Buying a flash, I'm clueless

jito · Joined: 29 Nov 2011 Posts: 113

Alrigt, so I want to buy a flash. Pictures taken with my canon 1100d build in flash are boring, I really dislike the cheap feeling of such pictures. Projected shadows on the back are VERY anoying. I did buy a cheap bit of plastic that should act as a diffuser but it only improves the results a little bit.

Many people say that the desirable method is to bounce the light on the ceiling. But I have many questions about this:
Does it eliminates projected shadows on the background?
Doesn't it create shadows on peoples eyes and under the noses?
Does this bring up the background? This one is not a big issue, I don't like to completely isolate the subject in the dark.

What's a reasonable price for a flash that will yield proper results and that can be picked from ebay, amazon, or other such site?

I mostly take pictures in family gathers and the like. I can not think of any situation where I would make use of the flash for a more sophisticated kind of photography so to speak. So something relatively basic maybe would do, I don't know.

Any advice?
Feel free to post links to flashes and acessories.
Samples ilustrating what can be achieved with proper flash usage are also helpful.

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

SonicScot · Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 11:38 am Post subject:

I'll second the motion for Yongnuo flashes, I own two of them and they've been superb so far.
They had QC issues when they started out but that's history now, they are perfectly reliable and amazing value these days.
I have the 560 and 565EX, I can't fault either of them.

jito · Joined: 29 Nov 2011 Posts: 113

I noticed some of them rotate they head to the side too. I'm not sure if that is usefull or not
kansalliskala, does that one do that?

What does 'full manual control' mean? That I can adjust the amount of light I want to use?

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

Sideways bounce flash allows you to use your camera in portrait format and still bounce from the ceiling. Of course it can be used for other effects too like sidewauys lighting bounced from a wall. I have done that on this photo. Matt is about 1 metre from a white painted wall in his cramped living room. I cloned out an electrical socket near the bottom otherwise the background is as it was.

Full manual means no communication between flash and camera apart from the trigger. You get full power and you must adjust your aperture manually to get the exposure right. (set camera to 1/60th sec) great if you are shooting with a brolly as you need as much power as possible.

I'd stick to auto. The above photo is on auto, perhaps adjust +0.3 or +0.7 if photographing against a white wall

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

fill-flash, the different settings do make a different photo

1) shutter time sets how much ambient light there is
2) flash power sets the amount of fill
(and these 2 above set the color balance of photo too)
3) aperture sets dof (and whole light amount in photo)
and (drum roll ..)
4) you can use iso to finally set the light amount right

Yes, at a wedding you probably can't take 4 photos to get them all right .. Smile

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

here a quick example of the above
S-M-C 120/2.8
white balance auto

1) start with 2.8, 1/50 and iso 800

2) fill flash about 1/8 (?)
edit: too much, wanted to keep background dark but didn't manage

3) setting to 5.6 to show that there is 2,5 kg dog food in the background

4) correcting light: iso -> 1600

I think one can skip parts 2-3 when starting to know one's flash etc.

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

The shutter speed is important when using fill in flash but you must be careful what speed you do use. If you use too high a speed you will get part of the image missing because of the way your shutter works. Check your Canon manual for the highest flash sync speed.

It can be a real bugger doing fill in flash in bright daylight and being limited to 1/60th. One of my old film Nikons used 1/250th, but any of between-the-lens shutters were better. Good luck!

I think with this flashgun and its TTL metering you ought not to have any problems. Set your camera to P and just go out and do it!

jito · Joined: 29 Nov 2011 Posts: 113

Hey all.

I bought a cheap yongnuo, only manual operation. It comes with a reflector. I point the head up and unfold the reflector and WOW! This is amazing. The pictures get perfectly exposed, no reflexes on peoples hair, rich skin tones. It is a huge difference. There is no way I am using the camera built in flash again.

That said, I think I might have done a mistake buying a full manual. On the one hand, it is very easy and quick to adjust the flash power (time) simply by pressing the + and - buttons. But of course, I miss the right spot sometimes.

What's what is a cheap/simple yongnuo with both manual and auto operation? I have trouble figuring out what the specs mean, what should I look for. Is the word "Auto" usually in the description? What do they mean by "TTL"?

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

If the flash has TTL metering it will be brand specific i.e. for Canon,Nikon etc as they use different systems.

If its not, the flash will have a simple on board computer that will adjust the flash for you to get the correct exposure. The unit will tell you which aperture to use and it will do the rest. There may be 2 or three aperture options selected by a switch.

The camera will have to be in manual mode just like using the old type.