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D80 built-in Flash

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Shiraz7

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Being a new owner of a Nikon D80, I am extremely happy overall with the camera.

I do have one query though. When using the built-in flash indoors, I have noticed that the images appear to be rather dull, with very dark shadow areas and cold mid tones. I have experimented with this and have had slightly improved results when specifying Flash white balance. I am surprised that the results aren't close to perfect at the default settings.

The tests I experimented with were within 2-3 meters from the subject, and as the flash has a guide number of 13 the strength of the flash obviously isn't the reason.

Perhaps someone else has had a similar experience or may know the solution to this.

Thanks
Shiraz7,
Perth Australia
 
Shiraz7 said:
Being a new owner of a Nikon D80, I am extremely happy overall with
the camera.
I do have one query though. When using the built-in flash indoors,
I have noticed that the images appear to be rather dull, with very
dark shadow areas and cold mid tones. I have experimented with this
and have had slightly improved results when specifying Flash white
balance. I am surprised that the results aren't close to perfect at
the default settings.

The tests I experimented with were within 2-3 meters from the
subject, and as the flash has a guide number of 13 the strength of
the flash obviously isn't the reason.

Perhaps someone else has had a similar experience or may know the
solution to this.

Thanks
Shiraz7,
Perth Australia
Click to expand...
You need to tell us more about your settings. First of all you must tell us what Metering mode your using because this directly has an impact of your Flash. If your using Spot Metering or Manual Mode your are in i-TTL mode and your telling the camera that your flash is your primary light source. If your in CW or Matrix Metering then your in i-TTL BL (Balanced Flash Fill) mode and your telling the camera to use the flash as a secondary light course.

Just remember that ambient light directly effects your flash output when in Auto Flash modes. Therefore selecting the correct ambient metering mode is very important.
http://nickmjr.smugmug.com/
Nick M
 
flying monkey said:
Results with the built in flash are never going to be that good,
best to buy a SB600/800 even in simple bounce set on ittl bl mode
as the link below is for a quick grab shot it gives ok results.
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=259872238&size=o
Click to expand...
Thats a blanket and Bogus statement, when used properly the onboard is very usefull. Especially when you bump up your ISO, which will increase the brightness and range of your onboard. DOn't get me wrong I love me SB-800 but I dont always use it.
http://nickmjr.smugmug.com/
Nick M
 
You can also increase the flash strenghth in your menu items that seems to work fine in many cases.

I'm not disagrreing with the power of SB series however, just ignore some of the posts that promotes buying new stuff all the time.

Just explore the goods of what you have then move on...
 
NickMJr said:
flying monkey said:
Results with the built in flash are never going to be that good,
best to buy a SB600/800 even in simple bounce set on ittl bl mode
as the link below is for a quick grab shot it gives ok results.
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=259872238&size=o
Click to expand...
Thats a blanket and Bogus statement, when used properly the onboard
is very usefull. Especially when you bump up your ISO, which will
increase the brightness and range of your onboard. DOn't get me
wrong I love me SB-800 but I dont always use it.
http://nickmjr.smugmug.com/
Nick M
Click to expand...
I agree, I love my SB800 but the onboard flash does fine in many instances, especially when you don't have the SB800 attatched.

This is a very cool camera by the way.
 
I had just collected my D80 and went to a party (big mistake). Using the built-in flash, the images were very under exposed, however, they looked fine on the rear view screen!
Settings:

Programme - Auto
Meter Mode - Multi-Pattern
ISO 100
White balance - Auto
Flash sync. mode - Front curtain
Flash Mode - i-TTL-BL

Peter Del
http://www.peterdelehar.com
 
I rigged up a simple plastic diffuser for the built in flash on my D80 and it eliminates a lot of the harsh shadows and highlights when taking close up portraits. You can find all sorts of blogs on the internet about people making similar things. You can also buy a retail product from Lumiquest that will do the same thing.
 
Peter Del said:
I had just collected my D80 and went to a party (big mistake).
Using the built-in flash, the images were very under exposed,
however, they looked fine on the rear view screen!
Settings:

Programme - Auto
Click to expand...
Stop using Auto Mode and learn A, S and M modes. Auto is a P&S mode and the camera making all the dicisions.
Peter Del said:
Meter Mode - Multi-Pattern
Click to expand...
Use Spot Metering next time
Peter Del said:
ISO 100
Click to expand...
Use ISO 400 next time
Peter Del said:
White balance - Auto
Flash sync. mode - Front curtain
Flash Mode - i-TTL-BL
Click to expand...
Use i-TTL if your flash need to be primary light source.
Peter Del said:
Peter Del
http://www.peterdelehar.com
Click to expand...
http://nickmjr.smugmug.com/
Nick M
 
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, you have to have a decent flash or a fast lenses to get decent results in a reasonable amount of shots.
 
Thank you for all your comments on this matter. I have tried the various solutions but have not managed to improve the result from the built-in flash. I have tried spot metering with 400 iso but this achieve the same result as the automatic mode. The only option that makes a notable difference is flash exposure compensation, when increasing this by 1 stop.

The basic point I would like to make is that the default settings should produce a close to perfect result within the flash range and not underexposed results.

Perhaps Nikon would correct this in future firmware updates.

Thanks
 
Shiraz7 said:
Thank you for all your comments on this matter. I have tried the
various solutions but have not managed to improve the result from
the built-in flash. I have tried spot metering with 400 iso but
this achieve the same result as the automatic mode. The only option
that makes a notable difference is flash exposure compensation,
when increasing this by 1 stop.

The basic point I would like to make is that the default settings
should produce a close to perfect result within the flash range and
not underexposed results.

Perhaps Nikon would correct this in future firmware updates.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Please post examples, Where are you spot metering? Spot metering on a white shirt will get much different reading than on a black shirt. Try Spot metering on the face of the subject then press your FV lock to fires a preflash then you can recompose and results should be better.
http://nickmjr.smugmug.com/
Nick M
 
Thanks to some good advice from this board I used a ping pong ball with a slit cut into the back. It fits comfortably over my built in flash. I went +1 or +0.7 on the flash setting and got much better results! This is holding me over until I can afford one of the nice sb-xxx lights. Iso 400 seems to work out best for me with the 50mm 1.8 or even the kit 18-55 lens. All on a D50 by the way. I also set my WB to flash, but I shoot in RAW in case I want to adjust later on.

Skin tones in particular look better to me. I did a lot of trial and error shooting of inanimate objects first in the living room to see which combination I like best.

-Matt
 
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