Some quality advice in there chuck, wish I had read it before faffing about
with my SB 800 off camera
with TTL. I am looking to get a second flash to use along side the SB 800,
need it fairly powerful with a
PC sync manual and adjustable power, it will be used off camara and fired
eventually with pocket wizards.
Any suggestions?
Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 12:41 PM
Subject: [OM] Re: So, it's a good camera
> The biggest advances you can make in flash photography are to use an
> old, low cost flash that offers multiple manual power settings and use
> it in manual mode. The easiest way to do manual flash is to pre-compute
> an exposure for one or more fixed distances (like 11 feet) and then
> always stand that distance away from the subject and use your zoom to do
> the framing. Perfect exposure every time and beats TTL every time. The
> reason I suggested 11 feet is that it's also a common f/stop. If your
> subject is at 8 feet or 16 feet then the exposure for those distances is
> just +/- one stop from the 11 foot distance. Easy to remember. If
> you'd like to use some other base distance, like 3 meters, just remember
> that multiplying or dividing by 1.4 (square root of 2) will give you the
> distances for +/- one stop from your base. You can't use this method if
> you're using bounce flash, of course, but, since you're shooting
> digital, you can narrow in on the correct exposure with just a couple of
> test shots.
>
> I was going to suggest a Sunpak 422D (with TTL foot for one of your film
> cameras) on a low cost bracket like the Stroboframe Quick Flip 350
> <http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=6993&A=details&Q=&sku=52728&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation>
> but then I remembered that your 300D has no PC connection and the hot
> shoe is limited to 6 volts for flash trigger voltage. (There may be
> some 6 volt 422D's but my own 422D's measure about 10 volts). You could
> use it with a voltage isolator but for the cost of 422D plus a voltage
> isolator you could probably buy a Canyon 540EZ or another EZ series
> flash that offers manual control such as the 420EZ or 430EZ (model
> numbers less than 420 have no manual control). The EZ series of flashes
> don't support ETTL which is what's needed for automated flash control on
> all Canyon DSLR's. Because of that they're much cheaper used than the
> EX series of flashes needed for automation on the DSLR's.
>
> In addition to easily controlled manual power levels you'll get a zoom
> head (which also alters guide number) and an autofocus assist light with
> a range of 7 meters on the 420EZ, 10 meters on the 430EZ and 15 meters
> on the 540EZ. Having used the autofocus assist light on the 540EZ at a
> big dinner party and dance this past Saturday night I can attest that it
> works well. I think I only had two frames out of about 200 that weren't
> properly focused and that was me mis-aiming the camera in the dark.
>
> Raising the flash head above the built-in flash will reduce the
> incidence of red-eye. Adding a Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer diffuser
> <http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=32576&is=REG&addedTroughType=search>
> will raise the light source even higher and soften the shadows a bit.
> But even that is still not enough to eliminate red-eye in all cases so
> the Stroboframe is still useful for that and will also cast shadows down
> and behind your subjects where they are less noticeable. The downside
> of the Stroboframe with the dedicated flash units it that you also need
> a Canyon off-shoe connector to activate the autofocus assist light.
> <http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=12972&is=REG&addedTroughType=search>
>
> Since you probably don't have a flash meter you can predetermine the
> flash power by setting up a large white target (like a white dress
> shirt) at 11 feet or whatever you want for a base distance. Shoot test
> shots of the white target and keep backing the exposure down until you
> no longer get any overexposure indications on the camera's display
> screen when reviewing the image. Use an aperture of about f/8 for
> reasonable depth of field and ISO 400 to minimize flash power
> requirements and speed recycling. Adjust the flash power down for
> correct exposure (probably about 1/8 to 1/4 power at a 50mm zoom head
> setting). Since the older flash models only allow full stop manual
> exposure control you can fine tune the exposure with the aperture for
> 1/3 stop control.
>
> Dr. Flash
>
>
> Allan Mee wrote:
>>
>> Arguably the biggest improvement in photography, for me, as I've moved up
>> through various cameras - has been in flash photography. The OM2 SP and
>> Om40
>> were notceably better than my earlier film cameras - and, imo, the 300D
>> seems better still (at least with regards to on/in-camera flash). I think
>> my
>> T20 may be just a shade more powerful than the 300D's built-in one (I
>> haven't compared guide nos but the 300D does takes better flash pictures
>> than my classic OM2 (which, unfortunately isn't an OM2(n) - I sold the
>> OM2
>> SP to help pay for the 300D).
>
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