rorsborn

My goal in 2024 is to use manual settings in all photography that I do using a Canon R10 and Fujifilm X100V. Is this practical for flash photos? I appreciate any and all comments.

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100%. Go for it. The surest way to learn is to just stumble along til you get it. If you ask for advice and turorial from the clown car bozos you might NEVER catch on. IOW STOP reading or following this thread. Go learn in the real world.

You learn by mistakes but you actually learn what makes photography tick. Youll separate yourself from the hoards of yoyos who keep trying to learn how to set their automation to do stuff that they themselves cannot readily do manually.

Its verrrrrrrry challenging to program a robot to do stuff that you cant do for yourself.

(Acoarst you need to know how to do ambient light before you attempt to do flash.)

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

Is it practical to use 'manual' exposure for flash photography? 20 years ago there was only manual exposure for all photography. Automated exposure if ok O guess, I really can not tell you. I only use manual exposure and manual focus in my photography, have done that from my first work with a camera. I do understand the option to use auto exposure and auto focus, it has it's application that is certain. I never use it because I never do images that require these things.

So my advice is to master all manual image making and if you need automation for certain types of work then learn those applications and use them. Other wise these 'auto' controls begin to become like a crutch and that is never a good idea.

Here is a challenge for you with manual flash. Do manual flash outdoors with the sun. There flash is often used to assist with the natural light, not nasally be the sole purpose of illumination. This is a useful tool to create quality and 'natural' looking images. And that is why it is a challenge.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

It depends on what flash model(s) you're using. Personally, I prefer both manual exposure settings and manually controlling the flash output. I do this by first considering what exposure settings I want to use on the camera. Then, I put the flash into manual and add just enough flash output to achieve the camera exposure setting. Advanced flash models typically can be adjusted from 1:1 (100% output) down to as far as 1:128 output, typically in 1/3-stop increments. My typically usage ranges from 1:2 down to around 1:8 output. With practice, it comes naturally.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Exactly!

BebuLamar

20 years ago that was the 21st century and everything was available in automatic by then.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

I think that sounds like a reasonable plan…if auto doesn’t give you the results you want. An analogy is to use cruise control on your car except when conditions warrant doing otherwise, such as in town traffic.

There are times when auto control of a number of applications is actually preferable, such as the space shuttle. No way one or more pilots could have made all the adjustments necessary to get if off the ground and back down.

Now if a person is a control freak, they would probably never use cruise control, let anyone else drive or use the maps application on their smartphone. Some people think they must be in total control of their life and surroundings even though that’s never possible. I say use whatever method necessary to get the result you want be it auto or manual.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Yes, but it may not be feasible all the time. I learned many years ago to manually calculate flash exposure. You simply divide the guide number for the hardware and ISO you are using by the distance to the subject. For Kodachrome II film and the M25B flash lamps and reflector I always used, it was easy...divide 50 by the distance in feet to the subject. Later I had an electronic flash which created a brighter light, but the process was still the same. 50 was just replaced by a larger number. When I moved to Ektachrome film, which was faster, the guide number increased again.

There is certainly nothing wrong with doing all this. It works great and supports doing all sorts of fancy things with your added light.

The question is...why do you want to do all that when your camera and flash unit can do exactly the same thing, only faster, then actually test every shot and make sure they were correct every time you press the shutter release. More to the point, if you are photographing people, do you really want to make them wait while you go through the gyrations and calculations? All that waiting can become a bigger deal if the people are relatives, and I've witnessed it triggering what in the food industry is called a "critical situation" if they're immediate family members.

A complication that most folks also don't think about is that most autofocus-capable lenses nowadays have distance scales that are incapable of communicating useful subject distance information to you. That means that your whole carefully crafted process is based on a foundation of estimation or (more likely) guesswork.

I still remember how it all works. I still know the Guide Numbers (in feet) of both models of flash that I use. But I'd rather get poked in the eye with a sharp stick than give up my automatic flash operation.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Sounds like a great lesson. It is not as hard as some make is sound. Flash is over half manual anyway. For simple flash shots you set the ISO manually, and set the shutter manually to the highest sync shutter speed for your camera. Look your sync up. Say 1/160 s, 1/180 s, 1/200 s. Old film cameras were 1/60 s or 1/125 s typically. Your main chore is to determine the correct ƒ-stop to use. If you "cheat" a little and use a dedicated or thyristor strobe on automatic it is easy. But for full control and to stay with your goal of all "Manual". I'll leave it to you to find out how to find the correct manual ƒ-stop. Hint: Try ƒ/11 first. Why?

I started with photography in the pre-automatic film era so I use Manual settings and Automatic depending on project or mood. I already know how to do all this so it is not a learning constraint for me. But I am no master of flash as I prefer available light.

I'm not familiar with the Canon R10, but I know you could do it with a Canon EOS 5Dx. I have a Fujifilm X100T, the menus make me crazy. Good luck with that. Please keep us informed, updated, and share your results. So start researching and trying things and don't bother with specific advice from the UHH. Good luck.

Canisdirus

Easiest thing in the world...have fun.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

Manual flash is no harder than adjusting the volume on your radio. Your view screen is equivalent to your ears. Turn up the flash power to lighten, turn down to darken. Unless you are tying to determine precise mathematical light ratios for multiple units it’s as simple as that.

BebuLamar

Yes it's easy if you can take test shot. In many situations you have no chance of taking a test shot.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

Well I suppose that’s true but it’s also true that any shot taken in manual mode (flash or non flash) requires forethought and understanding of settings, etc. I use TTL about 25% of the time. I like the control of manual since I’m rarely in a situation where I can’t pre-flash first. Back in the film days however, I used auto most of the time since it took a week or so to get my results back. It was risky to not see the image right away. Instant feedback of digital has allowed us all to be better photographers faster.

twowindsbear

What's'B&W flash?'

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

My basic settings for on-camera indoor flash are: Manual mode, F4.5, 1/200 sec, ISO 400, and a TTL Speedlight. The flash controls the exposure on the subject and the shutter speed controls the effect of ambient light. Outdoors you can use high speed sync and a very high shutter speed to darken any background lit by bright ambient light.