I just tried selecting the red-eye reduction mode on the camera. That mode gives a noticeably earlier pre-flash about a second prior to the shot. I wonder if the red eye mode would allow people to adjust to the flash and get their eyes back open before the shot?
Michael
Bruce Dayton wrote:
Michael, Try about 5.6 with the aperture ring. Leave the rest of the camera in program and I think that it will not set the shutter below 1/30 and not greater than flash synch speed.Bruce Tuesday, December 10, 2002, 12:13:45 PM, you wrote: MC> Bruce, MC> With the ZX-L, I cannot select TTL, my only choices are A, M and P-TTL. MC> I used fast film (Portra 800). MC> Could you offer a little guidance about camera settings with flash? In MC> this instance, I was using the FA 50mm f/1.4. MC> I used the Program AE (a smiley face on the ZX-L), and the camera MC> selected a shutter speed of 45 and pretty small apertures (somewhere MC> around f/11). MC> I have also tried using shutter-priority and setting the shutter speed MC> at 30, which gives larger apertures close to wide open. In these MC> settings, ambient light dominates, so I get a yellow color shift which MC> is not necessarily a problem. MC> A third possibility I considered was using M and setting the shutter MC> speed at 20 or 30 and then manually selecting an aperture around f/2.8 MC> to f/5.6? MC> What camera settings do you use in situations like this? MC> Thanks, MC> Michael MC> Bruce Dayton wrote:Michael, Having used 360's extensively, the mode you are probably referring to is P-TTL where a pre-flash for measurements is taken. In practice it looks like one really long flash rather than two short ones. I have not really noticed an excessive amount of shut eyes due to blinking on hundreds of pictures taken. Two differences - 1) I have used an MZ-S. I don't know if the delay between pre-flash and main flash is longer with your camera or not. I would not suspect it to be. 2) I don't normally shoot with flash in as dim a light as you are indicating. This may have more to do with it. The dimmer the light, the longer the flash duration will be. This would give people more opportunity to blink. Also the slower the film and more stopped down the longer the duration. A simple test would be to use those variables, plus compare P-TTL to TTL and see if you notice any difference. Just a few thoughts. Bruce Tuesday, December 10, 2002, 10:00:12 AM, you wrote: MC> On Saturday evening, I used my new (to me) AF360-FGZ to take some MC> pictures at our Christmas party. When I got back the prints, the MC> majority of the photos had at least one person with their eyes closed. MC> The house was fairly dark and the revelers had imbibed quite a bit of MC> Christmas cheer by the time the camera came out. Since everyone's eyes MC> had adjusted to very dim lighting, I am wondering if the preflash on the MC> AF360 caused people to blink so that when the photos were taken, their MC> eyes were closed? MC> Any thoughts? MC> Michael Cross MC> Chico, CA
