Originally posted by RGlasel Just so I'm clear, camera in manual mode, flash in p-TTL mode? I'm a poor judge of distance and slow at doing calculations in my head, if the flash and/or camera can calculate how long to fire the flash to properly exposure the subject, that is a huge advantage for me when I'm taking candid pictures. Manually setting aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get the natural light exposure I want, I think I can handle. And now I can see that unplanned reflections will mess up the camera's metering, which is not ideal, but is a factor I can learn to deal with.
Thanks again for taking the time to post thoughtful replies.
Yep, that's right. Camera in manual mode, flash in p-TTL mode.
Therefore, even if there are sudden unwanted reflections appearing when you recompose after chimping, the ambient exposure would still be almost the same (almost, because i don't know how bad the reflection is).
That is at least better than shooting in Av mode and on center-weighted or spot metering where the error margin for the camera metering system is greater.
Have a go.. Just keep in mind: When using flash, take into account ambient exposure and flash exposure.