Under what circumstances would one use the 540EZ's negative 7 degree flashhead tilt? I'm shooting some cat's close-up(in and around 12") with a 28mm lens and wondering if this tilt would be helpful in this situation. I'm renting the flash and the rental house has no info on the matter. TIA

Steve

-- Steve Reczkowski (czks@msn.com), March 30, 2000

Answers

The negative tilt is for close-ups, but I wonder if 7 degrees is enough for what you want to do. I'd manually set the zoom head for 24mm to get a little better coverage and try it. Also you might want to look at the manual, I believe the 540EZ has a minimum range of something like 18". Still, it would probably work with slow (100 ISO) film.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), March 30, 2000.

I've managed to get good illumination of macro subjects (EOS 100/2.8 macro) with my 540EZ hot-shoe mounted, 7 degree down angle, AND by deploying the wide panel diffuser(when the panel is fully deployed, a switch in the flash is activated that causes the flash zoom head to assume its widest angle, and Canon claims that the flash will then effectively cover a 17mm lens); this trick creates a much wider cone of light than using the 7 degree down position alone, without the diffuser panel in place; of course, it also DIFFUSES and softens the flash, which is often beneficial. In addition, I will typically set about -1 to -2 and 2/3rds flash exposure compensation to tame the close-in flash even more. I've used this technique with excellent results when shooting butterflies either outdoors or at indoor butterfly aviaries, and it might translate well to the situation you describe. To throw even more light downward when shooting horizontal, or toward the right when shooting vertical, simply place the diffuser panel in its "catch-light" position, where it acts more as a reflector. Finally, it may be that you'll get very nice lighting simply by bouncing the flash, as the 540EZ allows bouncing in both horizontal and vertical compositions by virtue of its tilt/swivel head. The off-camera shoe cord and a flash bracket, or a 2nd person (or tripod) to hold the flash are of course other options.

-- kurt heintzelman (heintzelman.1@osu.edu), March 31, 2000.