Originally posted by suraswami Hi,
New to me, used Pentax DA * 55mm F1.4 lens came in, as usual want to have fun with the new toy. Asked my son to be my model and was trying to shoot wide open at F1.4. It's mid afternoon with harsh sunlight I wanted to have some light on the shadow areas. If I use the built-in flash the shutter speed doesn't go more than 1/180 and even if I reduce the flash output to the minimum the pictures end up all washed out.
My friend who is a Canon shooter suggested using "Fill Flash", what is the equivalent of this in Pentax world?
How do I shoot in these situations wide open?
I am not a Pro, trying to learn new things.
Camera - K-3.
Thanks.
The reason the shutter speed will not go faster than 1/180 when using flash is that is the "sync speed". If the camera allowed you to use a faster speed, you would have black banding/uneven lighting on your subject because above 1/180s there is no moment in time when the sensor is wholly exposed by the shutter curtains. The flash fires at a very fast pulse, in the 1,000 of a second, and all your sensor needs to be exposed at this instant to receive this light.
Fill flash is the same in Pentax as in Canon. You have been using fill flash. If the flash at lowest compensation is providing too much light you have a few options:
1. Stand further from your subject and use the lowest ISO possible.
2. Use a ND filter. This will mean that your shutter speed will need to be slower to get the same amount of ambient light on your subject, but the fill flash effect will be less due to the ND filter. This will only be possible if you can manually control the flash output.
3. Use HSS if your camera allows it. You can then use a higher shutter speed than sync and the output form your flash will be less.
Can you post a picture showing the problem, and tell us what mode the camera is in.