flash point of view

[polarbeardiggers]

i have a sb600 flash that i have used in my workplace factory using it in the ttl mode,on my digital D50,when i snap off a shot the image that comes out is good for where i was pointed,but all of the surrounding area darkens right up, then shooting the F70 film camera with the sb600 on also set at ttl on the flash and shooting at the same object,the whole scene comes out clear and surrounding area as well,really surprised with the flash output on the film camera,is it because of the 35mm format,vs the digital cropping sensor, or is it the older camera allowing the flash to produce more flash,because its a bigger flash unit for its time,? or is it just the difference between digital photography and film based,?

[Xia_Ke]

That's a good question pbd. It's not due to the difference of digital vs. film. My guess would be more in the different metering between the 2 cameras. The F70 offers ttl while the D50 has Nikon's newer i-TTL, at least if IIRC. Hope you don't mind but, I'm going to move this over to the Nikon forum as I think the good folks there could give you a better idea on the different metering capabilities of the 2 cameras.

Aaron

[Grandpaw]

On my D80 the flash will narrow the beam of the flash as the lens zooms in on the subject. I am wondering if on your d50 the flash is set to zoom and not changing when you use the lens on your D50 at a wider angle. Look at the back of your D50 with the lens you are going to use and also have the SB600 flash on the camera. Turn everything on and see if the number on the back of your flash matches the number of MM lens you are using. I will bet that the range number on the flash is a lot larger. Example 50mm lens (normal view) and the flash is set on 85 which is a narrower telephoto view than your lens is looking at. This will cause the light to be concentrated on the center of your picture giving it the right exposure and leaving the edges darker, Jeff

You lens is looking at a wider picture than the flash is thinking you want lighted up.

[polarbeardiggers]

yes grandpaw you are totally right ,that is that exact effect i'm getting on the d50,so what is the the correct procedure to correct that effect,and second why does the flash work so strong on the F70 film camera,and does not create any shadow effect on my prints,it seems like the film camera metering works so well in conjunction with the flash,and i always have my flash set on TTl mode.

[Grandpaw]

yes grandpaw you are totally right ,that is that exact effect i'm getting on the d50,so what is the the correct procedure to correct that effect,and second why does the flash work so strong on the F70 film camera,and does not create any shadow effect on my prints,it seems like the film camera metering works so well in conjunction with the flash,and i always have my flash set on TTl mode.

I would say that the lens on the F70 probably matches the setting on the flash or much closer to it than the one on the D50. Did you put the flash on the D50 and see if the number on the back of the flash matches or is close? Tell me what lens you are using and what the number is on the screen on your flash. Here is where you look on the flash, where the zoom 85mm is. What is this number on your flash and what is the mm of your lens? The higher the number on your flash the narrower the beam of light that is being projected.

Tell me about your lens and what the number is on your flash, Jeff

Your flash is not stronger on your film camera it is just matched to the lens better, is my guess.

[polarbeardiggers]

well jeff your very helpful,thankyou for that i was going to upload my pictures of both flashes from each camera but they were both right on,the digital d50 was set at 70mm lens,so did the flash setting as well,and when i adjusted the film camera f70d to the same 70mm so did the flash say as well on the back,i just believe that the sb600 is so newer to the film camera it could read better and send more power to the flash thats my view,or its the film being the full 35mm format picks up more light over the smaller cropped sensor in the digital, thanks for commenting.

[Grandpaw]

well jeff your very helpful,thankyou for that i was going to upload my pictures of both flashes from each camera but they were both right on,the digital d50 was set at 70mm lens,so did the flash setting as well,and when i adjusted the film camera f70d to the same 70mm so did the flash say as well on the back,i just believe that the sb600 is so newer to the film camera it could read better and send more power to the flash thats my view,or its the film being the full 35mm format picks up more light over the smaller cropped sensor in the digital, thanks for commenting.

I really don't know the answer about why the difference between the two cameras and flashes.

As far as taking a picture with the D50 and the center being right and the surrounding area dark I can tell you that something is not right. Would you post a picture taken with this setup and all the settings used so we can look at it. Also tell me the distance from you to the subject. I would like to try and figure it out if you want to work on it, Jeff

[Dylan8i]

are the two scenes the same (with both cameras). if the background is far away from the main subject the flash will not light it up and it will remain dark/black. this could be happening with the d50, while the background is close to the subject with the f70, thus getting lit up.

[polarbeardiggers]

actually quite the opposite condition for a close up shot the d50 with flash makes the surrounding area dark while the wider view from the f70 flash the whole scene is lit up,but again both different camera's and different sensors being used,my point was a noticable differance in both camera's using the same flash,is it possible the a newer well developed flash like the sb600 is more powerful than say a older sb26 flash used on a film camera.?

[Dylan8i]

it is quite possible that the 600 is more powerful, but unless your taking the photos with the same lense/distance and same scene, i wouldn't say anything. its going to take alot longer for the light to reflect off the background stuff than the subject in front, so even when your close to the subject the background is alot further, comparatively, and thus would appear dark.

post pics and it should be easy to tell.