Originally posted by swanlefitte Some interesting stuff pointed out in this thread but I find it funny that a flash minimum is too much when any light modifier kills soo much light. Against ambient one almost has to use a gel anyway for balance. Is there something i am not thinking about which makes sucking a strobes light a hard thing to do?
I used to frequently run into the my flashes minimum power, it's really dependent on equipment and usage. I used:
Older sunpack flashes, guide number ~36m/iso100, but only go down to 1/16 power.
Small softbox up really close to a macro subject.
k100d with iso200 minimum.
Even at f/16, if my light was close enough it was too much. I'd keep ND gels for the flash on standby which handily solves the problem, in a pinch the light source could be moved back but that's not ideal as it changes the quality of the light I had in mind.
I've mostly switched to fancier nikon flashes (I love the sb80dx models) which drop to 1/128th power and a k5 series which drops to iso 80, so I don't often hit problems like the above where minimum flash power is too high.
You may also run into similar problems if a higher iso & wider aperture are necessary to soak up fading ambient light (eg sunset) if you're limited on how low your shutter can go (hand holding or subject movement). This I still hit occasionally when trying to light up an object in foreground with a flash during an asto or other night time photo. Sometimes a hand held flashlight works better than a flash in this sort of setup.