Using Auto Flash

Using Auto Flash for General Situations

Using Auto Flash

Q.

I have an Olympus E500 digital SLR camera with an FL50 dedicated flash unit. I am trying to understand flash photography, but would like to work in auto mode for both.

Are there settings for both camera and flash that I could apply that would give me a general usage situation? For example, TTL Auto for the flash, and Auto for the camera? Or what? I accept that when I have the time, I can play around with other settings, but sometimes I need to point and shoot on the quick!

A.

Set the flash and camera to full auto and the two compatible units will work it all out for you.

When I just don’t have the time to fuss about I set the camera to "P" or program mode and the flash is usually on E-TTL anyway. The results are usually spot on.

Once you get the time and confidence, keep the flash on auto. However, play with bouncing it to diffuse the light if possible and also try some manual settings to adjust output and results.

If you try bouncing the flash, you will have to increase the power output using the FEC (flash exposure compensation) on your camera or flash. The reason is that the flash when bounced has double the distance to travel so try doubling the power output!

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