 Kimber L. Wano |
Please tell me what's wrong with my camera!
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Kimber L. Wano |
I'm not sure how to attach a picture.
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Kimber L. Wano |
Anyone?
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Kerry L. Walker |
Sounds to me like you had your shutter speed set faster than your fastest sync. speed.
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Kimber L. Wano |
Okay, it looks like I managed to get the darn photo in there. Kerry, thanks for responding so quickly. At the risk of sounding really stupid, can you explain exactly what you mean? I still have so much to learn.
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Kerry L. Walker |
On most SLR cameras (those without leaf shutter lenses, which includes all modern 35mm, digitals and most MF cameras) the shutter consists of two parts, most often cloth, sometimes metal. At speeds up to the maximum sync. speed, the shutter is fully open while the exposure is being made. Above that speed, the shutter is only partially open, with the second part of the shutter following closely behind the leading part. Your camera syncs. with the flash up to 1/250 sec. Anything beyond that and you will get a black band (where the flash did not expose that part of the sensor). Just make sure your shutter speed is set to 1/250 or below and you will be fine. It is not really necessary to set the shutter speed at 1/250. You can set it lower. In fact, at times, it is desirable to set the speed lower to let in more ambient light. When you are using flash, the effective shutter speed is actually the speed of the flash - usually between 1/1000 sec. and 1/50,000 sec., depending on how much flash is needed.
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Kimber L. Wano |
Wow. Kerry, I can't thank you enough for your thorough explanation. I am so grateful. I guess I did have my shutter speed set rather high because I was trying to capture some studio action shots of my son (he's a hiphop/breakdance instructor). How would you have managed to capture these types of shots in a studio setting? In most of the shots he was only able to hold the "pose" for a second (if you've ever seen breakdancing you'll know what I mean).
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Kerry L. Walker |
Yes, I am familiar with breakdancing but at my age, if I tried it, I would be breaking a lot of things! LOL You don't need your shutter set too high. When using flash, the exposure is more dependant on the aperture and the flash. If you are using a small aperture (high number), the flash will have to put our more flash to create a proper exposure. At maximum burst, your effective shutter speed will be around 1/1000 sec. (That's how long the flash will be flashing.) If you use a larger aperature (smaller number) you will be letting in more ambient light and the flash will be flashing for a shorter duration, thus making a shorter effective shutter speed. I would set the shutter at around 1/250 and try that, working backwards until you get the combination of flash and ambient light that you want. He shouldn't need to hold his pose at all.
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Kimber L. Wano |
Kerry, you're a Godsend. Thank so SOOOO much for taking the time to help me today. I've learned so much. I truly appreciate your help!!! And thanks for the laugh, ha! Believe me, at my age I'd break something, too! We'd better just stick to taking the pictures, huh? ;) Have a wonderful day!
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Kerry L. Walker |
Glad to be of assistance. I checked your bio so I now how old you are. (No info in mine. I like to keep folks guessing.) Reminds me of a conversation that a couple of friends and I had at the bank a couple of weeks ago about how good these young girls look these days - you know, young girls your age. LOL. Not old enough to be your dad but I've got more than a decade on you. BTW, I have experience with breaking things. Several years ago when my son was a Cub Scout we went to the Dad 'n Lad weekend. The first thing we did when we got there was to go swinging on a muscadine vine (southern grape). Two kids and one dad swung on the vine before me. I broke the vine AND my ankle. Went to the hospital and got a splint, crutches and Lortab and went back to the camp! A 48 year old (at the time) should know better! The kids called me Tarzan from then on. LOL
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Kimber L. Wano |
Thanks again, Tarzan...I mean Kerry. ;) Loved the story, enjoyed your gallery, and appreciate your help! Have a great one!
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Kerry L. Walker |
You're welcome and you have a great one too.
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Luis A. Rodriguez |
I have a almost equal problem with my EOS Rebel II, I get half dark and maybe even 1/3 or 1/4 dark part of the picture, since I'm just beginning I'm using the pre-program modes, like portrait, landscape and sport, the most failures is when I use portrait mode, is the shutter speed to slow for the flash? Thanks
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Kerry L. Walker |
Odds are that the shutter speed is too fast, not too slow. There is always the possibility of a camera malfunction but I would bet on the shutter being too fast. Program modes, which I really don't recommend because they take the control away from you, are the camera's idea of what effect you should be getting. Portrait mode programs for a large aperture to create a narrow depth of field to blur the background. A larger aperture will often, depending on the ambient light, force the use of a faster shutter speed, which may be outside the sync speed of your shutter. I would think that attaching a flash to your camera would force the camera to set a shutter speed at or below the maximum sync speed. If you use the program modes when you are using flash, check to see what shutter speed it is setting and make sure it is at or below the maximum sync speed of your camera.
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Luis A. Rodriguez |
Maybe my flash is faulty, (because the darken part is visible like no flash was used on that part). is one of those Phoenix discontinued ones, I couldn't even find the manual, I even leaning towards the flash, because all non-flash pictures came out very well.
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Andy |
Luis, did you leave the lens hood on your lens?
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Luis A. Rodriguez |
No, no lense hood. Is it possible I set the flash to the wrong ISO speed and caused this? I used ISO 400 and maybe, on those half dark pics I used 100 maybe? I don't remember! I'm gonna try some test shots. Is my first SLR with my first auto flash, maybe I'm just newbie..
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Kerry L. Walker |
It's not the flash. Either the flash will fire or it won't fire. If it doesn't fire, the entire picture will be underexposed. If it does fire, it will expose the entire frame evenly. (OK, I know there are exceptions due to the zoom range of the flash and the angle of coverage of the lens but that doesn't apply here.) It isn't the ISO you set. ISO will affect the exposure of the entire frame, not a portion of it. If the film you were using was ISO 400 and the flash was set to ISO 100, the entire frame would be overexposed but probably within the limits of the film. Luis, try shooting in TV mode with the shutter speed set at 1/60 sec. and let the camera select the aperature. This will ensure that the shutter is set to sync with the flash. If you are still getting half exposed pictures, then your shutter may be sticking. However, since the photos you took without flash seem to be coming out OK I doubt this is the problem. I would be willing to bet your shutter speed is set too high. Now that aI think about it, it may be that your flash is not a Canon dedicated flash. I know it is not a Canon flash but it may not be dedicated to a Canon camera. All that means is that it doesn't "talk" to the camera and force it to set the shutter speed to fall within the sync range of your camera. You are probably using auto flash with the flash itself reading the scene rather than the camera reading for exposure. This is not necessarily a bad thing so you don't really need a new flash unless you just want one. Just make sure your shutter speed is set to no faster speed than the maximum sync speed and that the aperture is set withing the distance range at which you are working (should be noted on the back of the flash) and all should be good.
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Luis A. Rodriguez |
OK, thanks, will try that. I will scan the pics and post them soon (of the bad ones)
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