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Poor results with the D60 and the 550EX flash

  • Thread starter Thread starter randall Priester
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randall Priester

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When I shoot events withe the D60 and the 550EX the exposures are all over the place. Dark suits = face over exposed Light dress = dark photo

I understand what it is doing but it seems way to sensitive. I have it set to meter the whole frame and not just the center, I am using a bracket and the coiled cord extension. and I am setting it to ttl. I mostly shoot commercial jobs ie product photos and I can always shoot and play with the lighting but shooting on the fly has become way to scary. Is there any way to have the camera set the exposure base on the focus distance as opposed to metering it TTL.

I have tried Auto and Program but neither seems better than the other

As a side note...this D60 shoots 1/2 stop too dark when shooting without the flash. I set the camera to ad 1/2 stop to correct for that. But this flash thing is making the camera almost unusable for quick event photos.

any suggestions would help.

Randy
 
Besides the 10D update, check out this site:

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

It's got a few good pointers as to why E-TTL causes problems (mainly linked to the AF pont).

As for the distance thing, I think it's Nikon's and it's proprietary...

:oP
randall Priester said:
When I shoot events withe the D60 and the 550EX the exposures are
all over the place. Dark suits = face over exposed Light dress =
dark photo
I understand what it is doing but it seems way to sensitive. I have
it set to meter the whole frame and not just the center, I am using
a bracket and the coiled cord extension. and I am setting it to
ttl. I mostly shoot commercial jobs ie product photos and I can
always shoot and play with the lighting but shooting on the fly has
become way to scary. Is there any way to have the camera set the
exposure base on the focus distance as opposed to metering it TTL.

I have tried Auto and Program but neither seems better than the other

As a side note...this D60 shoots 1/2 stop too dark when shooting
without the flash. I set the camera to ad 1/2 stop to correct for
that. But this flash thing is making the camera almost unusable for
quick event photos.

any suggestions would help.

Randy
Click to expand...
--
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Do you set the camera to spot metereing and then try to lock exposure on some thing middle grey?
When using ETTL does the flash do a preflash any way?

thanks randy
Tim Chong said:
Try to use FEL if you recompose... that's what I do with my D60 &
550EX
Click to expand...
 
with 550EX mounted, half pressed the shutter to focus lock then press * to FEL , then recompose.
 
I didn't shoot wedding with that combination, but I did general shoots and parties. I managed to do pretty well with it. Try dragging the shutter.
 
this is the set up I use with my D60 and it works for me--- very predictable.

I use the 1/3 stops to adjust EC for each lens (some over and some under). 1/2 stops is just way to much compensation for most shots.
randall Priester said:
When I shoot events withe the D60 and the 550EX the exposures are
all over the place. Dark suits = face over exposed Light dress =
dark photo
I understand what it is doing but it seems way to sensitive. I have
it set to meter the whole frame and not just the center, I am using
a bracket and the coiled cord extension. and I am setting it to
ttl. I mostly shoot commercial jobs ie product photos and I can
always shoot and play with the lighting but shooting on the fly has
become way to scary. Is there any way to have the camera set the
exposure base on the focus distance as opposed to metering it TTL.

I have tried Auto and Program but neither seems better than the other

As a side note...this D60 shoots 1/2 stop too dark when shooting
without the flash. I set the camera to ad 1/2 stop to correct for
that. But this flash thing is making the camera almost unusable for
quick event photos.

any suggestions would help.

Randy
Click to expand...
--
Troponin (Trop)
'No Limitation is Limitation'
and I still can't spell worth a dang!
 
I've been able to get pretty good results by setting the flash exposure compensation to +1/3 or +2/3, although I agree that the flash output is pretty unpredictable.

I think it's probably OK to moderately overexpose your shots (as long as you don't blow the highlights), since you can easily correct them in File Viewer using digital exposure compensation. You can also compensate for underexposure the same way, but that will increase the noise level.

By the way, I've actually found the D60's exposure metering on non-flash shots to be pretty accurate most of the time. It sometimes gets it wrong, of course, but usually in predictable conditions, such as a person in direct sunlight standing in front of a dark, shady background.
 
Troponin said:
this is the set up I use with my D60 and it works for me--- very
predictable.

I use the 1/3 stops to adjust EC for each lens (some over and some
under). 1/2 stops is just way to much compensation for most shots.
Click to expand...
I'm at the beach on my laptop so don't have the links, but search for Michael Thomas Mitchell and look for his tips for using ETTL with D30/60 for wedding photography, etc. Works great. You don't always have to use FEL (the flash meters under the chosen AF point). I use ETTL with STE2, 550EX and 420EX on light stands with umbrellas all the time for interior commercial work with little problem. He uses them all the time for wedding photography. I generally use manual, but often Av if I want to balance the background with the subject. It does not work as a thyristor flash, so you need to experiment with it and learn what to expect. I think too many want it to be P & S with the flash. I do understand that its 'easier' with the 10D, but it certainly works well with my D60.

--
Diane B
http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleries
B/W lover, but color is seducing me
 
Diane,

I don't have any problems either when it is used correctly.

For studio work I do set everything manually and meter, but for candids, weddings, etc when using ETTL I don't have a problem with it...works fine, like you said...it is not a point and shoot, you can buy those cheap if that is what kind of functionality you want.

