External Flash (why bother?)

I'm currently expanding my kit to cover all possible eventualities and I read (here on these forums and other places) and am told that a flash gun is essential kit. Having recently ordered a 50mm 1.7 to cover low light situations I'm a little doubtful whether I would see enough reward from a 200 euro investment in a flash gun.

First, I really really don't like flash pictures. Indoor, I'd rather have some wiped-out body parts, but a nice atmosphere that a brightly lit and flat image. Secondly, i don't really shoot much indoor anyway. My 6-month old son is my only regular indoor subject and I can usually get a couple of sharp ones with my kit lens. That will improve with the f/1.7 option.

Finally, I shot a wedding recently with my 18-200, standing about 5/6 meters away from the happy couple (next to the official photographer). The results I though were pretty decent with the popup flash. In fact, I would say for the money (...), it offers pretty amazing performance. Below are a few examples. There was some ambient light, I must admit. It was a sunny day and there were quite large windows. However, without flash I couldn't make it work (especially 200mm @ f/6.3+).

Finally, would an old 2nd hand minolta 3200i be any good. It's probably full manual (?), but for my occasional use is it a workable solution? And is it worth the 20 euro I can get if for?

Examples with popup flash

@18mm



@200mm



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Tristan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tristan78/

1. Because you will run out of light in many situations
2. As a fill flash to lift shadows in sunlight
3. As a creative tool flash is very versatile

4. Wait untill you find subject matter that suffers from "lazy eye" -- suddenly your onboard is useless and thyirstor looks very attractive.

All of that said if you feel its a waste for you then dont spend the money. Spend it on a something else like a nice break away with your family

For many others though the external gun has so many uses they wonder how they ever coped without it.

Have a look at the strobist site and then decide if flash phtoos have to look flat:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/

No question its not bad at all.

For many situations its fine.

However......the external units offer bounce (which is nice, and you will be amazed at how much you like it)

More power if needed......

and other cherries...wireless etc.

But for some onboard is ok...

Its worth getting the 36 sony flash, not that expensive, decent features etc....
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Clint is on holiday! Soon to return! ;-)

Too much flash looks nasty.

When you are using flash, try using a slower shutter speed...

Use Shutter Priority or Manual exposure modes and exposure for closer to the ambient lighting (e.g. -1 EV or -2 EV), compensating for the difference with flash.

Use Rear Curtain flash, so that the flash fires just before the shutter closes, after the exposure. This means that the flash adds a layer of sharp detail ontop of any motionblur, and will compensate for any dark patches or overall darkness in the image.

This also means that you can use a slower shutter speed without incurring so much motionblur, and can gain a greater depth of field in your images without losing brightness.

An off-board flash offers many advantages;

• wireless flash is brilliant fun and very useful
• bounced flash looks more natural
• much faster refresh rate than the on-board flash
• much more powerful than the on-board flash
• battery life is independent of the camera

The on-board flash has a few inherent disadvantages;

• fixed direction and position is very close to the camera
• very slow refresh rate
• not very powerful
• using the flash drains the camera's battery very quickly

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Stuart / the Two Truths
http://www.flickr.com/photos/two_truths/
http://two-truths.deviantart.com/gallery/

I agree with the poster above, in that if you think it is a waste of money, don't get the flash.

That said, I think you wouldn't feel it was a waste of money once you got it.

I have the 3600 and I love it. I could use the features of the 5600, but the 3600 does enough that I still enjoy using it.

You'll find that most of the time you won't need it, but when you want a nice fill flash, it looks better than the pop up flash almost every time.

When you need to use the flash as the sole light source, you'll definitely notice the difference. Always bounce the flash--it really looks natural and lights the entire room, typically. That is why the external flash is so much more powerful--they design it to be bounced, which wastes some of the power.

If you shoot directly at your subject you'll get the exact same effect of the pop up flash. As in, glossy/shiny, with harsh shadows etc.

And finally, I think you'll find that when you need a flash, you need a flash--the 50mm f/1.7 won't work. I like the 50 but it isn't that much faster than a 2.8. And the DOF is so shallow, you have to nail the focus.

