Originally posted by IchabodCrane The flash is not aimed at the ceiling above the subject. Instead, it's aimed at the ceiling well behind the subject. Additionally, the card on the flash head is preventing any of the light from illuminating the ceiling above the subject. I can see how this would be an impossible setup for proper lighting. Hope that helps.
er, what?
Think about the case of a warehouse with 20 foot ceilings. The light pointing straight up is effectively going nowhere.
This also has work flawlessly with the K5 for the past several years.
So, far from impossible.
---------- Post added 03-26-14 at 11:29 AM ----------
Originally posted by Class A Yes, and while the subject should receive some light from the reflector it won't be much and it would be mainly reflected back from the white background, creating a backlit situation.
Amoringello has reported that moving back with the camera solves the issue, which makes sense because then some light from the ceiling will hit the subject from the front. It also makes sense that removing the white background solves the issue as well because then the backlit scenario is avoided.
I also see how the spot metering and the -1.5 flash compensation are not helping. The former means that the camera will attempt to get the white of the background down to 18% gray and the latter means that the flash is firing at lower power than it would be normally.
In any event, with product shots like these, I'd suggest a fully manual approach. Set the camera to an aperture you need for your DOF requirements and a shutter speed that admits as much ambient light as you want (e.g., for fill). Then manually adjust the flash power to a level that gives you a proper exposure. Takes only a few attempts and from then on you'll be fine. If you run out of flash power, see whether you are bouncing the flash effectively (at the moment you are not) and/or increase the ISO.
With a fully manual approach the exposure won't change just because you move the subject creating a specular highlight or uncover some of the background, or whatever may cause the P-TTL approach to believe the exposure needs to be adjusted.
Wow, sometimes I have to ask myself if some people even read the thread or have tried to reproduce the issue and see what results they get for themselves.
Again, go back to the warehouse scenario where there are no walls or ceilings that will contribute to the lighting. Then re-think how those comments would apply to that situation...
I believe I also mentioned at the start about using -1.5 in most situations but I get the same results on the K3 at full power. if you think about it, the reading from the pre-flash is so powerful that the main flash is calculated at such a low power that it cannot be decreased any more. So -1.5 or full give the same or close low output. Thus it never gets to 18% gray.
I would probably agree, a manual approach might be better in these situations, but because of what, where and how I shoot, I am just too darned lazy to go in and out and in and out of manual. I am not in a studio but wandering through rooms with different layouts, ambient lighting and amount of room with which to work. Many shots may require slightly different manual settings.
Regardless when something is working year after year and then suddenly fails with the change of *one* part, it is a good sign that something ain't quite workin' correctly with that *one* part.