EOS 2E speedlite 380EX and Tamron 28-200 zoom lens

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Hi I had EOS Elan 2e, Speedlite 380EX and Zoom Tamron 28-200 (3.5-4.5) one year ago. Till now I still have the problem. The problem is : When I zoom in 80-200 the picture came out OK But when I zoom out 28-35 the picture was very dark I used P mode, 400asa profesional Fuji Film and no flash Exposure Compensation. 1. Is the Zoom len has the problem? 2. Is Speedlite 380EX not enough power? 3. Did I use wrong technic?

Could you please give me answers. I tried many ways but still got the same problem. Thank You Very Much

-- Dennis Tran (dennistran@hotmail.com), December 15, 1999

Answers

Response to EOS 2E SPEEDLITE 380EX AND ZOOM LEN TAMRON 80-200

You didn't mention how far the subject was from your lens when you took the wide angle pictures. Also, what ASA film did you use? One thing to check, before you take the picture, make sure the zoom level on the flash is the same as the setting on your lens. The lens may not be sending the correct info to the flash!

-- Jim K (hawk31@concentric.net), December 17, 1999.

Response to EOS 2E SPEEDLITE 380EX AND ZOOM LEN TAMRON 80-200

The 380EX at 28mm f:3.5 with 400 ISO film should be good for about 20 to 30 feet (6 - 9 meters) Fuji pro film (NPH, etc.) is often over-rated so you might get better results rating it at 250 ISO but still developing it normaly.

Several questions though: Are you keeping the active focus point on the subject? Is the subject dark or just the background? Have you looked at the negatives to see if it was just poor printing? (This is the most usual problem.) As the above poster said, are you sure the flash is zooming wide with the lens?

Your answer is probably found in one of the answers to the above questions.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), December 19, 1999.


I, too, use an ElanIIe, 380EX and Tamron AF 28 - 200. Most often i use ASA400 print film for shooting events and even location portraits. I get consistently good flash exposures.

There are two simple checks you can make: As you zoom your lens you should be able to hear the 380's flash head zooming in concert. Also, the small green lights on the back of the flash should be lighting up as the zoom head moves, indicating its position, from 28 to 105.

Also, try using AV (aperture priority), setting your Tamron wide open to F/4 at 28 - 35mm and see what the corresponding shutter speed becomes. You may find indoors that the shutter is, for example, 1/6 1/8. In Program mode, the slowest shutter speed the Elan will use is 1/60th (in brighter light it will give 1/90th or 1/125th). So, if you have an ambient reading of, say 1/8th, and your camera is defaulting to 1/60th, then you are underexposing the background by 3 stops! This may account for your dark pictures.

By the way, if this is happening in your indoor shots, an easy remedy is to get your subjects to stand near a wall. The light from the flash will then reflect back off the wall, exposing it sufficiently.

Hope this helps!

-- Roy Kekewich (roykekewich@yahoo.com), January 15, 2000.


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