--- Gary Kaplan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> First I meant 420ex not 430. From what people have
> said and from calling Canon it seems that in AV
> and TV mode the flash is basically just a fill
> flash. This seems ridiculous. To me the point of
> using a flash is so I can use a faster shutter
> speed or smaller aperture then I can without a
> flash. On Nikons for example if you stick on a flash
> and set the camera to aperture priority you can use
> a smaller aperture then you could with out a flash.
> To me that makes sense. If the only way to get a
> faster shutter speed or smaller aperture with a
> Canon is to use Manual mode and basically guess
> that does not seem right. I am seriously thinking
> about switching systems if this is the case.
Hi Gary,
There are at several ways around this.
Canon have a custom function for the Elan 7e that
defaults the shutter speed to x-sync when used with
flash in Av mode. In other words, if this custom
function is set, you use Av mode for flash and
basically choose your aperture yourself. With the 7e
the shutter speed will alway be 1/125. I don't have
the manual with me at the moment, so I can't tell you
which CF it is.
The other ways around this are those previously
suggested - you can use P mode and the camera selects
a shutter speed of 1/60-1/125 and tries to find an
aperture to suit based on the e-ttl pre-flash from the
420EX, or use manual to get a (the ambient light
metering still works with a flash in place and turned
on).
As a past Nikon user myself, I seem to recall that you
have to put the (Nikon) body into "slow-sync" mode to
allow the camera to choose a shutter speed below 1/60
in AV mode (I may be wrong here - it's been a while
now) - it's a bit like the Canon CF but the default
action is the other way round. The Canon system does
something similar to that in P mode, but provides
automatic "slow-sync" mode in Av and Tv modes. It
took me a few weeks to come to grips with it when I
switched, but I find it really intuitive and easy to
use now.
Give it a bit of time and get used to it - if you want
to try to balance the ambient lighting with the flash
(which is if you like "fill" flash) use Av or Tv, if
you want to let the camera try and do it for you use P
and let e-ttl do what it can within shutter speed
constraints.
For anything else use M - it's often the best way of
balancing the ambient and flash exposure when it's
fairly dark (not pitch black though). Choose a shutter
speed your happy with (say 1/60) and a large aperture
and get the maximum ambient light you can *reasonably*
get to balance with the main light from the flash.
It's actually not that much different to what happens
in P mode anyway.
When I re-read what you've written it seems to me that
what you're after is the CF solution of 1/125 in AV
mode. That gives you the ability to choose a smaller
aperture if you wish (a la default Nikon mode) lets
you have balanced fill flash in Tv mode, and lets you
play around with the results in P and M modes.
Sorry it's been a bit long, but .....
Regards,
Gary
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