-camera fill flash with no problem. I am playing with external flash, but that's another story. Attached is a photo from a wedding reception that was taken very quickly with a C-5050 on full Program "P" mode with default flash setting.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_lewis Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 Thanks for your responses so far. I'm going to attach two more images. They are taken of the same person ... one has fill-flash and one without. Am I wrong to suspect there is a problem with the flash or electronics of my camera? Thanks for your help!<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_lewis Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 And here's the version without flash...<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 I am no expert Dave, but I will share my thoughts on your experiment. The fill flash as well as the basic ambient light metering (from what I judge)is driven by the Oly exposure measuring system called ESP metering. So it looks at the range of light values and attempts to come up with a suitable overall level of output. In the instance of your samples, it seems likely that the face and hair would be over-filled as it looks at the overall black and white ratio. Try this experiment Dave. Change to spot metering and lock it (using shutter button or AEL lock button) to hold that reading.Spot meter on a medium tone-the 18% thing- and then recompose with the fill on full time. And I would click the flash mode to the lightning bolt obviously. See what you get by doing1) an ESP shot and one with2) a spot meter to a gray card or medium tone like grass. Now try see how many EV levels you have to adjust down the flash to get an acceptable exposure in each instance. (I knock the fill down about minus .3 EV for my taste regularly). If you have to go down as far as - 2 EV, well me: I'd call Mount Olympus Corp. and request warranty service showing the results of your tests w/the numbers provided. One other thing,sounds simple but may apply. Try setting the camera back to "reset" to get rid of any inadvertent changes in any change that may have gotten into the menus. I hope this helps even a little. Like Todd,I find this to be one fine camera that deserves its rave reviews elsewhere. It is fully adjustable thus not simple. If there is a better troubleshooting method let someone jump on board and offer it for edification of all. I put it up in the Nikon and Canon ranks or higher... Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 Where I don't have great range of values the camera gives a good fill balance. No reason why yours should be acting up..here's an early outdoor shot again as I learn the ins and outs...<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_batalla Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 I have your solution!!! Trust me on this one i notice the heavy fill flash also. Press the exposure compensation button and the flash mode button on the left side of the camera at the same time. A little "option" will come up with plus and minus 0. Use the scroll wheel left or rite to determine how much "power" or flash you would like. The more negative the less power of the flash. More positive equals brighter flash. To reduce your fill flash lower the power of the flash in the way i told you. Also make sure that your flash is set in Slow. One final setting. Try adjusting your white balance settings. For outdoor shots use the preset Sunny or Partly Sunny setting. For indoor shots use the picture of the Home white balance setting. One of these options is sure to help. Write me back at chexmex@optonline.net to let me know if it worked. Ok then Hope i helped write back plz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Uh,er, not to be argumentative,but my guidebook and manual suggest slow flash will not help in above situation. White balance should not make a difference either from where I shoot. The flash power adjustment by the two buttons yes is in accord with the operating manual to tweak the level of flash output. That is about all I have to add to this case study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd frederick Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Dave, I don't have a clue to your problem (except for a very bright background and the spot meter idea may be useful), but I have had not problems whatsoever even with the same lighting conditions. I am attaching a cropped photo of a young friend of ours taken with the C5050 on "P" mode and in the high HQ (jpeg) resolution mode. This can be a very easy camera to use and it can be applied to many professional uses including off-camera flash. There is a good simple book titled: "A Short Course in Olympus Camedia C-5050 Zoom Photography" by Dennis P. Curtin (I'm sure Amazon.com has it) and it has been very helpful to me. Also, for simple general photography I use the Olympus Camedia Master software that came with the camera. I hope you solve this problem since your photos do not look anything like what you should get with this fine camera.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_lewis Posted December 16, 2003 Author Share Posted December 16, 2003 Thanks for all of your suggestions. It would appear I do have a defective camera. Now I'll see how much haggling it will take to get it fixed...fortunately it's still under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammy_mack Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 Hi Dave, I just bought the same camera a couple of weeks ago and am experiencing the same problem. Have you called Olympus about this yet? Have they confirmed that it is a defective camera? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammy_mack Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 I just got off the phone with Olympus tech support. He said to try setting the flash to Slow Flash. Press the button with the flash on it twice and select slow flash. He said if this doesn't work, it's probably a defect. One question I have is if it does work, will we have to change the setting everytime or will it stay as the default. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammy_mack Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 We tried the fix that tech support gave us (slow flash)and it didn't make any difference. We then changed the flash intestity to -1 and that actually made a big difference. To save the setting permanently, you need to set your shooting mode to the mode you want to change, ex. P, press the ok buttton, press the right arrow to get the mode menu, press the down arrow until you get to setup. Press the right arrow which will get you to the All Reset screen. Press the right arrow and you will see off and on. Press the up arrow until off is highlighted and press ok. You can now change the flash intentsity by pressing the two buttons on the left side of the body of the camera at the same time, hold them down, and the screen will display +/- O. Change it to -1 or any setting by rotating the jog wheel. The setting will now remain when you shut off the camera or until you change it again. The flash intensity will be changed in all modes except My mode and Movie mode. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted December 18, 2003 Share Posted December 18, 2003 I have to say this. Slow flash means slow shutter. What it does, and the use of turning All Reset to off are all in the CD ROM manual. I won't go into how to access a file on CD, but I dragged mine to the desktop where it now sits awaiting answers to how to use this camera. If it requires a constant minus setting for average scenes, I'd still consider sending it back for a replacement. Todd,old photobuddy, do your agree? PS. The Curtin book is an easier read than the mfr manual but the manual covers more details on mechanics. Only thing I dont admire in this model is the pickyish focus lock hold is sensitive to my large finger, and I often release while I am re-framing if you know what I mean. As the crabby teacher said to the elementary class, Todd " How many have read the book?"...:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_batalla Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 I was Rite... The not as intense flash does hElp and like i also said the Slow flash was an option the tech support technician gave you. Maybe I got the same info because i work as a technician for Olympus! hMMM..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted December 19, 2003 Share Posted December 19, 2003 Dave, I have been doing more flash shots than not lately. It manages a fairly decent balance between what ambient light is there and the internal flash. I find that if I keep it at -.3 I get fill that hits the right level for my taste. Every camera has to have an algorithm ( I love that buzzword) to balance the light in the outside with the power of a flash. So logically these cameras ought to come out with not so much variation in samples-unless battery state has some influence which is not without plausibility. If you are satisfied that you are still dissatisfied to coin a phrase, send it back to Santa's workshop at Olympus. And ask them what the fistoosh the slow flash thing has to do with flash power while you are at it...An admirer of Olympus product. Thinking even of buying one of them FL 50 flashes, even at its gulp pricey price. Cheaper than the Mercedes SLR anyhow. And if the alleged Oly Tech here knows more on the flash,versus the FL 40 model let us all share. Aloha Dave, your fotofriend GS<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_lewis Posted December 20, 2003 Author Share Posted December 20, 2003 Hi everyone... Tammy's trick of kicking the flash intensity down by -1 does seem to work somewhat. I'll test it more tomorrow morning and report back. Gerry's Starbucks snap is exactly the kind of picture I've been unable to take so far. Let's see if this new way helps. Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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