p.1 #1 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
I am having trouble understanding how to expose flash correctly using ETTL II on my Canon 7d. I have always been kinda flash phobic, but wanted to learn. I have since read the book On-Camera Flash and thought I could handle it. Now I am even more confused. I can expose properly when in manual exposure mode, but not in ETTL II. Please see the photos below. First photo is taken with flash on manual at 1/4 power. Second is with flash on ETTL II without any FEC. All other settings are identical, shutter speed is below flash synch speed.
What is wrong, why isn't ETTL exposing the image properly, but I can expose properly with 1/4 manual flash power?
p.1 #3 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
ETTL is simple if everything is working correctly:
1) Enable the camera clipping warning in the playback
2) Adjust FEC until you see clipping in the non-specular highlights
3) Reduce FEC by one click (1/3 stop)
Your camera does not appear to be working correctly. More often than not that's a case of operator error. Double check all your settings and and custom functions. For example make sure its not in wireless Master mode or main flash is not disabled.
Are you using the built-in flash or external flash in the hot shoe?
p.1 #4 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
What mode is your flash in? Not familiar with Canon flashes, but Nikon has as Balance TTL mode that can cause issues with underexposure in situations like this.
How about the camera -- are you shooting manual or aperture priority or what?
p.1 #7 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
Keith Sheridan wrote:
...I can expose properly when in manual exposure mode, but not in ETTL II.
Can you clarify this? Manual versus automatic exposure, and manual versus automatic flash are two seperate things. You can set your flash to either manual power or ETTL II whether your camera is in M, Av, Tv, or P, however the behavior will be somewhat different in the different exposure modes.
p.1 #8 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
BrianO wrote:
Can you clarify this? Manual versus automatic exposure, and manual versus automatic flash are two seperate things. You can set your flash to either manual power or ETTL II whether your camera is in M, Av, Tv, or P, however the behavior will be somewhat different in the different exposure modes.
And is there a sizable mirror in the room that reflected the flash in the room where you shot these? If so, there is a good chance that the reflection from the mirror is the issue.
p.1 #11 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
On my 1dmk3 you can set on the camera body for the flash to work evaluative or average make sure it's set to average. Evaluative flash will under expose. Look under the flash settings menu.
p.1 #12 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
Fresh batteries, happens everytime ETTL is barely any flash and Manual works as it should.
I will try the camera in P mode and see what it does. Thanks for the suggestions.
p.1 #13 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
One possibility, other than malfunction: your background is very light, and so is your subject. The ETTL II metering may be trying to set the flash output to render what it thinks is a medium-toned subject to a medium tone.
I'd try two test shots; one with the current subject and background with a +2 FEC, and the other with a neutral gray subject filling the frame and no FEC.
p.1 #16 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
Giving the problem and symptoms additional thought it occurs to me that in M mode the only contact/pin involved in signaling the flash is the larger center one. The failure to operate in ETTL may be due to faulty contact on one or more of the four other pins used for signaling in that mode.
Check for dirty contacts, stuck pins or a loose hot shoe on the camera.
p.1 #17 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
When you set the flash in 1/4 power, the camera didn't get involved to decide the exposure. The exposure appear to be right because the 1/4 power just happen to provide right exposure to the scene.
Try reseat the flash as someone suggested. Clean the contacts before remount the flash.
Alter the FEC to detemine if it has any impact to the result in ETTL model. If it does, the ETTL is working but just need compensation.
p.1 #19 · ETTL II - What am I doing wrong - 7d and 430ex II
Okay, so I still don't know what I was doing wrong however I know how to fix the problem. In controlling the external flash from the camera, you can chose to "clear all flash settings". Doing this fixed the issue, so I am sure I had something set the wrong way, but not sure what it was. Thanks for everyone who weighed in on this.
