Advice on SB 800 flash

[daniellemoore]

I need some advice, if possible..

I'm shooting an outside wedding this weekend if it doesn't rain. I'm not too sure what mode to set my SB 800 flash on. I usually shoot my D 70 in manaul mode, in raw format. I just purchased a 50mm F1.8 lense that I also plan to use. So if anyone have advice for me that would be great.

[Detonate]

Just use TTL, and dial down the Flash compensation to anywhere from -1 to -3 to suit your tastes...

Just make sure that your Shutter speed / Apeture combo would allow for proper exposure with no flash, and the TTL mode of the flash will auto balance fill / ambient.

If needed, bump your ISO up a little bit. Up to ISO 400 you should have no real noise issues and it will allow you to use less flash with each shot. This means more flashes on the battery, and faster recycle times.

[David_3]

Originally Posted by Detonate

....If needed, bump your ISO up a little bit. Up to ISO 400 ....

Yep, that works well in low light, but sometimes it can backfire when you are outside in bright light. You have to keep an eye on your max shutter sync speed. Often, you need your lowest ISO setting when using a flash for fill outdoors. That way you don't have to stop down your aperture all the way for every shot.

Good luck, and share some pictures with us after the wedding!

[ndsimm]

I just recently discovered on my SB800 for outside shooting is to just set it on TTL as was suggested, meter for the background and let the flash fill in. sometimes matrix metering can fool it, but this has worked for me lately. I am by far no expert so if anyone has a better suggestion that works, I'd be interested as well

[Cerbera LM]

Know this apples to grapefruit but was taking snapshoots (not the paid for guy) at an outdoor wedding last month with Canon gear (30D & 580ex). These pictures were taken with a borrowed 70-200 2.8L

The bad news is you'll sweat (It was only 95 that day) the good news is the light will be miles better, then an indoor wedding, and it'll be hard to screw up.



1/500
f2.8
iso 200
200mm
Flash on



1/1000
f2.8
iso 200
200mm
flash on

This is what happens when one doesn't pay attention to the shutter speed. Had the control dial set on Av and 2.8. Flash fired but useless because the shutter speed was too high.

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by Cerbera LM

This is what happens when one doesn't pay attention to the shutter speed. Had the control dial set on Av and 2.8. Flash fired but useless because the shutter speed was too high.

I don't have my D70 any more, but if I remember correctly, if you have the SB800 flash mounted on a D70 and turned on, you max shutter speed automatically is set at 500.

You may want to double check that.

[ndsimm]

Originally Posted by boxofrocks

I don't have my D70 any more, but if I remember correctly, if you have the SB800 flash mounted on a D70 and turned on, you max shutter speed automatically is set at 500.

You may want to double check that.

that is correct, it won't sync over 1/500 even in manual.....

[Bill]

I would practice like crazy between now and Saturday, first of all.

If you have and are comfortable with the kit lens, forget about the 50mm outside. It will be too bright to use with flash in the sun most of the time, I am afraid. The D70/50mm combo is very compact and I like it a lot, ergonomically, but remember, you may be shooting at f/11 or f/16 a lot. If you have a lot of open shade, you may get to f/5.6 or f/8. The depth of field will be much greater than what that 50mm viewfinder shows, so preview it. Practice with it, though.

If you are used to a 50mm on a 35 camera, on your D70 it will have the equivalent angle of view of a 75mm lens.

Practice some more.

A good fill is Flash Exposure Compensation at -1.3 or -1.7. Set it on the camera. NOT Exposure Comp but Flash Exposure Comp. It's in the D70 Manual. Start with those and adjust as you prefer, while practicing.

Lots of batteries at the wedding. 4 sets besides what is in the flash. You should have batteries left over. Why so many? Just in case. You may have a number of full illumination shots, not just fill. Or groups where you have to back off a bit. Who knows?

The zoom markings on the flash are for 35mm cameras. To get more reach from the flash, multiply the lens focal length by one and one-half to get the SB-800 zoom needed. So, if your lens is set at 24mm, multiply that by 1.5 and get 36. Set the flash zoom to 35mm and you will have full coverage and a longer reach than if you had set it to 24mm. If this is too much, forget about it.

Forget about wireless. Not enough time to get it down.

The flash diffuser add-on will do precious little outside.

Bounce flash off the sky will break the flash. You will hit yourself in the head with the flash when you realize that you actually tried it.

Bouncing off white walls will work, however, if you need a side fill, such as when the sun is low. Remember that flash will be the color of the bounce surface. Bounce off a blue wall, the flash color is blue.

If you have to stop down a lot because of brightness, your Depth of Field will be much larger than what you see through the viewfinder. Look for clean backgrounds behind subjects and try using depth of field preview. Easier, IMHO, is to frame for clean backgrounds.

Turn off flash and camera before changing batteries. Afterwards, turn on camera first, followed by flash.

If you do not need flash for a shot, turn off the SB-800. Like in bright open shade without shadow problems. Not all shadows are problems.

Enough.

[daniellemoore]

Thank you so much Bill for given me this information.
I think I will have time to take some practice shots Saturday before the wedding.
I'm a little worried, but I told the young lady that I was just starting off.. (hopefullly she won't flip on me, just in case something goes wrong) I'm hoping nothing will. The actual ceremony will be held under a gazebo so I guess I'll have to actually find out if I will need flash or not.

The wedding is suppose to be outside but we aren't sure if it's going to rain on Saturday. If it does then the wedding will be moved indoors. So with that said do I then use the 50mm?
I'm attending the rehearsal tonight just to see how things will be set up so i'll get some shots in then. I'm hoping that everything runs smoothly.

Thanks once again

[ndsimm]

Bill gave some great info....If nothing else, make sure you have enough CF cards so you can get more exposures and shoot RAW so you can correct where necessary. good luck and let us know how it turns out....