How to use Better Beamer effectively?
Hi folks,
I am planning to start using fill flash because canopy birds stay in areas with dismally bad light or extreme back lighting. If you have shots using the flash/better beamer setup please post them here.
Also any insights on how to use flash would be most welcome.
Take note that I will be using flash during the day and not at night.
I usually set the Flash Exposure Compensation to about -1 2/3 and adjust from there. That lets the flash fill in shadows and not over ride the daylight.
The -1 2/3 stop reduction is a starting point and not set in concrete.
Good luck.
jn
Very Carefully:)!
They are also called better burners;).
What camera system are you using?
As Capt. James has pointed out--very carefully are the key words. You can't point the thing at the sun for very long or your flash will have melted holes in it. Mine has what I call "zits" as I have been careless but have recognized the smell of melting plastic before it gets out of hand...
Also set it on high speed sych and set the zoom at 50mm.
Don't use it with anything less than a 300mm lens.:D
Steve
Post Production: It’s ALL about what you do with the tools and not, which brand of tool you use.
Poa,
Sounds like you need to use the flash as balanced or even as main light and not as fill ;)
Best,
Chas
Last edited by Charles Glatzer; 04-08-2010 at 12:45 PM.
Canon 580EX II'sOriginally Posted by James Shadle
You may want to get the flash off your camera body as well. You can put burn marks on your lens as well. Depending on your set-up, think about a head flash bracket to lift the beamer well above your lens.
All good comments above, agree on setting zoom to 50MM when using BB. Beamer adds 2.5 stops, I usually do not use it within 20 feet of subject. When using ETTL, I start off around -2 and set the distance bar when using manual flash.
What burn marks do you speak off?
The Better Beamer is a magnifyer and it will burn your camera or lense or flash if you face it toward the sun too long.
These B/B burn-marks on my flash did not hurt as much as the burn-marks from the B/B on my fingers!
But if you use in TLL ypu, normally have only one shoot ; if you would like more , I think could better use in Manual and -1/2 of the power of the flash
Is it right ?
Something to add here, I have found that with my nikon SB800, the flash head is not pointing exactly parallel with my 400mm lens. This is called parallax (I think?) and it is out of line, causing the bottom of an exposed frame to be brighter than the top by quite a bit. This is really noticable when shooting in really low light or at night. So, I have had to place a small piece of material, paper folded up or a small stick or whatever (about 1/8th inch thick or so) between the body of the flash and the swivel head, in the joint. This lifts the swivel head up and aligns it so that the coverage is more even from top of the frame to the bottom.
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