Gary,
In Tv or Av mode, the camera attempts to set an exposure for a properly
exposed background, so it seems like the camera is making settings as if you
didn't have a flash. With E-TTL, the flash will take care of exposing the
foreground, the camera attempts to balance the background. The problem, as
you may have surmised, is that the shutter speed or aperature the camera
choses is one that is either too slow to hand hold or gives you too shallow
a depth of field. If you want to chose both shutter speed and aperature,
you can do so in manual mode (what I usually do for birthday partys,
snap-shots, etc.) but the background outside the range of the flash won't be
properly exposed. So what you'll get is properly exposed subjects against a
dark background, i.e. a typical snap shot flash pictures. One of the big
advantages of E-TTL is that it attempts to balance the flash exposed subject
with a properly exposed background; in bright enough light, you'll get a
faster shutter speed or smaller aperature, but only because the background
lighting is telling the camera to do so. I've probably made this too
complicated. Here's the simple way to do it to get a hand holdable
shutterspeed and larger depth of field. Set 1/60 or your highest flash sync
shutter speed in manual mode. Set the aperature to f/8. Fire a test shot
and look for the green light on the back of the flash confirming you have a
proper exposure. If not, open up the aperature or move closer.
Hope this helps a little, JD
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