EOS M50 - Shooting in low light with flash and getting a soft portrait every-time

[Nevil Dadrewalla]

I'd like to know if I am doing something obviously wrong and how to correct it or

is it not possible to get a sharp image with the M50 or with the lens.

I am using "EOS M50", Lens "EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM" with a "Godox Thinklite TT350" ON- camera flash with a diffuser ....

I took several pictures in low light @ 1/125, F5.6 and ISO 200.

When I auto focus on the subject's face using Face detection + Tracking AF mode, the focus rectangle shows up on the face after which I click the picture.

However I am getting a soft image every-time.... Kindly Advise

Sample picture provided... Meta Data below the image.









METADATA below....

----------------------------



Firmware Firmware Version 1.0.0

Shooting Mode Manual

ExposureTv(Shutter Speed) 1/125Av(Aperture Value) 5.6

Metering Mode Evaluative Metering

Exposure Compensation 0

ISO Speed 200

Auto ISO Speed OFF

Lens EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM Focal Length 23.0mm

Image Size 6000x4000Crop/aspect ratio 3:2Image Quality RAW

Flash OnFlash Type External Flash : E-TTL flash meteringE-TTL II flash metering Evaluative flash metering

Flash Exposure Compensation +2/3Shutter curtain sync First-curtain synchronization

FE lock OFF

White Balance Mode Auto: Ambience priority

AF Mode Servo AF

AF area select mode Face detection + Tracking AFContinuous AF EnablePicture Style NeutralSharpness:Strength 0Sharpness:Fineness 2Sharpness:Threshold 2Contrast 0Saturation 0Color tone 0Color Space sRGBLong exposure noise reduction DisableHigh ISO speed noise reduction LowHighlight tone priority DisableAuto Lighting Optimizer DisablePeripheral illumination correction EnableChromatic aberration correction EnableDistortion correction DisableDiffraction correction EnableDigital Lens Optimizer DisableDust Delete Data NoDrive Mode Low-speed continuous shootingLive View Shooting ONCamera Body No. 628241000138Comment

 

[Nevil Dadrewalla]

Sorry everyone, I was using "reply" instead of "reply thread" and so it appeared i was replying to someone personnally.

I have read all the comments post my last reply and they are all valid. I will need to slow down the shutter from 1/200 to maybe around 1/100. Also will raise the fec to 0 and see how the image turns up.

Usually I shoot in a wedding scenario where there is an open ground with lights and no ceiling to bounce the flash off.

I have been shooting on 1/60 etc. before and not getting a sharp picture. Earlier i used to expose for the ambient light and always end up with slow shutter speeds so would like to keep the shutter speeds high.

Also i have enabled the focus area while reviewing the picture so I make sure I nail the focus.

 

[Casey Cheung]

My last shoot yesterday was a disaster.

I tried shooting with the settings of 1/200, f4.5 and ISO 800. The flash was on ETTL and flash exposure compensation set to -2.

I got grain on the subjects:-(. Also the eye autofocus did not work when shooting at a distance and defaulted to face. The face autofocus also was not upto the mark:-(

I think i should have kept the ISO at 100 and flash exposure compensation to 0 or +1. Also i should have shot closer to the subject using 15mm and made sure that the Eye was in focus .. The eye auofocus provided by Canon on this model is not the best and I urge them to fix it in the next firmware update:-x.


Face Autofocus but Image not Sharp


Face Auto focus but not accurate


This one caught the eye auto focus

First off, STOP worrying about grain/noise. That is the least of your problems. Your first priority should be a properly exposed photo. You are shooting in very dark settings and need to set your camera appropriately and can not just randomly pick some settings like ISO 800 and 1/200 and expect them.to.work everywhere. Your settings need to change to match the available light levels.

Shut off your flash. Set your camera to aperture priority with auto ISO. Set the lowest possible aperture that will give enough depth of field. Take a test photo. Take note of what shutter speed and ISO the camer chose. Switch to Manual exposure and set the same aperture, shutter speed, and ISO from your test photo. Now, you can turn your flash back on. Tale another test photo. If the whole scene is too bright, then lower your ISO or raise your shutter speed. If just your subject is too bright, then use some negative flash exposure compensation. Do the reverse if either is too dark.

