Speedlight metering with 50D

[onesh0t]

Hi,
I can't figure out something in regards to my speedlite 430ex ii.
Is there any way I can set the camera to measure ambient light and use the 430ex as fill flash with the flash turned on?

So i.e. the light in the room is 1/125, f/3.5 @ ISO 400. If I meter this in Av mode it usually slows down the shutter speed to 1/60, or speeds it up to 1/250, compensating the flash output. Nothing in between. It forces me to switch off the speedlite, meter for ambient light, and switch to manual mode on camera with ETTL on. This isn't time effective.

I want the camera to meter correctly for ambient light and use the speedlite to fill the shadows, or simply flash some extra light on the main subject. Is this possible?

[Tony W]

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resou..._article.shtml. Might help after studying the manuals and experimenting . Or just overide all auto features and use flash manually - usuallly the most contollable and consistent way IMO

[James Penner]

Originally Posted by Tony W

Or just overide all auto features and use flash manually - usuallly the most contollable and consistent way IMO

I'd be inclined to shoot manual as well. And make sure to gel your flashes if you need to match the color temperature of the flash and the ambient.

[onesh0t]

Yeah, I've used it in manual for quite some time, I was looking for a faster way of metering though.

[Rubiks]

In manual mode your viewfinder should still display the ambient on the right hand side or underneath the display. You will see if you are under or over on that. No need to keep switching or turning anything off. Just do as you did before. Set the cam to manual, see how the ambient reads in the display. Use the iso or shutter speed (up to sync) if you want to keep the aperture the same. Set the flash to ettl and away you go. If its too much then use flash compensation.

[GuitarPix]

Remember that with everything manual, aperture controls the flash exposure, and shutter controls the ambient exposure.

However, if you're shooting TTL, I use flash compensation to control the flash - watch the histogram for overall exposure and see whats appearing in your LCD for light balance. The LCD isn't great for exposure, but does give you a good idea of how the light sources are balancing.