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12/16/2008 09:53:33 PM · #1 |
What I love about photography is that it's so deep and interesting that you're always learning new things.
I always thought that manual mode was tedious to use and could only really be used when shooting in a controlled studio situation with flashes/strobes. I also thought that the on-board flash was fairly useless, simply making pictures have ugly, flat lighting. I was wrong on both counts!
It turns out that on my D700 (please let me know if this works on your camera as well), the internal flash is i-TTL, which means the camera handles exposure and flash power on the fly. If I set the camera to manual mode with the flash in TTL mode, I control shutter, aperture, and ISO, the camera sets flash power for me, and I almost always get a properly exposed picture.
This is wicked awesome, because I can control depth of field (aperture), ambient/flash balance (shutter+ISO), grain (ISO), motion blur / light trails (shutter), to get just the picture I intended to get.
Now I'm absolutely dying for a SB-x00 to get my sweet automatic lighting off-camera.
I'll upload some examples of what I'm talking about shortly... |
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12/16/2008 10:19:11 PM · #2 |
I have always hated the flat look that the onboard flash gives you (if you don't know how to use it), so I would typically shoot with available light, which is sometimes just not enough:
When using the fill flash, I would often do so in auto or program mode with a low ISO and get shots like this... maybe better, but I don't like the look. The flash has overpowered the ambient and it's just kinda harsh.
Now that I know about manual+TTL (you could also use the other modes with a higher ISO, but you'll have fewer options for creative freedom), I can control my ambient/flash balance, and even play with lighting effects like so:
 ... ...
These are straight out of the camera - EXIF is in tact for you to analyze. Of course I would normally adjust color in post.
Have fun, and remember - your little on-board flash isn't useless! =)
-Jeff
Message edited by author 2008-12-16 22:21:21. |
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12/16/2008 10:23:06 PM · #3 |
I've wondered about this. Usually I just shoot in "P" Mode on my Canon 30D. But when I put on the 480 speedlight I have, it always seems to give me 1/60 shutter speed at the lowest f-stop value the lens can achieve (3.5 with my crappy lens). I wondered how I could get a higher shutter speed or change my settings. I'll try this and see what happens.
Anyone else out there who can share some wisdom on this?
Scott
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12/16/2008 10:28:27 PM · #4 |
I just checked all my cameras and they dont have an on board flash...........booohooo I cant take purty pictures. :D
Matt
Maybe I dont understand what you are saying, but any camera I have I put the camera in manual mode to control what I want and then use the flash in ettl.
Message edited by author 2008-12-16 22:29:41.
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12/16/2008 10:40:00 PM · #5 |
I checked my D80. I don't have iTTL :(.
I often set my built-in flash to "--", so I can use it as a trigger (not a flash) for my SB-600 and I set everything manual. I just got my SB-600 a few months ago and I'm loving it.
I would love to know if the D90 has iTTL. I would love to try it out!
Message edited by author 2008-12-16 22:40:41. |
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12/16/2008 10:50:46 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by cynthiann:
I checked my D80. I don't have iTTL :(.
I often set my built-in flash to "--", so I can use it as a trigger (not a flash) for my SB-600 and I set everything manual. I just got my SB-600 a few months ago and I'm loving it.
I would love to know if the D90 has iTTL. I would love to try it out! |
Your D80 sure does have iTTL... set your on board flash "TTL" mode and there you have it... quite useless though, seeing as you already have an off camera speedlight that can acheive anything the onboard can and a load more. |
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12/16/2008 11:00:02 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by shalrath:
Originally posted by cynthiann:
I checked my D80. I don't have iTTL :(.
I often set my built-in flash to "--", so I can use it as a trigger (not a flash) for my SB-600 and I set everything manual. I just got my SB-600 a few months ago and I'm loving it.
I would love to know if the D90 has iTTL. I would love to try it out! |
Your D80 sure does have iTTL... set your on board flash "TTL" mode and there you have it... quite useless though, seeing as you already have an off camera speedlight that can acheive anything the onboard can and a load more. |
So TTL mode is the same as OP's iTTL? I assumed my manual settings would have to adjust for the flash, I didn't realize the flash adjusted to my settings, as I think the OP was saying.
Honestly, I've never even tried using my on-camera flash, except accidentally... and I'm still a newbie at using flash and lighting in general. |
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12/16/2008 11:14:59 PM · #8 |
| Thanks for posting this with examples, Jeff. I've had my camera for a year and I've barely touched the flash. You are inspiring me to try. |
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12/16/2008 11:16:45 PM · #9 |
| Mine does the same thing as yours. Pretty cool huh... |
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12/16/2008 11:38:14 PM · #10 |
just tried it... No dice on the D50... =(
I'm picking up a D90 next week... maybe it will have it?
Normally I have a SB-800 with a Garry Fong for night shots, but I am often stuck and forced to use the on camera flash... This happened one time with my frined and I when we were downtown for the night... All the pics he took on his D300 looked awesome, but I had so much trouble with my D50... I ended up just setting the flash to manual in the menu to a certain power that went well with the aperture I was using, and then set the shutter according to the ligths in the background... worked ok...
Maybe the D300 has this TTL/Manual Mode? maybe that's why his were working better?
Either way... when in doubt... just use green camera (or Program mode)... No matter what you have to say to that, it will get you the shot. |
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12/16/2008 11:48:18 PM · #11 |
Just in case you don't know, if it doesn't turn out right, you should use your flash compensation button, just below the button to release the pop-up flash.
