On Camera flash advice

[coronet]

Most of my photographic experience has been outdoor and in a studio using studio flash.

When using on camera flash indoors I have normally stuck to using the program mode. However, I would now like to experiment in getting better depth of field etc, say setting the fstop to 2.8. Is the best way to acheive this by putting the camera on manual and setting the f stop to what I want and the shutter speed to within the camera sync say around 1/200. Should the ettl mode on the flash give me the correct exposure. Putting it on av mode gives far too long a shutter speed.

I have done some experimentation and checking histograms and the picture at various settings it seems I am getting reasonable exposures.

How would you do this and how do the pros do it at things like press conferences ?

Many thanks

[Malcolm_Stewart]

You don't state what make of camera you're using, but I guess it's Canon from your reference to "ettl". When seeking advice about flash it really is worth telling us the make of the camera, as different manufacturers' systems vary.

This website is generally thought to be the best reference for Canon and you'll find most of the answers there.

Canon cameras have two exposure metering systems. That used for normal ambient light measurement, and the separate one for flash. When using flash in manual mode, it's worth using the Flash exposure compensation to get the optimum exposure for your set-up.

Again, I'd recommend you read and practise what N K Guy writes about.

[coronet]

Thanks for that. A very interesting read.

[Discountshop]

My experience with the camera flash is showing a typical problem with cameras using built-in flash units is the low intensity of the flash; the level of light produced will often not suffice for good pictures at distances of over 3 meters (10 ft) or so. Dark, murky pictures with excessive image noise or "grain" will result.
In order to get good flash pictures with simple cameras, it is important not to exceed the recommended distance for flash pictures.