I have a 380ex flash and Rebel G. I am not satify with the result of taking picture with rebel g in low light condition unless is slow syn. Most of the time I cannot hand held the camera at slow shutter speed unless I use 400film with ef28-135mm IS. at f4.0 and 50mm focal length. I prefer to use 100film for a sharper picture but at this film speed its impossible to slow syn or getting good picture with the rebel g in low light condition. I am reading my 380ex manual that indicate I just use flash exposure compensation with Elan II and Elan 7E type camera (not rebel g). What I like to know is anyone can please tell me:

1. What exactly flash exposure compensation is? 2. How to use it with 380ex and type A camera with that capability? 3. Will it allow me to solve the problem I mentioned above with elan II? 4. what can I do to resolve the problem with rebel g and 380ex.?

Thanks Peter Li

-- peter li (Pli@Hatch.ca), September 12, 2000

Answers

It's discussed in several threads that you can't do flash exposure compenstation with a 380EX and Rebel, you can definantly do it with an Elan II (how, I don't know) or 550EX. You might be able to trick the camera by changing the ISO setting, but (IMHO) that's going to make your exposures prone to human error.

Flash exposure compenstation allows you to set +/- x stops of flash, just like normal exposure compenstation. People often use + stops for bounce flash and - stops for fill.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), September 12, 2000.

1. What exactly flash exposure compensation is? - It's just setting the flash to either give more or less than normal flash exposure.

2. How to use it with 380ex and type A camera with that capability? - Just dial + or - flash compensation in, and shoot. The reason you might want to do this is to reduce the brightness of the flash in comparison to the ambient exposure while using slow sync to provide a more natural look, or increase the brightness of the flash in comparison to the ambient exposure if you want to highlight the foreground subjects, or to keep a white wedding dress looking really white.

3. Will it allow me to solve the problem I mentioned above with elan II? - No, you'll still have a shutter that is too slow to handhold if using slow sync (setting the camera in Av mode for instance). Another option that might solve this problem would be to reduce the ambient exposure a stop or two but still keep the flash at the normal setting. This is essentially what wedding photgraphers do when they say they are "dragging the shutter." It produces a background that is darker than the subject but still light enough to see, and it allows a shutter speed that is 2 to 4 times as fast so you can hand hold it better. To do this on a Rebel you will have to use manual mode on the camera, as any ambient exposure compensation in P, Av or Tv modes will effect the flash exposure a similar amount, and that wouldn't give the results you want. It would simply darken the whole picture

4. what can I do to resolve the problem with rebel g and 380ex.? - As Steve Fisher pointed out, you can reset the ISO (higher will force less flash exposure and lower will increase flash exposure) and then using the camera in manual mode, reset the exposure an offsetting amount. This isn't all that hard if you have time to think about it but, as Steve says, it is cause for many exposure accidents. It's a lot easier on an Elan II.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), September 13, 2000.

Exposure compensation in Av, Tv, and P modes does not affect the flash on the Rebel, he could do compensation and get a dark background/normal subject.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), September 13, 2000.

Steven Fisher; I know that ambient exposure comp will not effect flash exposure on upscale EOS bodies, but was under the belief that it did on Rebels. In fact didn't you and I go round and round about this last year? I thought it was you who said that exposure comp on a Rebel DOES effect flash exposure. I was taking the other side at the time and was surprised at the difference of opinion. If it wasn't you, it was someone else that said he had slides to prove his point. I actually borrowed my old Rebel G to try it out on a flash meter and it sure seemed that exposure comp effected flash output. Maybe I should try it again.

If you are right, and exposure comp doesn't effect flash exposure, then it would be an easy thing to reset the ISO and enter opposite exposure comp to effect flash exposure comp in P, Av, or Tv modes.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), September 13, 2000.

Yes, we went round and round. I stated at the following URL that I have slides that show exposure compensation doesn't affect flash (although in re-reading it, I wasn't too clear):

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=003gcZ

They're sitting in my drawer, but so far my computer still won't see the scanner, waiting for another response from Agfa. One with exposure comp set to -2 on the body, one with no exposure comp, they look the same. A third with -2 set on the flash, and it's much, much darker.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), September 13, 2000.