--
-- richard

 
My D60 and 550EX also underexpose but fairly consistantly. I just take a test shot or 2 and adjust the flash compensation anywhere from +1/2 to +2 but then for the rest of the shoot it is consistant. And good exposures.
--Diane L
Franklin said:
Richard Rooks said:
Diane,

I don't have any problems either when it is used correctly.
Click to expand...
Do you mean you don't even have to Flash Exposure Compensation.
What lens are you using? I have to FEC +1 1/2 step to get good
flash exposure with D60, 420ex and 28-135IS. In my case, at least
it is consistent.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.bonedoc1.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~bonedoc1/galleryindex.html
 
Franklin said:
Richard Rooks said:
Diane,

I don't have any problems either when it is used correctly.
Click to expand...
Do you mean you don't even have to Flash Exposure Compensation.
What lens are you using? I have to FEC +1 1/2 step to get good
flash exposure with D60, 420ex and 28-135IS. In my case, at least
it is consistent.
Click to expand...
No I don't use any FEC...
I only use L lenses...

I try and make sure that the focus area is on the face or some other neutral object

For instance, I shoot most everything vertical...so I use the right hand focus rectangle exclusively for candids....
--
-- richard

 
Richard Rooks said:
Franklin said:
Richard Rooks said:
Diane,

I don't have any problems either when it is used correctly.
Click to expand...
Do you mean you don't even have to Flash Exposure Compensation.
What lens are you using? I have to FEC +1 1/2 step to get good
flash exposure with D60, 420ex and 28-135IS. In my case, at least
it is consistent.
Click to expand...
No I don't use any FEC...
I only use L lenses...

I try and make sure that the focus area is on the face or some
other neutral object

For instance, I shoot most everything vertical...so I use the right
hand focus rectangle exclusively for candids....
--
-- richard

Click to expand...
 
I agree with ya-ya that ETTL is a serious failure on the D60. I was horribly disappointed with mine. However, there is a workaround that solves the problem!

First, make sure you have the latest D60 firmware from Canon. Though they claim that the flash function was never adjusted in the firmware updates, I was able to repeatedly and measureably demonstrate a clear difference in flash behavior between an old and new firmware version (forgot which version though).

Switch to full manual mode. Choose any shutter speed and aperture (1/60 and f5.6 works well in most places) that suits you. Of course, the D60 will tell you that your image will be horribly underexposed. But, (with the flash attached and on of course), just shoot it! The flash will automatically fire just the right amount to bring the exposure up to your selected aperture and shutter speed.

I found that by using manual mode, I got almost perfect flash exposures all the time. I can't explain why this works, but it does, try it!

Jason
randall Priester said:
When I shoot events withe the D60 and the 550EX the exposures are
all over the place. Dark suits = face over exposed Light dress =
dark photo
I understand what it is doing but it seems way to sensitive. I have
it set to meter the whole frame and not just the center, I am using
a bracket and the coiled cord extension. and I am setting it to
ttl. I mostly shoot commercial jobs ie product photos and I can
always shoot and play with the lighting but shooting on the fly has
become way to scary. Is there any way to have the camera set the
exposure base on the focus distance as opposed to metering it TTL.

I have tried Auto and Program but neither seems better than the other

As a side note...this D60 shoots 1/2 stop too dark when shooting
without the flash. I set the camera to ad 1/2 stop to correct for
that. But this flash thing is making the camera almost unusable for
quick event photos.

any suggestions would help.

Randy
Click to expand...
 
The solution I came up with for this was to buy the metz54mz3 and use the auto flash. Also an old nikon sb28 in auto mode worked too. the 550 does not work with this camera. period. This is now my #3 back up to my 1D, and 10D so this is not as much of a problem. I use it with studio lights or for outside photos with no problems. The on camera flash also seemed to work better for fill flash too.

Brian
randall Priester said:
When I shoot events withe the D60 and the 550EX the exposures are
all over the place. Dark suits = face over exposed Light dress =
dark photo
I understand what it is doing but it seems way to sensitive. I have
it set to meter the whole frame and not just the center, I am using
a bracket and the coiled cord extension. and I am setting it to
ttl. I mostly shoot commercial jobs ie product photos and I can
always shoot and play with the lighting but shooting on the fly has
become way to scary. Is there any way to have the camera set the
exposure base on the focus distance as opposed to metering it TTL.

I have tried Auto and Program but neither seems better than the other

As a side note...this D60 shoots 1/2 stop too dark when shooting
without the flash. I set the camera to ad 1/2 stop to correct for
that. But this flash thing is making the camera almost unusable for
quick event photos.

any suggestions would help.

Randy
Click to expand...
--



Pbase supporter

Brian
 
I forgot I also put the camera on +1 and left it. It over exposes a little but its fine because my lab uses fuji which seems to come out on the dark side in the first place.
Brian Cox said:
Brian
randall Priester said:
When I shoot events withe the D60 and the 550EX the exposures are
all over the place. Dark suits = face over exposed Light dress =
dark photo
I understand what it is doing but it seems way to sensitive. I have
it set to meter the whole frame and not just the center, I am using
a bracket and the coiled cord extension. and I am setting it to
ttl. I mostly shoot commercial jobs ie product photos and I can
always shoot and play with the lighting but shooting on the fly has
become way to scary. Is there any way to have the camera set the
exposure base on the focus distance as opposed to metering it TTL.

I have tried Auto and Program but neither seems better than the other

As a side note...this D60 shoots 1/2 stop too dark when shooting
without the flash. I set the camera to ad 1/2 stop to correct for
that. But this flash thing is making the camera almost unusable for
quick event photos.

any suggestions would help.

Randy
Click to expand...
--



Pbase supporter

Brian
Click to expand...
 
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