Rebel XT flash problem / question

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

"grumpy" <reko19-at-yahoo-dot-com> wrote in message
news:ut9m511rrk4v8jmkhpej548brsv8suaf6m@4ax.com...
> Just got my Rebel XT tonight, somewhat disappointed with the pics
> taken in full auto with flash. they all come out dark with about 30%
> of the histogram on the right totally flat. never had this problem
> with powershot S50 or previous rebel. any help? I only have few days
> to exchange the camera, any suggestions are appreciated.

The flash metering on my 20D gives the same, consistent results you are
getting with the RebXT, which isn't surprising, given that they both use
ETT-L II. If you shoot on manual, and overexpose by between a stop and a
stop and two thirds, you'll be ok. BUT! you may just be exceeding the range
of the built in flash, if that's what you are using. It has a guide number
of something like 12, as opposed to 58 for the 580EX, for example...

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

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

In article <ut9m511rrk4v8jmkhpej548brsv8suaf6m@4ax.com>, grumpy wrote:

> Just got my Rebel XT tonight, somewhat disappointed with the pics
> taken in full auto with flash. they all come out dark with about 30%
> of the histogram on the right totally flat. never had this problem
> with powershot S50 or previous rebel. any help? I only have few days
> to exchange the camera, any suggestions are appreciated.

Take it out of dummy mode.

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

grumpy <reko19-at-yahoo-dot-com> writes:

> Just got my Rebel XT tonight, somewhat disappointed with the pics
> taken in full auto with flash. they all come out dark with about 30%
> of the histogram on the right totally flat. never had this problem
> with powershot S50 or previous rebel. any help? I only have few days
> to exchange the camera, any suggestions are appreciated.

What was the ISO full auto selected? Ambient light conditions?
Distance to subject?

Those on camera flashes tend to be quite lackluster in their guide
numbers.

Answering the above question will dictate whether it's a guide number
issue or poor flash metering. The 300D/Rebel suffers from the
latter, in my experience, but the XT with ETT-II is supposed to be an
improvement over that (but only if your flash has an appropriate guide
number to cover the subject distance, selected ISO and ambient light
conditions).



--
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

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

>On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 grumpy <reko19-at-yahoo-dot-com> wrote:
>Just got my Rebel XT tonight, somewhat disappointed with the pics
>taken in full auto with flash. they all come out dark with about 30%
>of the histogram on the right totally flat. never had this problem
>with powershot S50 or previous rebel. any help? I only have few days
>to exchange the camera, any suggestions are appreciated.

My XT is the very same; but there are various effective ways of dealing
with it. For sure, in full auto, the XT doesn't do nearly as good as job
in many situations as my point-'n-shoot A40. And taking flash pictures
is one of those situations.

For JPEGs, boosting the flash compensation by about a full stop, will
provide normally exposed flash pics. Also, play around a bit with the
ISO settings. Setting it at 800 will provide you with a longer reach,
and allow you to use smaller f-stops, which will provide you with a
greater depth-of-field. Setting the ISO at 800, is not likely to
compromise the quality of anything that you might be shooting with the
pop-up flash.

'Course, you could always go the preferable route, and shoot flash pics
in RAW mode, which will provide you with the most versatility. And
perhaps this is what Canon had in mind, when they set the flash about a
stop too low. If set too high, unrecoverable highlights will be burned
out of the pic. If set it a bit low, all of the image info can be
recovered while processing the RAW image. Within that setting, all you
have to do, is a pump up the exposure compensation a notch. And while
you are doing that, include the histogram window for viewing; and watch
your image info move to the right, and provide you with optimum pic
quality.

Hang in there! While I've spent the first 40 years of my photographic
experience with totally manual 35mm and medium format cameras; the XT
provides entirely new, and perhaps even greater challenges. It's all a
matter of taming the beast! But after accomplishing that, the rewards
will be like no other.

Let's face it: the XT is a really great camera! And offers
price-to-performance value that was unknown a mere year ago. Everyone
has their individual criteria for the camera most suited for them. It
ranges anywhere from the point-'n-shoot crowd, to serious photographers
who are prepared to climb the next mountain.

Here at home, for the last couple weeks, I've been dealing with some of
the anomalies of this camera; and at times it's been a totally
aggravating learning-experience. But more-and-more, as I experiment,
I've yet to encounter a single aspect of the beast I haven't been able
to conquer!

Bottom line: the new Rebel XT represents the absolutely VERY best value
on today's marketplace.

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

>On 12 Apr 2005 13:51:28 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:
>Curious, have you done any shooting with an external flash unit? How
>are the results?
>
>I'm still probing for whether the ETTL-II offered by the XT would
>address my gripe with the digital Rebel.

Nope. By pumping up the ISO a few stops, the built-in pop-up flash has a
pretty good range on it's own. The next learning-experience with the
pop-up flash will focus upon achieving the best results with fill-in
flash.

>I'd like to avoid having to think in terms of spot metering, and use a
>lot of flash exposure lock in P mode like you do with the Rebel/300D I
>currently have. In short, to have it work "right" the way the Elan
>does with center weighted averaging A-TTL metering.

This is something I haven't yet figured out or worked with; but I recall
something in the manual (now available online) about the flash
responding favourably in some mannner to spot-focusing. Since I've only
had this camera for a week or so, this one of the things on my list of
experiments that yet needs to be addressed.

At the moment, I'm working on a few new aspects of updated technology,
in preparation for our motorhome trip from Toronto to Alaska starting
next month. I still have to get my new laptop computer set up for the
trip. The old IBM laptop with a mere 4 Gig hard drive just can't cut it
any longer. I now that much storage capacity on a couple of tiny CF
cards! :-)

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

G.T. wrote:

> I'll post some examples when I get back from NJ/NY next week because no
> matter what the subject and lighting when I use the built-in flash it is
> over a stop underexposed. I've just resorted to setting FEC to plus 1 1/3.

Be careful of 'where' you set the FEC. The metering after the preflash
assumes some average reflectivity. So for a dark subject you will be
grossly overexposed. For a light subject, even 1.3 might be
underexposed. Experiment!

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