Why is my Canon 60D struggling with low light and a speedlite?

ndphillips · Dec 30, 2013

Hi all, I need some photo help! I am using a Canon 60D with my new mounted Canon 430EXII speedlight. I am trying to take a picture in low-light room on AV mode with auto iso. I set the aperture to 2.0 (wide open on this lens). When I focus, the camera sets the shutter speed at 1/15 at an ISO of 400 - this shutter speed seems really slow, especially with the flash! I then changed to shutter speed priority, and set the shutter speed to 1/60, when I do that, the aperture 'blinks' at 2.0 and an iso of 400. This sounds strange to me - shouldn't the camera tied with the speedlite be able to shoot at a speed of 1/60 at f2.0 comfortably and if not, shouldn't it be increasing the iso? I'm not sure why the camera isn't playing around with the iso more...

...any help would be really appreciated!

lennon33x · Dec 30, 2013

Why not shoot in manual?

Set ISO to 800, f/2, and 1/60

What lens are you using?

runnah · Dec 30, 2013

The camera is going to still read the available light in the area. The flash won't give the meter a different reading.

It's hard to say what settings to use in a given situation but I tend to keep my shutter speed at around 60 or 125 and adjust the fstop accordingly. The opposite works to. Be aware of you cameras flash sync speed. Most top out around 200-250. Using the TTL mode will help greatly.

table1349 · Dec 30, 2013

Read this whole series. Flash Photography with Canon EOS Cameras - Part I.

trojancast · Dec 31, 2013

Set your flash to I-TTL and your camera to P mode. Your shutter will default to 1/60 and the f stop will default to max aperture plus 2 stops. The flash will control the exposure through duration. Any small deviations can be corrected in post. Try it.

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ndphillips · Dec 31, 2013

Thanks a lot for the tips guys! I also found that Canon defaults the iso to 400 when using a flash, so it's not really a bug. If I want to increase it I'll just do it manually. I think I was just concerned that the aperture was flashing at 2.0, I'll learn to trust my eyes and not the automatic camera settings like I'm sure all your pros do!

@ reavesce - I haven't been shooting in M because I'm a scared noob who doesn't trust himself to make camera decisions : ) I'm working on fixing that!
@gryphonslair99 - thanks for the link!!!!!
@ runnah - thanks for the tips, I'll try to use your technique
@ trojancast - I'll try that too! Thanks!!

lennon33x · Dec 31, 2013

When I started, I was using a film camera (Canon AE-1) and I metered EVERYTHING! Then I got digital and I had the biggest brain fart. I was so focused on the overwhelming nature of the digital camera that I forgot to meter.

Think about these things when you shoot, and try this and see if it doesn't help:

First, consider your environment. Are you outside or indoors? Based upon this particular issue, your ambient light is low, so instead of ISO 400, try ISO 800.

What kind of depth of field do you want? Shallow? Then open up to 2 or 2.8. More background included? Stop down to 7.1 or 8. Just keep in mind you'll have to look at your meter to adjusts for proper exposure (i.e. increase ISO or decrease shutter speed)

And last, how much background light do you want? Do you want immediate fall-off or include the scene? If it's the former, you can bump your shutter up...if you want the latter, slow it down.

But always meter. Always always always.

Look up the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It's great.