As for your AF issues, don't try to rely on face detection. Your scene is too dark for face detection to work reliably. Manually set a single point for AF. Realistically, you really need to consider a different lens for your camera such as the EF-M 22mm f/2.0 or 32mm f/1.4. The 15-45mm is one of the worst possible options for what you are trying to do and will lead to constant struggle.

The 15-45 kit zoom is a pathetically slow lens for doing indoor flash photography in low light. It's almost useless in low light, especially when zoomed out cuz the max aperture only gets worse. The kit lens only works well outdoors in bright light. As others mentioned, get a faster/better lens. A fast prime is a good choice.

 

[thunder storm]

Also will ditch the diffuser...

Don't ditch the diffuser man. You want your pictures to be soft AND ugly?

Unless you are shooting into a 60" umbrella, the typical plastic diffuser does almost nothing to reshape the output from a shoe mounted flash. The photos shot with a diffuser do not look better because the light had a better spread, they look better because the diffuser in effect added negative flash exposure compensation. The one exception to this would be if your flash head could not zoom to match the focal length of your lens.

The same is also true for bounce flash in many cases.

I think there are more important factors making bounce flash looking better.

Bounce flash can look better, but I have seen far too many bad photos shot with bounce flash. You need the right sized room, the right ceiling height, the right ceiling color, the right distance from your subject, and the right angle on your flash. Get the combination wrong and your subject will have really dark shadows under their eyes and the will look like a recovering drug addict.

I remembered i had some Gary Fong stuff laying around, and experimenting with i found out it eliminates the dark shadow thing completely. There is also a yellowish/orange cover, and using this there's no need to balance with ambient light. I can shoot at f/8.0 and ISO 100 or f/1.4 and ISO 1600, doesn't matter, the colors are the same.

Direct flash can be used anywhere, in any room, indoors or outdoors. The list of places where bounce flash can be used successfully is far, far more limited. Direct flash should be considered the basic skill from which you build other flash techniques. Most people go straight to bounce flash because they completely failed at using direct flash.

Most people do not learn how to properly adjust exposure on the camera and the flash. Using an auto mode does not help because cameras companies use archaic programming logic which defaults to ISO 400 when using flash. This guarantees the horrid blown out subject with a black background. Plastic diffusers and bounce flash are mechanical means of compensating for inappropriate camera settings.

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If your facts are different we could save the peace just by calling it copy to copy variation.

 

[Nevil Dadrewalla]

Thanks Redfox88 and nnowak for your suggestions...

 

[R2D2]

I remembered i had some Gary Fong stuff laying around, and experimenting with i found out it eliminates the dark shadow thing completely. There is also a yellowish/orange cover, and using this there's no need to balance with ambient light. I can shoot at f/8.0 and ISO 100 or f/1.4 and ISO 1600, doesn't matter, the colors are the same.

+1 I love Fong’s products. Lately I’ve been using the LightBlade (same effect as the LightSphere, but lots more compact). Watch the demonstration video with it being used on the little Nissin i40 flash (which I have as well, and adore too).

R2

 

[thunder storm]

I remembered i had some Gary Fong stuff laying around, and experimenting with i found out it eliminates the dark shadow thing completely. There is also a yellowish/orange cover, and using this there's no need to balance with ambient light. I can shoot at f/8.0 and ISO 100 or f/1.4 and ISO 1600, doesn't matter, the colors are the same.

+1 I love Fong’s products. Lately I’ve been using the LightBlade (same effect as the LightSphere, but lots more compact). Watch the demonstration video with it being used on the little Nissin i40 flash (which I have as well, and adore too).

R2

That is a nice compact solution! I might have got that in stead of what i have now.

However, I am satisfied with the my two YN685's. The TTL seams to work even more precise on my R compared to my M50 (even with firmware update). With the 105mm f/1.4 + YN685 + Gary Fong light sphere it all becomes a little bit of a "Frankenstein appearance", and it really gets heavy at some point. Still not throwing any money in more compact flashes for now, as it works well.

 

[YehudaKatz]

https://www.dembflashproducts.com/

Yehuda