Flash

[JanaC]

Hi,

For a few years now I've owned a Canon 450D, and was very happy with it. Yet since some time there seems to be a problem with the automatic setting: especially when taking pictures of landscapes, the photos aren't focused. I've also noticed that it ALWAYS uses flash, even on sunny days or when the pictures would be a lot prettier without flash.

I have no idea what's causing this. The camera hasn't fallen down or anything...

Hope someone can help me out!

 

[goooner]

I have the same camera. Maybe you could post some sample pictures with the exif data. Are you shooting in one of the auto modes? Try shooting in P mode and see if the flash pops up.

 

[tecboy]

Try to shoot full manual and use single auto focus point.

 

[jovince3000]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

First of all, for your flash situation. If you stay in full automatic mode (the green mode on your dial), there's a good chance that the flash will pop up. (it pretty much always does). The only solution to this is switching mode. If you don't have the knowledge to go to a more manual mode, I recommend program mode ( marked as a white "P" on your dial). On it, the camera will take all the exposure decision for you, but you will get the choice to pop up the flash or not.

For your focus, this is a tricky thing to say. There's many reason that could be, could you post a picture here so we can properly assess what is your problem if it is one ?

 

[dennybeall]

If you have single point focus and or single spot metering and point at a dark place (relatively dark compared to the rest of the scene) there is a very good chance the flash will pop up to even out the lighting of the scene.

 

[soufiej]

Hi,

For a few years now I've owned a Canon 450D, and was very happy with it. Yet since some time there seems to be a problem with the automatic setting: especially when taking pictures of landscapes, the photos aren't focused. I've also noticed that it ALWAYS uses flash, even on sunny days or when the pictures would be a lot prettier without flash.

I have no idea what's causing this. The camera hasn't fallen down or anything...

Hope someone can help me out!

Ask yourself, "Why would the flash fire?" Normally, it would fire in response to the needs of the camera based on the metering of the scene as performed by the camera's automatic systems. It might also be in response to a menu setting which informs the camera to set the flash to "always on". The camera does, in either case, perform as you have determined it should - even when you haven't determined that you had determined any such thing. Therefore, going with the age ol' rule of, most times it's the user who boogers things up and only part of the time is it due to poltergeist, you need to check your menu settings first.

Without any evidence to the contrary - you don't have any evidence you are prepared to introduce to the anti-contrary, I assume - there wouldn't seem to be any relationship between the flash firing and the automatic landscape photos being "un-focused". So even though you saw her standing over the body with the bloody knife in her hand, that's not going to work as proof. We need "evidence"!

Let's see, "poorly focused" and "hasn't fallen down"? You aren't by chance actually discussing an aging relative, are you? No? OK, then the poorly focused automatic photos would once again lead us to look at the manner in which the camera is set up. Well, it will lead you to look. We can't from here.

Obviously.

Even in an automatic mode, the camera provides a read out of the shutter speed and the aperture. (There's also a thing called a "histogram" but we don't need to discuss that for now.) The two values, along with ISO, form "the exposure triangle". If one value changes, the other two will respond accordingly.

First, check the camera's ISO. In broad daylight, it should be set to a very low value, say, 100 or 200. It should not be running from an automatic ISO value. So, if you have the camera on "Auto ISO', don't do that! Now I understand the camera will tend to want to default to Auto ISO when you are using the automatic "landscape" shooting mode. However, the camera will not - in bright daylight shooting - kick up ISO to an excessive level unless you have done something else to alter how the camera operates. (For the moment, we'll assume there are no problems with the camera since it hasn't fallen down.) That would again lead us to think possibly you have somehow changed the metering mode of the camera.

In an automatic mode such as "landscape", the camera will typically default to a safe metering method but go check how the camera is metering a scene. If, say, you have instructed the camera to use spot metering, then it might want to use spot metering all the time. If that spot then falls in a less brightly lit area of the photo, the camera will determine its other two settings based on that information alone and conclude the scene is overly dark. This would lead the camera to open the aperture and/or use a longer shutter speed. Long shutter speeds tend to lead to camera shake which in turn leads to fuzzy looking images.

So check ISO, then check metering. Then you'll look at how the camera is setting itself up when you use an automatic "landscape" shooting mode.

If those two seem correct, then check the shutter speed and aperture settings as provided by the camera when you are preparing to take your automatic "landscape' shot. They should, on a brightly lit day, be in the range of f-5.6 or above for aperture and 1/250 or (much) higher for shutter speed. If either of those two settings are not in those ranges, then we have more information to work with. Particularly if the shutter speed is down in the 1/30 or less range, camera shake might be responsible for the poorly focused image. If the camera is defaulting to a wider aperture - a lower f-stop value of, say, 3.5 to f-4.0, the depth of field will be significantly reduced and quite a bit of the image would be blurred while only a very small area would be in focus. Is that what you are seeing in your shots? A small bit of the image in focus and large portions unfocused?

If so ...

Place your camera in the "Av" shooting mode for a landscape shot taken in bright sunlight. Make sure the ISO value is low, down around 100 or 200. Set the F-stop value for, say, f-8.0 or slightly higher. No need at this point to go above f-11 though. The camera should, if everything else is set correctly, determine a shutter speed once again at 1/250 or higher.

In the semi-automatic "Av" mode, values are mostly set by the user, and the camera should only respond to the settings made by the user, so we would once again begin to suspect metering as the cause for any broad variation from these values. Therefore, shooting in a mode where you have significant control over the camera will tell us more than shooting in a fully automatic mode where the camera defaults to a safe value for a predetermined exposure.

My advice, therefore, is to first sit down with your camera and the owner's manual and run through the various settings on your camera, paying particular attention to the flash settings and the metering settings. Once those are confirmed to be set correctly, check the values for the shot when using your automatic landscape mode. Then move the camera to the "Av" mode and set ISO at 100-200 and f-stop values at f-8.0 or slightly above. In brightly lit daylight landscape shots, this should provide you with a good image if you are not moving the camera during the shutter release. If you have a tripod, use it for this last step and make sure the camera doesn't move while the shutter is open.

Come back with your results and we'll have more brilliant ideas at that point. Things like, "It's crapped out", and, "Gotta go to service". Or, from a few, "Buy a Nikon". You just can't keep those people out. It's Federal law.