ISO 3200 CANON 30D "TEST" RESULTS!

feRRari4756 · Jan 28, 2009

GeneralBenson said:
Yup. For starters, what you did is pretty common, which is as soon as you start using flash, you try and bring the exposure down as far as possible. It's all about balance. Somewhere between 1/320, f/1.8, ISO 3200 and 1/500, f/1.8 ISO 1000, is a good place to be. Something like 1/250, f/2, ISO 1600. That's all guess work, depends on what flash and all that. You want to use as much ambient as you can, then just supplement a little bit of flash. But in a huge room like that, bouncing won't do any good, and straight on flash is always ugly, so it's pretty much a wash. What I originally said was just to use some fill in flash. If you look at all the pictures, especially #3, the girls have pretty dark eye socket shadows, and at the same time their foreheads are blown out. If you dropped the exposure like -2/3 stops or so, and then used fill flash to even out some of the contrast, it would look better. The concept of fill flash is not to be a light source of it's own, but just to add light to the shadows, and lessen the difference between highlights and shadows.

Thanks, I am releived to know that I can use a flash and still have nice color!

Here is an example of what happened with the flash:

After reading your relpy, I dont think I fully understand what I have to do. I think my pictures would greatly benefit from the use of a fill flash. So, next time, I will turn on my (on camera) flash and use it. But how do I use it as a "fill flash"? And why would I make my shutter slower if i am adding more light (thus making the subject brighter)?

Big Mike · Jan 28, 2009

Fill flash just means that the flash isn't your primary source of light. So you would still need to use settings that will give you pretty good exposure but by adding the flash, you can fill in some of the shadows caused by that light. In this case, the overhead lights are causing shadows in around their eyes. Flash might be able to brighten that up.

And why would I make my shutter slower if i am adding more light (thus making the subject brighter)?

The shutter speed has no effect on flash exposure. You will get the same flash exposure at 1/200 as you will at 1/20....the difference is that with a slower shutter speed you can get more ambient exposure, which includes the background.

When I'm shooting indoors with flash. I ususally have the camera in manual mode. I set the aperture to get the DOF (and flash range) that I want. The E-TTL flash metering will match the flash's power to the aperture I'm using. If needed, I'll tweak the FEC (flash exposure compensation). I'll set the shutter speed for the ambient/background exposure that I want.

It's not always so simple because if there is enough light, you will get some exposure on the moving subjects, which can cause blur. The flash usually freeze the subjects but sometimes you might get sharp and blurred images at the same time...which is called ghosting.

It's always a balance, so you need to find what works for you in the situation that you are working in.

Your built-in flash won't be very powerful but you can maximize it's range by using a large aperture and a higher ISO. This will also help with the ambient exposure.

feRRari4756 · Jan 28, 2009

Okay thanks both of you! By ambient exposure, you mean the exposure of the background and stuff right?

So could I just use my same exact settings (ISO 3200, f/1.8, and 1/320) and just pop uup the flash and then that will be fine? But IDK if it will be possible to use the 1/320 Shutter speed setting because I cant get over 1/250 when my flash is up. Why is that? is there a way to override that?

feRRari4756 · Jan 28, 2009

feRRari4756 · Jan 29, 2009

anyone?

"Okay thanks both of you! By ambient exposure, you mean the exposure of the background and stuff right?

So could I just use my same exact settings (ISO 3200, f/1.8, and 1/320) and just pop uup the flash and then that will be fine? But IDK if it will be possible to use the 1/320 Shutter speed setting because I cant get over 1/250 when my flash is up. Why is that? is there a way to override that?"

Big Mike · Jan 29, 2009

So could I just use my same exact settings (ISO 3200, f/1.8, and 1/320) and just pop uup the flash and then that will be fine? But IDK if it will be possible to use the 1/320 Shutter speed setting because I cant get over 1/250 when my flash is up. Why is that? is there a way to override that?"

1/250 is your max sync speed. That is the fastest speed at which the shutter is going to be fully open, which the flash needs to light up the entire scene. So no, you can't override that. Reduce your shutter speed to 1/250 and lower the ISO accordingly (or maybe stop down the lens from wide open).

1/250 should still be fast enough to avoid most blur.

If you had a flash like the 430EX or the 580EX, you could use HHS (high speed sync). This mode allows you to use flash at any shutter speed because it pulses the flash rather than firing one burst. The trade off is a greatly reduced range. (but probably still more range than the pop-up).

jotan82 · Jan 29, 2009

don't have my camera in front of me (30D)

how do you set the ISO to 3200 or higher? 6400? and more?

sorry for the newbie question!

Big Mike · Jan 29, 2009

don't have my camera in front of me (30D)

how do you set the ISO to 3200 or higher? 6400? and more?

sorry for the newbie question!

I believe you can only set the ISO as high as 3200...but it's not displayed as 3200, it's just 'H'...as in high.

To make it accessible, you need to set Custom Function 08, to enable ISO expansion.

feRRari4756 · Jan 29, 2009

Thanks big mike!For some reason, when I use my flash outside of full auto (P, M, Av, Tv), the flash is not a powerful. Is there a reason for this?

Big Mike · Jan 29, 2009

Thanks big mike!For some reason, when I use my flash outside of full auto (P, M, Av, Tv), the flash is not a powerful. Is there a reason for this?

I'm not sure exactly what you mean?

What I think you mean is that it looks like there is less flash exposure when you use modes like Av, Tv or maybe manual.
This probably isn't because the flash is firing at less power, but because there is more ambient exposure, so the flash exposure isn't as dominant in the image. When in auto mode, the camera doesn't go slower than 1/60, which may underexpose the ambient (background) exposure, which causes the flash exposure to be more prominent...thus looking like it's more powerful.

Big Mike · Jan 29, 2009

To really understand flash photography, you need to realize that every flash photo is actually two exposures in one. The ambient and the flash. The ambient exposure is controlled via the shutter speed, aperture and ISO. The flash exposure is controlled via the aperture, the ISO and the power of the flash.
So if you adjust the aperture or the ISO, it can affect both exposures equally. But the shutter speed will only affect the ambient (as long as you are under the max sync) and the flash power (or FEC) will only affect the flash exposure.

It's really one of those issues that is hard to wrap your head around...but if you practice and keep at it, it will eventually click and all make sense to you.

ksmattfish · Jan 29, 2009

jotan82 said:
how do you set the ISO to 3200 or higher? 6400? and more?

"Pushing" is increasing the ISO beyond it's normal, recommended exposure rating. It's underexposing intentionally with the plan of making up for it in the processing. With film I would extend the development time. With digital increasing the exposure in processing can be done in different ways.

If the camera is set to ISO 3200 I can set exposure comp to -1, or set exposure manually at 1 stop less than normal, and this would be rating the ISO at 6400. Pushed 2 stops from 3200 would be 12,800.

With the Canon 20D/30D/40D ISO 3200 is already a push. Setting the camera to H tells the camera to shoot at ISO 1600 -1 stop, and then make up for it with the in-camera processing.

Push processing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

push processing digital - Google Search