Canon Speedlight with 24-105 and R8

[Roxanne Baggott]

I ordered a Canon EL-10 speed light to use with my R8 and 24-105 f/4 when in low light. Are there any settings that I need to change in the camera before using it? Would anyone have a good tutorial on using that with the R8 series?

 

[jcass]

I reckon that your planning to use the flash on camera. So much depends on what you're taking low-light pictures of... portraits, landscapes, action, indoors, outdoors, etc. This makes your question difficult for me to answer in regard to settings because it is very situational. If you have some situation more specific in mind, then you may get more helpful responses.

An on-camera flash is a great way to start. But, pointing your flash at your subject most often doesn't yield the best results. It creates a two-dimensional, flat result. In low light indoors, I "bounce" my flash off a (hopefully) nearby wall or ceiling. For flash outdoors, I mostly use it as a fill light. If you're new to flash, I would recommend the old "strobist" forum as a good reference. The settings change so much with the situation and experimentation and experience are key. If you're already an experienced photographer, then I apologize and admit that I know nothing about the R8 settings.

 

[jcass]

Also, I don't know for the R8 if the flash will work in Electronic Shutter mode. You made need 1st curtain or mechanical shutter.

 

[Roxanne Baggott]

I reckon that your planning to use the flash on camera. So much depends on what you're taking low-light pictures of... portraits, landscapes, action, indoors, outdoors, etc. This makes your question difficult for me to answer in regard to settings because it is very situational. If you have some situation more specific in mind, then you may get more helpful responses.

An on-camera flash is a great way to start. But, pointing your flash at your subject most often doesn't yield the best results. It creates a two-dimensional, flat result. In low light indoors, I "bounce" my flash off a (hopefully) nearby wall or ceiling. For flash outdoors, I mostly use it as a fill light. If you're new to flash, I would recommend the old "strobist" forum as a good reference. The settings change so much with the situation and experimentation and experience are key. If you're already an experienced photographer, then I apologize and admit that I know nothing about the R8 settings.

 

[Roxanne Baggott]

Thank you! I would just be using it indoors and would use it as a bounce flash. The lens perform pretty well outdoors.

 

[Roxanne Baggott]

Also, I don't know for the R8 if the flash will work in Electronic Shutter mode. You made need 1st curtain or mechanical shutter.

Thanks again, I will read up on that. Do you know if I need to have exposure simulation turned off?

 

[jcass]

I turn exposure simulation off when using a flash and rely on test shots instead. I also use full manual when I'm using a flash. As far as I understand, flash is not accounted for with exposure simulation turned. Basically, I rely on test shots to adjust my settings. More experience shooters may have a better workflow.

 

[Roxanne Baggott]

I reckon that your planning to use the flash on camera. So much depends on what you're taking low-light pictures of... portraits, landscapes, action, indoors, outdoors, etc. This makes your question difficult for me to answer in regard to settings because it is very situational. If you have some situation more specific in mind, then you may get more helpful responses.

An on-camera flash is a great way to start. But, pointing your flash at your subject most often doesn't yield the best results. It creates a two-dimensional, flat result. In low light indoors, I "bounce" my flash off a (hopefully) nearby wall or ceiling. For flash outdoors, I mostly use it as a fill light. If you're new to flash, I would recommend the old "strobist" forum as a good reference. The settings change so much with the situation and experimentation and experience are key. If you're already an experienced photographer, then I apologize and admit that I know nothing about the R8 settings.

Thank you. I'm not a professional photographer. I shoot mostly indoors in low light hospital rooms. I am a volunteer bereavement photographer for a non-profit organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. I do photos for families who have lost babies. I have a 24-70 f/4 but it often doesn't handle the low light in the hospital rooms. I do use it on camera and bounce the flash.

 

[jcass]

Thank you for your service. I cannot image how difficult that is. I'm an amateur photographer too. Hopefully, someone with more experience can weigh in to help you.

I don't know the impact of exposure simulation to that degree. In a small room, I would try to bounce from the wall behind me (point the flash behind you, over one your shoulders. This gives a big, soft light. If you know the general layout of the rooms, maybe you can take some test shots in an unoccupied room to get a sense of the camera and flash settings. I can't say how exposure simulation (on vs off) will work for you between daylight and night (room lights on vs off).

I normally do a test shot with manual settings and no flash. Then, I take multiple test shots with flash. That doesn't seem appropriate for you. So sorry.

 

[AntonLargiader]

You're going to be testing first, so just try stuff in a dim room with regular people (or a doll) and see what happens. Be methodical.

I would first start with bounced E-TTL flash in M. When you set up, you're going to see a certain amount of underexposure on your meter. See how it looks when the flash has to make up a half stop, and how it looks when the flash has to make up a full stop, stop and a half, etc. They will all look different. Know these differences; this is a very important tool for you. If you think the flash is doing too much or too little, use FEC to adjust it. You want to have a setup that gives predictable results in any room you walk into with no test shots.

Learn to look at the scene and know where to bounce so that the subject is lit the way you want it to be lit. You don't want to bounce so that there's a shadow or dim area where you're shooting. Remember the area you're bouncing off becomes a light source that illuminates your subject.

You will probably learn to get creative finding ways to diffuse the flash. If you're already shooting for NILMDTS then you probably know the effect you're looking for.

Tech-wise, I don't think there's anything you need to change in the camera. You can use the camera to control the flash settings but that's about all you need to do. E-TTL is by design pretty simple if the scene is right. Exposure simulation or not, I don't think it really matters. The camera will do its thing no matter what and it's not going to simulate your bounced flash in the VF when it doesn't know what the added light will look like.