New Speedlite 430EXii & old Canon Rebel 300D

[rosapearl]

First off, I have decided I just want to take good snaphots with and w/o flash letting the camera do most of the work......I just heard everyone gasp out loud.

Two questions

I just ordered a Canon Speedlite 430EXII for my out-of-date but good-enough-for-me Canon Rebel 300D camera. When the flash is properly seated in the hotshoe I am noticing a slight give in the Speedlite. I can grasp the body portion of the Speedlite and can actually turn it in a left-to-right or right-to-left motion with a slight give of maybe 1/16th of an inch (just guessing) Is this normal? I have never used an external flash on this camera before.

Have been experimenting with the flash and to my surprise on auto setting (green square) the ISO is set to 100 instead of 400 like the popup flash. All basic camera modes with the speedlite are ISO 100 except for sports which has an ISO of 400. So....I decided to switch to Program mode and learn to use my camera that way. Actually like it better because I have a few more options. Can set ISO and have AE Lock option.

In the auto mode the 100 ISO is limiting my flash range to 20 feet while the P mode (400 ISO) gives me a range of 60 feet.

So I take lots of pictures, make notes, look at the EXIF info (I think that is what it's called) and strangely on the flash and nonflash photos the exposure bias is set to +0.7 step. I tried to set the AEB to zero according to manual but it will not go to zero and cannot be disabled. The only thing it will do is change the amount of bracketing. The menu screen on the camera looks like this (see below) with the center bracketing dot pointing to the dot just left to the #1. I made the dot bigger in the diagram below.

The camera is NOT in continuous drive mode and I never use this mode.
.-1..0..1..2+.

So, I check the AEB in TV, AV, A-DEP, and manual modes. The only mode I can change it to zero is in manual mode. Is this normal and will it affect my photos?

I have a 3 day family reunion coming up on 10-12-12, so I am a little antsy because I am not that familiar with the Program mode. Would appreciate any comments.

[Geoff F]

Firstly, Jeannie, are you fully tightening the locking mechanism on your flash. But there will be a little sideways play even when fully tightened. It is the same with my 7D and 580 Speedlite.

With regard to camera settings when using flash. When I first moved from an 'old fashioned' ex film camera fixed output flash to a modern 'self thinking' Speedlite I was getting disappointing results until I did a bit of thinking myself.

My advice is never use any auto camera programmes with a modern flash unit. I found that both the camera and flash unit wanted to 'do their own thing' and usually, neither was what I wanted.

And I include the Tv and Av settings in these potential problem categories, although the results tend to be slightly better than the full auto or P modes.

So, when using flash, I now set my camera manually to suit the scene. But beware of shutter speed limitations; ie max 1/250 unless using high speed flash.

This enables you to be in full control of the best settings for the situation then let the auto flash find it's own level. The aperture and Iso adjustment must be reasonable for the conditions but estimating that level soon comes with practice.

Then, use a little flash output compensation in exactly the same way as you would slightly vary the exposure compensation when shooting without flash.

As I said, it takes a little bit of experimentation before you become confident in estimating the optimum settings but this soon becomes second nature; and at least with digital cameras it is so easy to check the viewing screen regularly.

[dasmith232]

Modern DSLR's and same-branded flash units work together nowadays to do many things that mismatched setups or older setups cannot do. The 430 is a great unit and will work together with your Rebel 300 in ways that will be good to understand. The most important thing is considering only 3 modes (P, Av and Tv), the Rebel will work *very* differently in P than in either Av or Tv. In my opinion, if using P mode, you've paid some good money to get pretty much the same snapshots as the built-in flash but with now some more range.

However, if you switch to Av or Tv modes, the camera will work with the flash unit better, giving you more balanced shots between foreground lighting (with the flash) and background exposure (with ambient). You may want to reference these links for a good and detailed description of how Canon flash works. (The first link is the main article. The second link is inside the same document, but details "P" mode specifically.)

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-f...l#programflash

[victor]

My camera club have just held a flash workshop for canon flash users.

The notes are on this link http://www.stortfordcameraclub.org.u...shop-Notes.pdf

They be of use to you in understanding how flashes work off of ETTL and Manual Mode.

The following image is one taken at this workshop, Using 2 flashes c/w umbrellas..



Hope these help you

Regards

David

[rosapearl]

Thanks everyone for the great info. I do plan to learn the AV and TV modes, but not for the reunion...simply not enough time. I will pursue all these links and I know they will be of much help. Geoff, thanks for the info about the "play" in the speedlite. I didn't know if I had gotten a defective unit or not. Thanks for putting my mind at rest on this issue. I also had checked whether the flash was being seated properly in the hotshoe.

However, I am still concerned regarding the AEB setting and would like some input if possible.

I know that using the 430EXII in auto or P mode limits the full capability of this flash, but I have always missed an external flash on the Rebel (this camera was actually bought by my dad and he gave it to me right before he died) because I had previously owned a film Canon AE1-Program with external flash.

Hopefully someone can tell me about the AEB settings. I don't post here much, but I read a lot and will pursue the links that y'all posted.

PS. Victor - that is a beautful shot and I love the lighting.

Thanks everyone - will be checking back to see if anyone has any info on the AEB setting.

I just don't think I will ever get into using the camera in manual or using multiple flashes, off camera flashes, etc. Just trying to learn how to take good snapshots.

[victor]

Jeannie,

Set the AEB to zero.

Try the following with camera

1. Set to manual mode
2. Set shutter speed to 1/200 th
3. Set. F stop to about f8
4. Set flash to manual, power level 1/8
5. Take photo.

if too dark open the f stop. Too light close the fstop.

or

increase or decrease the flash power settings.

Try also setting camera to av mode.
select your aperture
set flash to ettl mode.
Take photos with a shutter speed that syncs flash with your camera 1/60 th to 1/200 for canon.

regards

david

[rpcrowe]

I have not had exposure or lighting problems using flash with any of the camera modes (although, I never use Auto) and with the flash in ETTL.

I have shot with cameras from the 10D to the 7D and with 420EX, 550EX, 430EX and 270EX.

I always bounce my flash indoors and I almost always use a Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro ( www.dembflashproducts.com ) to modify the light of the flash.

Here are several shots using the various flashes in ETTL and the camera in P...









IMO, what I aim for is an image which looks like I have shot in available light with no harsh shadows, even though I have used flash...

I also shoot with the camera in manual and the flash in ETTL and with the camera in Aperture priority and the flash in ETTL. Getting a good shot is my aim however I do it!

I shot this image, of a Hong Kong market, basically using available light and bounced 270EX flash (modified with a Joe Demb Photojournalist FlipIt) as fill...

[Geoff F]

There is a lot of useful information on shooting with flash here, but it does tend to go into quite a bit of detail.

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index.html

With regard to shooting with Tv or Av settings. While better than full auto; Tv tends to give you a wide open aperture which probably won't be the sharpest lens setting and limits your depth of focus. Sometimes this is desirable but not always.

Av risks having long exposures which produce camera shake problems.

Hence the idea of controlling both of these potential issues by shooting with manual camera settings.

Whatever you use, my recommendation would be to do as much experimentation as possible to get fully acquainted with the equipment and shooting options.

[rosapearl]

Thanks Richard and Geoff. Richard, those are the kind of flash shots I am aiming for. Will just have to practice.

NOW - If anyone that has any model Canon Rebel, would you kindly see what your AEB setting is like what I am getting in P, AV, and TV modes? Would certainly appreciate it.

[rosapearl]

Richard,

I forgot to ask, but what ISO were you using on the Hong Kong market photos?