I think you'll enjoy yourself if you get the flash. Just my opinion.
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Gear:
5D, 50 f/1.7, Sigma 10-20, Tamron 28-75, Beercan, 3600

Alot of people like to shoot "available light" only which is fine, but sometimes the quality of available light just flat out sucks! As already mentioned the beauty of flashguns is that once you learn how to use the bounce (and swivel) function nobody can even tell you used a flash and often your pic looks better than what the available light shot would have (less harsh shadows, motion blur, noise from hight ISO, etc.). The flashgun can often be swiveled in such a way to basically boost the available light source to needed levels so you're not always forced to use f/1.7 at ISO 1600 just so you get a decent shutter speed. If your available light source is just a single light on a ceiling fan, point the flash straight up and bounce off the ceiling for the same light direction but now with a softer diffused look and a faster shutter and smaller aperture available if you need it. And the wireless feature opens up a whole new world of creative possibility. I find my flashgun essential kit wherever I go.

If you ever intend to setup a small home studio, I would recommend getting the big Sony unit (5600) as it supports full manual modes without preflash and can be used with other strobes/flashes via optical slaves. The 3600 is automatic only and is hard to sync with other strobe units (but not impossible) due to the preflash which can't be turned off.
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My gallery for your perusal:
http://www.pbase.com/gipper51/root

External flash isn't very necessary. It is useful for interiors. My main reason for one is macro. The onboard flash gets blocked by the lens, here is an examples with Sigma DG 500 Super

A100 Sigma 180 macro 1/125s f/16.0 iso400



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dhaslam
http://www.pbase.com/dhaslam/galleries

I think when your kid get older than 6-months and won't stay still for a nano-second you'll be using more flash. Then when you see the shadows that the flash hitting directly on your subject you'll want to bounce flash or go wireless.

One can only go so far w/ fast lenses, slow shutter sppeed and high ISO.

But your point is well taken, the onboard flash is pretty good

Ahoy!

Check out this link and ensure you view all the video clips you come across. Turn on your sound. Read everything. It might give you an insight as to how YOU can make your flash images better.

http://store.garyfonginc.com/lightsphere.html

Something of an eye opener.
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Mark
http://www.airports2go.co.uk

I'd much rather use a nice bounced flash and get sharp, in focus photos than hope my subjects stay still enough to avoid motion blur. If you use bounce flash properly (or try wireless for even more creative options), the results can be very natural looking:



This one is actually bounced off the wall to her side (right side of the picture), and I like the way it looks more like natural light coming in through a window:



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Keith
equipment in profile
http://www.pbase.com/themitty/
http://www.picasaweb.google.com/themitty

External flash does open up a whole new range of posibilities - especially with the wireless facility. You can use the flash to give modelling but firing it at an angle to the subject. As others have said, using bounced flash can be a good idea. An external flash is far more powerful then the onboard job. This will allow you to use fill-in flash even on bright days.

Here's another idea. There are some studio flash outfits that are very affordable these days. These may be worth looking at.

Having said all of that, we all take different pictures and our priorities vary. It maybe that you would be better off buying a new lens or simply saving the money.
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Greg

When you've got a moment, have a look at my newly updated site:
http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk
also http://www.wrightphotos.co.uk/FromeInFocus

Winner of the South West Rural section of the BBC's Picture of Britain Competition.

Many people are afraid of flash photography also. They have a preconception that all flash shots are flat, unnatural looking photos and avoid using it altogother. Available light is great to use when it gives you the result you want, but often (especially inside) "natural light" is not very flattering to your subject. Dark shadows under the eyes, wrong direction, motion blur, etc. Available light does not always mean "good light". The key is to make the light source "natural looking". Being that you rarely have control over available light but you always have control of flash, this improves your percentage of keepers. The more variables to a shot you can control the better your chances are of creating quality shots. And being that light quality is often the single most important aspect to a quality photo, why would you not want to have some control of it?

My gallery for your perusal:
http://www.pbase.com/gipper51/root

Hi

I bought the Minolta A1 in 2003 and I am still using it with 3 external flashes. Lots of fun and possiblities with the arrangement indoor and outdoor.