Question about fill flash - totally lost!

[ltilley]

So, I thought fill flash was just a technique used to fill in shadows in harsh sunlight. Am I wrong. Do some camera's actually have a fill flash setting?

I wanted to get more familiar with my Speedlight 550 EX, and I was reading the manual... it said "When fill flash is used, the flash exposure level is reduced automatically so that the subjects's illumination by the flash balances well with the background's ambient light...."

This makes me think I'm missing a setting somewhere. If the flash exposure level is automatically reduced when using fill flash, it makes me think either the camera or the flash knows I'm using fill flash. Which makes me think there's a setting somewhere.

I read both the Speedlight and my camera's manual front to back last night trying to find it with no luck.

I have the Digital Rebel.... but can't find anyway to actually set fill flash.

I'm very confused and ANY help is greatly appreciated!!!

Lisa

[jorgemonkey]

I'm not to familiar with the Canon stuff since I've got all Nikon equipment, but On my speedlights there is different settings for fill-flash & normal flash.

When I'm outdoors using fill flash I set my flash to what Nikon calls i-TTL BL, which is their fancy way of saying its using the through-the-lens fill flash. When I use the flash as the main light, I switch it over to i-TTL, where the camera uses the flash as the main source of light.

Whenever I use the fill flash I just check the histogram to check the highlights of the person and stuff.

There is a few more Canon shooters that I know will chime in here lettin you know how to do it with Canon's gear :thumbsup:

[another view]

I'm not a Canon shooter so I can't help on settings, but you are right about the idea of fill flash - it's used to fill in the shadows. Usually setting the flash (not camera) to underexpose one stop is about the right balance between ambient outdoor sunlight and fill flash. With no compensation the flash will look overexposed, but maybe -0.7 to -1.7 would be what you'd use depending on the look you want.

Just a guess, but maybe the camera sees the high exposure value of outdoor sunlight and when it senses that the flash is on it reduces the output of it by one stop. Neat trick, but I don't know if this is the case...

[ltilley]

Thanks all - yes, another_view - I just got off the phone with Canon. It's not a setting - but what you said. The flash senses the exposure and from there can determine the ambient light and matched the exposure automatically by reducing the output by one-stop.

Not sure if I should trust it or not... but I'll give it a try.

Still getting to know my Speedlight. Flash scares me.

Thanks both of you for your insight!
Lisa

[another view]

It's not a setting - but what you said. The flash senses the exposure and from there can determine the ambient light and matched the exposure automatically by reducing the output by one-stop.

You've got to be kidding, I've never been that lucky before! Off to buy a lottery ticket...

[Peter_AUS]

P mode on the camera setting

[Stephen Lutz]

The Canon "auto fill flash" feature is a function of the camera body, not the flash itself. The camera senses the overall light level of the scene and if it is bright (like outdoors in sunshine) the camera reduces the flash power to so it will "fill" in the shadows.

This feature can be disabled via a custom function in the camera. I usually disable the auto fill flash function, since I never know how much the flash power is being reduced. When I shoot with flash outdoors, I just drop the flash power about 1 stop to start and adjust as needed.