I have just bought a Canon EOS 300, and am currently using the dedicated flash, but I haven't been able to find out how to control its output for fill-in flash... Is there some way to reduce that very artificial effect I achieve on my photos?

Thank you, Silvia

-- Aronni Silvia (aronni@yahoo.it), January 12, 2001

Answers

Fill flash normally refers to using flash to fill in shadows when the light is already bright enough to take the picture. Your camera reduces flash power automatically in those situations. Unfortunately, there is no manual control for that on your camera. The higher level Canons have Flash Exposure Compensation built in though. About the only thing you can do with yours is buy an external flash that has built in exposure compensation. As far as I know, the only Canon flash that will take advantage of E-TTL with your camera, and offers flash exposure compensation it the 550EX. It is big, heavy, and costs more than your camera body, so even though it is a very good flash, probably isn't an option. There are quite a few dedicated TTL third party flashes out there, and some of them offer flash exposure compensation. They cost less, but you will not have the new E-TTL system available with them. Of course, your built in flash is plain TTL anyway. The third option would be to try one of the smaller Canon EX series flashes like the 220EX, 380EX, or 420EX. They all support E-TTL, so may give better results with fill flash, and will certainly give better results in general.

Keep in mind that the head on the 220EX does not zoom, tilt, or swivel, the head on the 380EX zooms and tilts, but does not swivel. The 420EX is the newest, is slightly more powerful, but smaller than the 380EX, the head zooms, tilts, and swivels, and the autofocus assist light should work with all of the camera's focus points. It is also capable of wireless E-TTL when used with the 550EX.

-- Brad Hutcheson (bhutcheson@iname.com), January 12, 2001.

If you change the iso rating (ex. if the film is iso 400, change it to 500,640 or 800) and then "overexpose" by your meter by a 1/2 or 1 stop as needed, you will bring the ambient reading back to normal for the real iso rating and the flash will "underexpose" by 1/3,2/3, or 1 stop as based on the iso rating. If I'm not clear enough in my answer you can e-mail me and I'll try to give a better explanation. Hope this helps...

-- Paul Nicol (nicol@roadrunner.nf.net), January 12, 2001.

Sigma offers flashes with both E-TTL and flash exposure compensation at a lower price than Canon's 550EX. Don't know how good they are though.

-- Steven Fisher (srf@srf.com), January 13, 2001.

I didn't know Sigma had steped into the E-TTL arena. I thought Metz was the only third party company to do that so far, and they aren't any cheaper than the 550EX. Still, when it comes to complete compatibility, sticking with Canon is best. If you know what you want, and know another brand will deliver it, that is fine of course. There is no reason to spend money on features you won't use.

-- Brad Hutcheson (bhutcheson@iname.com), January 14, 2001.