> -----Original Message-----
> From: M D Giess [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>I have a question regarding flash I'd like to ask.� I am taking photos of a
>band in quite a small, dark venue and I usually just use a fast lens with high
>speed film without flash.� I'm after a bit more quality (i.e. smaller aperture
>and slower film) and would like to experiment a bit, but unfortunately I have
>to print a few photos for band members so I can't mess up too badly!
>
>I have got an MZ-3 with a 400FTZ flash and when I use flash in normal
>situations I simply shoot in aperture priority and let the camera work out the
>shutter and TTL flash, and if I only want a bit of fill flash I take 1 to 2
>stops off using the Exposure Compensation dial which doubles as the flash
>compensation dial.
I think there's something you're might be missing here...
I shot a band for the second time under very similar circumstances two weeks ago. It was my first attempt at using a flash at all, and so I found and read everything I could about it (which BTW is not a lot).
I think you should really look at and try to figure out the Guide Numbers for your flash. I'm trying to infer information from your post, but it sounds like you want a very high level of detail on the film. I think you want a.) everything in focus -and- b.) everything well lit. If you were outside in bright sunlight, this would be no problem. Just close the aperture down for a big depth-of-field, and you can use all that available light to create a great high-detail negative.
Unfortunately, those are not the circumstances you are working with.
It took me a while to wrap my brain around how the "throw distance" of my flash works. Basically, as the aperture opens up, you can use your flash to expose a greater distance of space. As your aperture closes down, the total distance that you can effectively expose with the flash will decrease.
So basically, you could use a relatively fast shutter speed and a small aperture (which would produce big depth of field in normal lighting), but you would get a very short "throw distance" from your flash. Thus, your fast shutter, small aperture combination would result in a black background because the aperture wasn't open enough for the flash light.
Likewise, you could open the aperture up and get small depth of field, but everything illuminated.
I'd be willing to bet there's a way to get what you want, but I'm not sure without knowing a.) the distances between you, the subject, and the background -and- b.) the length of your lens.
Hope I could help and not exacerbate the problem...
-m
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