I have recently purchased a Canon EOS Elan 7e, with a Sigma 28-200 lens. I have run 3-4 rolls through the camera and have run into one problem. When I am inside and use the built in flash for fill in (I even turned the amount of flash down using the command functions) I get a shadow on the lower 1/2- 1/3 of the picture. Is this because of the length of the lens or is this possibly a camera/lens problem?

Thanks for your help.

-- E. Dale Wilson (edw@maddinhauser.com), December 05, 2001

Answers

Sounds like lens shadow. My wife gets similar results with her Rebel 2000 / Sigma 28-300 combo. It is a result of the low profile of the flash, physical length of the lens, focal length selected, and distance of the subject from the lens. A lens hood would drastically increase the shadow as well. You will get less shadow (if any) at 200mm than you will at 28mm. The best solution for my wife is to use one of my flashes. The 550EX and 420EX (and probably any other shoe- mouonted flash) both do a good job of getting the light past the lens, eliminating the shadow. A smaller (shorter) lens would also work.

-- Derrick Morin (dmorin@oasisol.com), December 05, 2001.

usually when you are inside you are not using the flash as fill-in but more as the main source of light for the exposure. remember that the peoples' feet are farther away from the flash than their heads. a simple test you can do to see if this is the case is shoot at a blank wall (from about 4ft. away) in a fairly dark room at 28mm with the flash as the main source of light and see if you still get the shadow. if it is just the distance that is the problem the photograph will probably be well exposed in the middle and darker near the extremities. good luck!

-- jeff nakayama (moonduck22@hotmail.com), December 05, 2001.

Thank you both very much for your answers. I am testing right now and will probably end up purchasing a flash. Most likely either the 420EX or 520 EX. Thanks again.

-- E. Dale Wilson (edw@maddinhauser.com), December 06, 2001.