Reading mode: Light Dark

5D/580EX Bounce Exposure Question

Go to last post
B

Bob Baron

Member
Messages
36
Reaction score
1
Location
US
I set the 5D to Program mode and the 580EX to E-TTL and pointed it straight up to bounce off the ceiling (normal room height is what, 9 feet?) and at ISO 800 the resulting exposure shows up in the EXIF data as 1/60 at f4.

The scene is well exposed but I want a smaller aperture to give me more depth of field.

I thought if I increased the ISO setting the camera/flash combination would figure I needed a smaller aperture but that didn't happen.....all the way up to ISO 1600 and it is still 1/60 at f4.

So what should I do?

Thanks for suggestions; the manual so far as I can see is no help.

--Bob
 
Pick your Av for DOF, then the flash will take care of the exposure, assuming your within the limits of its performance.

You're getting the same exposure as the ISO goes up because is lowering its output to compensate.

If you let it, your camera will want to expose at 1/60th generally. You know better, so tell it what to do.

You're probably better off using Manual mode with Canon flash shots.

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
 
Set your aperture for your desired DOF, enough shutter speed to prevent camera shake, ISO 200-400 and let ETTL figure out how hard to fire the flash. Set custom function to average (default is evaluative). Check histogram and adjust flash exposure as required. TV mode and AV mode are designed for fill flash.

--
Regards,
John
 
Thanks for the link. Interesting reading at first glance and I'll get into it in detail when the weekend comes.

I am a little surprised and disappointed the suggested way to go seems to be to use M on the camera; I had hoped the electronics were now up to a point where it would do all the settings for me automatically.

(It's not that I don't know how, it's just that I don't want to. )

Thanks for your help.
 
Bob Baron said:
I thought if I increased the ISO setting the camera/flash
combination would figure I needed a smaller aperture but that
didn't happen.....all the way up to ISO 1600 and it is still 1/60
at f4.

So what should I do?
Click to expand...
1/60 with flash is always defaulted to 1/60 which is on the end of
acceptable speed for camera shake. Raising the shutter speed in any
mode will darken the background and also cause the flash to power up
until it reached its max power.

You can obtain ambient settings, so the higher the shutter speed at any
given iso, the more the flash has to do the work.

The M mode within reasonable settings is the real answer for most low
light situations. Drastic effects in darkening background and/or over flash
of near subjects will result.
 
In my experiance, evaluative tends to underexpose, average is more consistent. Give it a try.

--
Regards,
John
 
It has worked for many.

I suggest that you put your camera in manual mode and leave the flash in ETTL.

Set an aperture for the DOF you want and a shutter speed between 1/60-1/250th depending on the situation. Set +2/3 flash exposure compensation. I like shooting at 400 ISO with my indoor flash shots. I also have custom function 14 set to 1 for average. Keep an eye on the histogram to get a good guage of the exposure. Shoot Av for fill outdoors. I also like using a diffuser like a Sto-fen Omnibounce or bouncing off the ceiling. The pros like using a Lightsphere II, but it is a bulky piece of equipment.
--
--
Juli
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
Canon FiveDee, Canon 2oD, Canon Gee3, and Canon S7o, Fuji Eff30.

 
Try these links

http://www.planetneil.com/faq/flash-techniques.html

and

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index.html

Then try shooting in manual. It really isn't manual because the camera and flash set up is so smart.

J.
Bob Baron said:
I set the 5D to Program mode and the 580EX to E-TTL and pointed it
straight up to bounce off the ceiling (normal room height is what,
9 feet?) and at ISO 800 the resulting exposure shows up in the EXIF
data as 1/60 at f4.

The scene is well exposed but I want a smaller aperture to give me
more depth of field.

I thought if I increased the ISO setting the camera/flash
combination would figure I needed a smaller aperture but that
didn't happen.....all the way up to ISO 1600 and it is still 1/60
at f4.

So what should I do?

Thanks for suggestions; the manual so far as I can see is no help.

--Bob
Click to expand...
--
'Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.' -
Mark Twain

(equip in profile)
 
Juli Valley said:
It has worked for many.

I suggest that you put your camera in manual mode and leave the
flash in ETTL.

Set an aperture for the DOF you want and a shutter speed between
1/60-1/250th depending on the situation. Set +2/3 flash exposure
compensation. I like shooting at 400 ISO with my indoor flash
shots. I also have custom function 14 set to 1 for average. Keep an
eye on the histogram to get a good guage of the exposure. Shoot Av
for fill outdoors. I also like using a diffuser like a Sto-fen
Omnibounce or bouncing off the ceiling. The pros like using a
Lightsphere II, but it is a bulky piece of equipment.
--
--
Juli
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
Canon FiveDee, Canon 2oD, Canon Gee3, and Canon S7o, Fuji Eff30.

Click to expand...
Juli,
I guess you will limit yourself also to 1/200th with a 5D.
Why the +2/3 flash exposure compensation? A bit surprised about that.
Regards,
Jos
--
http://www.jos-echelpoels.smugmug.com

 
Manual mode is really the easiest way to do it, even tho it doesn't sound that way. As others have suggested, the exposure to max. sinc speed and picking your apeture to taste lets TTL flash do all the thinking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top