Dear all, i will be shooting indoor photo in the Hong Kong Convention and exhibition centre.But i am not sure if my 380ex with 28-80 3.5-5.6 lens is 'enough' to expose an iso 100 film.(without using bounce or diffuser).The equipment are of coz in good condition I am actually asking those who had been shooting there. Any experience given to me will be appreciated.Thanks.

-- legnum (legnum212@email.com), May 25, 2002

Answers

i doubt its sufficient for the situation you mentioned. i have shot under such conditions using EOS 300 + EF 28-135mm IS USM + 380EX. since i had an IS lens, the effective X-synx of the body turned out to be 1/350 sec. and ofcourse, this lens is much superior to what you mentioned. although i was not much disappointed, i was not much happy either with some of the shots. i haven't enlarged any. but i think i should be able to get some descent enlargements to certain extend. but a 4x6" should be quite good enough. well, i am talking about sharpness with the 28-135mm lens. secondly, i was shooting from very close distance, just a few feets away from my subject. i doubt about equipments. others who has more experience in this regards can help you better. but i thought i can atleast discuss my experience with you.

-- sajeev (chack74@yahoo.co.in), May 25, 2002.

Sajeev is incorrect to imply that the IS lens will effect his top sync speed in any way. The IS feature will effect hand holding but has no effect on flash.

The 380EX has a guide number of 33 in meters with the flash head zoomed to the 70/80 position. So when shooting at f/5.6 with 100 ISO film your maximum distance is about 6 meters, if you use the 80mm end of your zoom. If you use the 28mm end of your zoom, you have a GN of 23, but at f/3.5 you end up with about the same maximum distance. So for shots of subjects less than 6 meters (about 19 feet) you should have enough flash as long as you keep your lens wide open.

I'd use 400 ISO film to extend the flash range to 12 meters.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), May 25, 2002.