(referring to OP)
Message edited by author 2008-12-16 23:48:31. |
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12/17/2008 12:03:53 AM · #12 |
A little clarification: TTL stands for through-the-lens, and used in context with a flash, means the flash's power can be controlled automatically by the camera to get proper exposure. Each brand has their own flavors - Nikon's latest is i-TTL and Canon's is e-TTL or some such.
My "ah ha!" realization was that I could use the camera's manual mode and the on-board flash - two features which I generally don't find much use for - but together they work great. Specifically to easily gain control over the scene's flash/ambient balance, while still controlling other variables (dof, ISO). Rephrased: "If you add TTL flash to manual mode, it becomes full-creative-auto-mode."
You could equally use an off-camera TTL flash compatible with your camera (like a Nikon SB-800 or Canon 580EX II), but I don't have any of those.
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 00:25:07. |
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12/17/2008 12:58:51 AM · #13 |
| On the D40 the setting is #14 in the custom setting menu, for anyone (like me) who didn't know. |
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12/17/2008 10:23:33 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by BeeCee:
On the D40 the setting is #14 in the custom setting menu, for anyone (like me) who didn't know. |
Indeed, though TTL should be the default - it is on mine, too.
So did everybody already know how to balance flash/ambient light? If you're inspired to play, let's see your examples here, too! =)
The obvious next step, if I'm combining ambient and flash in my shots, is to gel my flash to give me consistent light color. I notice in my snowman examples, I'd have to color-balance the background separate from the snowman because the light is so drastically different. To save myself this post work, using gels should help. Luckily I picked some up from B&H when I was buying my strobist gear.
ETA: Cynthia, on your D80 it's custom function #22 - make sure it's on TTL. Then put your camera in manual mode, pop up the flash, and fire away! You have commander mode, too (same custom setting, change to commander), and it should be able to control your off-camera SB-600 in the same way.
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 10:26:40. |
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12/17/2008 10:33:15 AM · #15 |
ETA: Cynthia, on your D80 it's custom function #22 - make sure it's on TTL. Then put your camera in manual mode, pop up the flash, and fire away! You have commander mode, too (same custom setting, change to commander), and it should be able to control your off-camera SB-600 in the same way.
Yep, found it last night and had some fun! Thanks! I never had a camera where the built-in flash would actually work with you instead of against you, so this is a nice surprise.
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 10:34:19. |
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12/17/2008 11:15:16 AM · #16 |
...
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 11:49:04. |
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12/17/2008 11:27:34 AM · #17 |
hmm. i have always used any flash with the camera in manual mode.
even with a film camera - you lose the ISO feature basically - but you still control the flash exposure via aperture, and ambient light exposure via shutter speed.
now you need to work on the flash distance to subject. or light fall off ;)
and yeah - get a hot shoe flash or three !!
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 11:30:27.
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12/17/2008 12:09:57 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by soup:
hmm. i have always used any flash with the camera in manual mode. |
Me too, but only in-studio with manual flashes and trial-and-error exposure. The magic is that the TTL flash is a fourth variable the camera uses to turn manual mode into another automatic mode. It doesn't matter what my A/S/ISO is set to, the flash fills automagically and I always get a correctly exposed image. This means fast-paced, candid capable. Not just studio static.
It's a mindset shift - I'm not using A/S/ISO for exposure anymore, I'm using them for creative purposes, and the flash takes care of the rest.
I'll report back once I've used this in a real live on-the-go situation...
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 12:11:30. |
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12/17/2008 12:17:00 PM · #19 |
I always do the same with an on camera flash but what gets me is the shot to shot of the eTTL (I hear Nikon is better with that then Canon).... I start riding the EV quite a bit when using that method. If it's static I find full manual easier but for changing conditions I think this is THE way to go if you have TTL flashes.
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12/17/2008 01:59:15 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by smurfguy:
So did everybody already know how to balance flash/ambient light? If you're inspired to play, let's see your examples here, too! =) |
When I'm taking outdoor shots I almost always pop the on-board flash, set to about -2.0 power. Shutter speed of 1/60, aperture of whatever. A low power flash fills out shadows around peoples faces nicely, and since it's outdoors the colour balance between flash and ambient daylight works out fine. Doesn't work indoors though (flash and incandescent never colour balance correctly, this is where you'd need gel)
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12/17/2008 04:11:41 PM · #21 |
here's my biggest winner at DPC.
the ambient light is from the candle - shot at 1/40th shutter.
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12/17/2008 04:35:11 PM · #22 |
| Nice shot, and a lovely example of flash/ambient balance. =) |
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12/17/2008 04:53:16 PM · #23 |
with your nikon and the onboard ( pop up ) flash - can you use high speed sync ?
might be denoted by a ( >>> ) icon.
Message edited by author 2008-12-17 16:53:53.
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12/17/2008 05:24:05 PM · #24 |
Interesting question - I'll check it out tonight, though my gut feeling is probably not. Esp since power levels are greatly reduced with high-speed sync and it's not very powerful to begin with. I assume that if I use my manual settings to go above 1/250 I'll start to get only a portion of the frame lit.
Just another reason to get a speedlight. *drool* |
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12/17/2008 05:53:47 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by Shutter-For-Hire:
just tried it... No dice on the D50... =(
I'm picking up a D90 next week... maybe it will have it?
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Yup Shutter-For-Hire the D90 lets you do this and you will be able to control your SB-800 off camera and use the on camera flash at the same time all in iTTL mode. I'm picking up my SB-600 tonight, can't wait to play with Nikon's Creative Lighting System (CLS) it was one of the things that sold me on getting the D90 in the first place.
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