Canon Flash - Getting Started

[SCULDER]

I have better understanding on flashes after marathon-watching the videos in YouTube and I think the off-camera flash is really interesting which I want to do it. Went window shopping during lunch time to check on the prices.....if I am going to get the 580Ex, I can top up a little to get the 600EX-RT (Gray Set)....Hmmm.

OK I know people is going to shoot me for this noobie question...If I am going to pair my 60D with the 600ex-RT, am I suppose to get a transmitter for my body to trigger the 600ex-RT? Or it requires 2 gadgets on both body and speedlite? Thinking of the off-camera flash, I will prefer to do it wirelessly...

you don't need trigger.
you can use the built in flash in 60D body to trigger Speedlite.

As long as they are in one line of sight, no barrier, they will communicate.
search YouTube (I think it has in one of my link I gave you) / Google to find out how to activate in 60D body and in Speedlite

 

[SumoBear]

Hi guys....

Wanna ask how to tackle such situation during shoot.....I bought my daughter to the mega indoor playground at Toa Payoh Safra yesterday, where they have lots of tunnels, slides, balls and swings...I was trying to shoot my daughter but I suffered quite badly with bad shots So upset. It was my first time at such places and it was so packed up with kids dashing and jumping about. The lighting was from either the ceiling light (high up) or window lighting. The lighting condition is dim at those tunnels and some passage way.

The equipments that I have on hand was my 60D paired with F2.8 17-55. I was on aperture priorty, tried with spot / evaluative metering and F2.8 but the shutter speed is low and with cranked up iso (even tried to the max) also not being helpful. There are point that the values on my LCD screen blinks which I believed that I am unable to shoot. I need a good shutter speed to capture the movements but cannot achieve.

What have I done wrong? Or is a flash essential for such situation? Tried the pop-up but it was blocked by my 17-55

 

[Springf]

Hi guys....

Wanna ask how to tackle such situation during shoot.....I bought my daughter to the mega indoor playground at Toa Payoh Safra yesterday, where they have lots of tunnels, slides, balls and swings...I was trying to shoot my daughter but I suffered quite badly with bad shots So upset. It was my first time at such places and it was so packed up with kids dashing and jumping about. The lighting was from either the ceiling light (high up) or window lighting. The lighting condition is dim at those tunnels and some passage way.

The equipments that I have on hand was my 60D paired with F2.8 17-55. I was on aperture priorty, tried with spot / evaluative metering and F2.8 but the shutter speed is low and with cranked up iso (even tried to the max) also not being helpful. There are point that the values on my LCD screen blinks which I believed that I am unable to shoot. I need a good shutter speed to capture the movements but cannot achieve.

What have I done wrong? Or is a flash essential for such situation? Tried the pop-up but it was blocked by my 17-55

a bounce flash (depending on ceiling height) or a faster prime (50 f/1.4) could help...
not sure how dim it is, but iso 3200 of 60D, if properly exposed, should be fine with a little post-processing
but if you want to catch kids moving moment, I guess you need to be shutter priority or manual mode, at least 1/160 or up to capture the moments.

 

[SumoBear]

a bounce flash (depending on ceiling height) or a faster prime (50 f/1.4) could help...
not sure how dim it is, but iso 3200 of 60D, if properly exposed, should be fine with a little post-processing
but if you want to catch kids moving moment, I guess you need to be shutter priority or manual mode, at least 1/160 or up to capture the moments.

I cannot achieve 1/160 with F2.8, somemore maxed ISO....my LCD was blinking which I believe it is an alert. Nothing seem to work...I have tried switching between the modes, nothng help.
If there is a speedlite, I do not think I can bounce up to ceiling as I think the height is about 2 level high. So is the solution to use either a speedlite for direct flashing or use with bounce card?

 

[blurb]

I cannot achieve 1/160 with F2.8, somemore maxed ISO....my LCD was blinking which I believe it is an alert. Nothing seem to work...I have tried switching between the modes, nothng help.
If there is a speedlite, I do not think I can bounce up to ceiling as I think the height is about 2 level high. So is the solution to use either a speedlite for direct flashing or use with bounce card?

I have been to those playground before. Light is pretty dim but with your cam, set ISO to 3200, use aperture mode at F2.8 should be just enuff to capture movements. If got speedlite its even better. I dun use bounce card, just tilt the flash head at an angle will do. Not direct flash. Gotta do a few trial and error then you get your setting right.

 

[SumoBear]

I have been to those playground before. Light is pretty dim but with your cam, set ISO to 3200, use aperture mode at F2.8 should be just enuff to capture movements. If got speedlite its even better. I dun use bounce card, just tilt the flash head at an angle will do. Not direct flash. Gotta do a few trial and error then you get your setting right.

Hi Blurb,

Ok thanks for the tips, I will try out....

