Jerome Daryl Coombs-Reyes wrote: > I let a full day pass, and am finally composed enough to write this > email I recently received 4 rolls of slide film back from Kodak (Fair > Lawn), and the results were atrocious (and its no longer just because > of bad technique!). Specifically, more than 1/2 of the frames are > almost totally blacked out. I've posted examples here:
> http://www.isye.gatech.edu/~jerome/temp/help.htm [Snip....] Hi, I think Tom ("Graywolf") has about nailed your problem. Looks like you may simply be shooting beyond the range of your flash. Your AF-330FTZ is a dedicated TTL-only unit, with a guide number of 92. If you're shooting 100-speed film, make sure that the product of your subject distance (in feet) times your f/stop does not exceed 92. For instance, if you're shooting with your zoom at the long end with the aperture wide open (f/5.6), and you need flash to fully illuminate your subject, don't shoot anything further away than about 16 feet. (How many subjects do you shoot from that distance using the 320mm focal length? I'd guess you're trying to catch things further away from you.) Shooting at f/8? Then keep the distance to your subject no greater than 10 or 12 feet (again assuming that you'll rely on flash to fully illuminate your subject, and that you're using 100-speed film). If your problem is basically one of technique, faster film will help quite a bit. If you go with a film that's N times higher ASA rating, you'll multiply your guide number by the square root of N. For example, GN 92 at ASA 100, but GN 184 at ASA 400. As someone else mentioned, make sure you don't have negative exposure compensation set on your camera. Make sure also that you don't manually override the film speed to a higher setting (e.g., 100-speed film loaded, but ASA override manually set to 400). >From your pictures, it's apparent that the flash is synching correctly with the shutter. If the sync speed was off, part of your image (either the upper part or the lower part) would be completely black, almost as if you held a black card over part of the picture. I suppose it's possible that the flash output on your AF-330FTZ is weak for some reason. Perhaps you can go down to your local camera store and try out a different TTL flash? Load up your camera with some 100-speed slide film, mount the 80-320, then take a few shots inside the store with your present flash. Try taking the kinds of shots you've had problems with, using comparable ambient lighting, f-stop, and subject distance. Now take the same shots with one of the TTL flashes the store carries. (Of course, you'll also want to take a few flash shots using optimum subject distance and optimum f-stop. Try it with both your flash and the store's flash. This will allow you to determine if the problem is your flash or your technique.) I suppose it's possible that your camera's TTL sensor is not functioning properly and is causing the flash to quench too soon. Thus, it might be useful to try a flash with auto settings while you're there. When set to auto, the flash is signaled to quench when the sensor in the flash foot says "quench", not when the TTL sensor in the camera says "quench". I don't think your camera body is the problem, but this would allow you to rule that out with certainty. Good luck with the testing! Bill Peifer Rochester, NY - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
