Shutter speed and Low lighting.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Photonotes.org, it states that : "In Av, night and Tv (shutter speed
priority) modes the camera meters for ambient (existing) light and
fills in the foreground subject using the flash. It does not assume
that the primary light source is the flash, and therefore the shutter
speed it sets is the same as it would set if you weren't using flash
at all "

My Question is that, is that really the case ? If so, how can we still
use the Aperture priority mode and tell the camera that there is an
external flash / Strobe that will kick-in to compensate for the lack of
lighting ?

Regards,
John Edwards

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

What camera are you referring to?


On 1/28/05 1:52 PM, in article
1106938365.593552.272960@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com, "John Edwards"
<ssri1@hotmail.com> wrote:

> On Photonotes.org, it states that : "In Av, night and Tv (shutter speed
> priority) modes the camera meters for ambient (existing) light and
> fills in the foreground subject using the flash. It does not assume
> that the primary light source is the flash, and therefore the shutter
> speed it sets is the same as it would set if you weren't using flash
> at all "
>
> My Question is that, is that really the case ? If so, how can we still
> use the Aperture priority mode and tell the camera that there is an
> external flash / Strobe that will kick-in to compensate for the lack of
> lighting ?
>
> Regards,
> John Edwards
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

>> What camera are you referring to?
I have a Nikon N70 Film Camera, but I am experimenting with my Nikon
4500 Digital Camera.

The Niikon 4500 digicam, supports the Aperture/Shutter priority and
also has a manual mode. It can sync to an external speedlight but is
not fully TTL, in the sense that it controls the external speedlight
flash output, but does not actually control the zoom head/Aperture on
my speedlight (SB-28).

>>If you take the photo now, the background will be exposed properly.
But, you want to add some flash into the foreground to illuminate your
(rather dark) subject. <snip>

Would'nt a slow shutter ( calculated by metering a dark room) and an
external flash over expose the foreground subject ? I think, as you
say, it would not be a concern if I use a modern real time TTL/iTTL
camera and flash which communicate fully with each other.

-- John

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In message <_%wKd.548$RJ2.1@bignews6.bellsouth.net>,
bob <not@not.not> wrote:

>When you are using a flash, the exposure (the part due to the flash) is
>determined by only two factors: distance to subject, and aperature.

That's manual flash. Auto-flash changes the length of the flash.
--

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>>< ><<>
John P Sheehy <JPS@no.komm>
><<> <>>< <>>< ><<> <>>< ><<> ><<> <>><

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:21:45 GMT
In message <tGAKd.1713$IJ5.676@newsfe3-win.ntli.net>
"Roy" <royphoty@iona-guesthouse.co.uk> wrote:

> ...
> I have been playing with my new D70, and could not quite figure out why it
> switches the Flash to "Slow" on Program and Aperture Priority, and on the
> "Idiot Night" setting.

Sigh... I seem to be stuck in "Slow Idiot Night" mode lately.

> ... Rear Sync ...

That functionality is one reason I waited until recently to get a
speedlight.

> ...
> There does seem to be a lot of misunderstanding about
> Flash and Exposure Settings among the newer breed of
> Photographers,

I'm an old breed, new photographer... ;^)

> who seem to be able to leap in and buy top end DSLRs
> as their first Camera.
> <snip>

Sigh, I wanted a top end dSLR but the backwards interface on the 1D(s)
Mark II's cramped my hands. I settled for another entry level digital
camera (Canon 20D) when my 300D shutter broke at 20,891 cycles.

I gather from the amount of experimentation you need to go through
switching to digital from film, that I will have to get a light meter
and range finder, learn basic flash like the good old days, and
experiment for years until I get it right. (I say years, because some
of the events where I want to use the speedlight have unique lighting
conditions and only happen once a year.)

Jeff

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Roy <royphoty@iona-guesthouse.co.uk> wrote:

>>You should also consider *when* during the exposure is the best time
>>for the flash. If photographing anything alive, switch to rear-curtain
>>flash mode otherwise the subject will react to the flash at the
>>beginning of the exposure and spend the rest of the time moving.
>>Better to hit them with the whack of light towards the end of the
>>exposure, then it matters not if they flinch/blink (such movement will
>>be caught by any ambient light). The books all have pictures of guys
>>on bikes and cars looking like they go backwards as a reason for
>>needing rear-curtain flash but the real day to day problem it solves
>>is living people, not car lights.

>You have just explained something that has been puzzling me, all day.
>I have been playing with my new D70, and could not quite figure out why it
>switches the Flash to "Slow" on Program and Aperture Priority, and on the
>"Idiot Night" setting. Nikon must be assuming that the Flash will be
>getting used as a "Fill In" on these settings, and your explanation of why
>Rear Sync is much better is something that they know about. I have used
>Flash a great deal over the years, but never had a Camera that had Rear
>Curtain sync, or even TTL Flash, and I had never even considered this use
>for it. It certainly makes a lot of sense, and I will be using Flash that
>way in future.

Owamanga has a good point, though with walking people it's nice
to use the rear-curtain if you want that trace of movement.

The only other flash mode the D70 automatically uses is the
non-SLOW, so not allowing shutter speeds below 1/60 in any
of the 'idiot' modes. You can't even manually set to REAR
or SLOW, yet another reason why I've settled on 'A'.

--
Ken Tough