 

[Snoweagle]

Flash photography is all about creativity and experimenting. There's no fixed rule to using yr flash, whether on or off camera. Each works well for different people.

I personally love using off camera but for most times for quicker setup, i mount my 600EX-RT on my camera and optically trigger my 580EX II.

Just remember, different techniques achieve different effects.

 

[Turbonetics]

Hi guys....

Wanna ask how to tackle such situation during shoot.....I bought my daughter to the mega indoor playground at Toa Payoh Safra yesterday, where they have lots of tunnels, slides, balls and swings...I was trying to shoot my daughter but I suffered quite badly with bad shots So upset. It was my first time at such places and it was so packed up with kids dashing and jumping about. The lighting was from either the ceiling light (high up) or window lighting. The lighting condition is dim at those tunnels and some passage way.

The equipments that I have on hand was my 60D paired with F2.8 17-55. I was on aperture priorty, tried with spot / evaluative metering and F2.8 but the shutter speed is low and with cranked up iso (even tried to the max) also not being helpful. There are point that the values on my LCD screen blinks which I believed that I am unable to shoot. I need a good shutter speed to capture the movements but cannot achieve.

What have I done wrong? Or is a flash essential for such situation? Tried the pop-up but it was blocked by my 17-55

for such places,it is not recommended to use off-hotshoe flash.
i had shoot my kids in such conditions before and most of the time they are actively moving around.
if i do not have a flash with me,i would try to push the ISO to the max that i desired(not more than 6400) and goes to the widest aperture(F2.8).
then i would take continuous shots(10FPS) and follow their movements(panning),i know there will be some blur shots,but this techniques does help to capture some decent shots too.
the downside is that u will have tons of photos to go through in your computer,but this is worth it for that decent shots of our kid(s).
i would also like to know if there could be a better way to do too.
if u have an external flash on the hotshoe,then u could go for lower ISO,higher shutter speed and aperture.but becareful of the harsh lighting sometimes.

 

[Octarine]

The equipments that I have on hand was my 60D paired with F2.8 17-55. I was on aperture priorty, tried with spot / evaluative metering and F2.8 but the shutter speed is low and with cranked up iso (even tried to the max) also not being helpful. There are point that the values on my LCD screen blinks which I believed that I am unable to shoot. I need a good shutter speed to capture the movements but cannot achieve.
What have I done wrong? Or is a flash essential for such situation? Tried the pop-up but it was blocked by my 17-55

You need to use flash here. Read the EOS Flash Guide: Flash Photography with Canon EOS Cameras - Part I.
You also need to understand the metering strategy of the camera in different exposure modes when using flash. In Av (and Tv, M), the camera meters for the background, then fills the foreground with flash. As a result, the shutter gets very slow (also called slow sync flash). And since you use Evaluative metering earlier it's clear that the camera will adjust to the dim surrounding. You can solve it either by using spot metering (on center AF point) or use Manual. Dial in a combination of ISO (for background), shutter (to avoid movement blur) and aperture (Depth of Field) that works, the ETTL metering for flash will do the rest.

 

[SumoBear]

for such places,it is not recommended to use off-hotshoe flash.
i had shoot my kids in such conditions before and most of the time they are actively moving around.
if i do not have a flash with me,i would try to push the ISO to the max that i desired(not more than 6400) and goes to the widest aperture(F2.8).
then i would take continuous shots(10FPS) and follow their movements(panning),i know there will be some blur shots,but this techniques does help to capture some decent shots too.
the downside is that u will have tons of photos to go through in your computer,but this is worth it for that decent shots of our kid(s).
i would also like to know if there could be a better way to do too.
if u have an external flash on the hotshoe,then u could go for lower ISO,higher shutter speed and aperture.but becareful of the harsh lighting sometimes.

I did try the max ISO and F2.8, shutter speed is still slow....Like what you mentioned, I did blasted quite a number of shots and went nuts scrolling them. I find it really unbelieveable that ISO 6400 cannot get any acceptable range of shutter speed.

So far I am always getting good shots with bright condition and suffer great loss with indoor or low light environment. I thought getting the F2.8 or F1.4 will be good enough to tackle the situation.

 

[SumoBear]

You need to use flash here. Read the EOS Flash Guide: Flash Photography with Canon EOS Cameras - Part I.
You also need to understand the metering strategy of the camera in different exposure modes when using flash. In Av (and Tv, M), the camera meters for the background, then fills the foreground with flash. As a result, the shutter gets very slow (also called slow sync flash). And since you use Evaluative metering earlier it's clear that the camera will adjust to the dim surrounding. You can solve it either by using spot metering (on center AF point) or use Manual. Dial in a combination of ISO (for background), shutter (to avoid movement blur) and aperture (Depth of Field) that works, the ETTL metering for flash will do the rest.

Ok thanks for the advice.