Merry Christmas to everyone

I bought an elan7eqd and I have 380ex flash. I am trying to figure out how to take indoor low light picture with flash and produce good balance ambient light and flash. If I were to use Av,the shutter speed is to slow to be hand held. I prefer to use iso100 film for its sharpness. I want to know if I use manual mode and set my shutter speed fast enough to be hand held my camera say 1/30 and I set my aperture. Does anyone know exactly how 380ex communicate with the camera. Does it try to syn with the shutter speed and what? So far I still have not found an answer as how to take a good picture in indoor situation. Can anyone please suggest what I can do to improve indoor photography with flash? I know I can use 400 or 800 films with ef50mm 1.8 but I am somehow someone knows how it can be done with 100 film.

Thanks

-- peter li (pli@hatch.ca), December 21, 2001

Answers

I don’t understand why you do not want to use 400 film. It will sure be a lot sharper to use than 100 iso in the same situation (hand- held). Unless you are going to rely on flash power alone or use a tripod you are not going to be too successful. To achieve the result you want you are correct in thinking you will have to use manual. 1/30 - 1/45 @ f3.5 or so to start with. Bounce the flash if the ceiling is low and white and put a white card on the head of the flash to direct some of the light forward. This way the flash will be the dominant light source and you might get enough ambient light in the shot to help fill out the background. If you want more ambient light you WILL have to use a tripod and slow the shutter speed down even more. I have used this process successfully with the 380 in close quarters but if the room is big or the aperture is too small the 380 will not have enough power to do the job. I say again, I think you should use 400 ISO. It will be sharp enough for 8*10 to 11*14 prints. Experiment with a roll or two of film. The knowledge you acquire will be well worth the cost.

-- Paul Nicol (nicol@roadrunner.nf.net), December 21, 2001.

In "M" mode, you set ambient exposure mannually and the 380EX will provide fill flash under ETTL control. Flash exposure can be fine tuned by setting FEC on the camera body.

The following is written for the Elan II, but generally applies to most EOS cameras and flashes: http://bobatkins.photo.net/info/faq30/flashfaq.htm

-- Kenneth Katz (socks@bestweb.net), December 21, 2001.

Set the camera to manual mode & use whatever shutter speed you want. The flash will provide the proper flash exposure. depending on ambient lighting levels, aperture and film speed, 1/30 sec. will probably not be slow enough though. You might get a little ambient lighting if it's bright enough, but you probably won't see much improvement unless you get your shutter speed down to within 2 stops of correct/full exposure.

For weddings I typically use 400 ISO film f/5.6 and a shutter speed of 1/15-1/30. And churches are often lit brighter than the average house.

You need to use a faster lens, a faster film or a tripod. Otherwise the background with 1/30, f/4, 100ISO is likely to look the same as 1/60, f/5.6, 100ISO - black

If

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), December 21, 2001.

Kodak Portra 400 is sharper than Kodak 100 consumer grade films and not a lot more expensive. If it is available where you are it would be worth a try. I shot my daughter's wedding with it when it first became available with excellent results; very fine grain and excellent saturation.

-- Victor (Catmanman@aol.com), December 22, 2001.

why dont you try keeping the 100 speed if you must 200 would be a better choice but you can boost the speed from 100 to 200 and get better quality with the same film

-- tony davis (ttf@shentel.net), December 30, 2001.