Studio shoot with FZ10

[MDZ2]

Hi, has anyone successfully taken studio photos with the FZ10 or any other camera of this series before?
I was just trying out some shot by blocking the built in flash and allowing just enough light to trigger 2 ac slaves. Somehow the pictures came out black. thinking that it might be the camera being smart I set it to manual and adjusted the exposure to f2.8 @ 1/60. Still no joy.
My slaves are rated at 21gn and they were only 2 feet away from the subject. At that setting, I was expecting a super overexposure, no anything near total darkness.
ps. as I clicked on the shutter, a very brightly image of the subject registered on the lcd screen, but when I took a look at the photo, it was black. any ideas??? picures are properly exposed using the built in flash.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[reflecx]

This is probably due to the pre-flash from the built-in flash. You might want to try using some dumb external flash to trigger the studio light

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by MDZ2 Hi, has anyone successfully taken studio photos with the FZ10 or any other camera of this series before? I was just trying out some shot by blocking the built in flash and allowing just enough light to trigger 2 ac slaves. Somehow the pictures came out black. thinking that it might be the camera being smart I set it to manual and adjusted the exposure to f2.8 @ 1/60. Still no joy. My slaves are rated at 21gn and they were only 2 feet away from the subject. At that setting, I was expecting a super overexposure, no anything near total darkness. ps. as I clicked on the shutter, a very brightly image of the subject registered on the lcd screen, but when I took a look at the photo, it was black. any ideas??? picures are properly exposed using the built in flash. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

erm seen people done with fz20 using same method as well. but should be rather similar.
when u fired, u sure the slave flash fired as well? another way is use 2layer of paper to cover the flash head instead. it helps to lower the flash strength

[tchuanye]

What reflecx said is correct. The pre-flash will trigger your slave earlier. Use another flash on the hot shoe to trigger the slave.

[Eric168]

What flash setting did you use? Did you set to AUTO/Red-eye reduction? Set it to this setting. I have try it and it work for me.

[rapier84]

So I was not the only one to use the FZ10 for studio style shoots.

Okay, this is something from personal experience... I used the camera in full manual mode and attached a dumb flash on the hot shoe. For shutter speeds I used either 1/60 or 1/30. When using the slower shutter it is best to mount the camera on a tripod to obtain sharp pictures. However, even with the dumb flash alone you may not get enough light. What I usually do is to use all available lights like flourescent() lamps and use the flash on the camera as fill flash.

Just my 2 cents worth

[MDZ2]

Thanks guys for you help. I think tchuanye and reflecx nailed it on the head. I should have come in to read your replies before experimenting myself. I actually got it working with my SB26 flash and had come to the wrong conclusion that the built in flash duration was not fast enough to trigger the slaves on time (didn't think that they were actually firing earlier). heheheh different conclusion but same results none the less. At least now I can properly explain the phenomenon. Thanks again.

[MDZ2]

Originally Posted by rapier84 So I was not the only one to use the FZ10 for studio style shoots. Okay, this is something from personal experience... I used the camera in full manual mode and attached a dumb flash on the hot shoe. For shutter speeds I used either 1/60 or 1/30. When using the slower shutter it is best to mount the camera on a tripod to obtain sharp pictures. However, even with the dumb flash alone you may not get enough light. What I usually do is to use all available lights like flourescent() lamps and use the flash on the camera as fill flash. Just my 2 cents worth

my setup now consist of my sb26 set at 1/64 power pointed up or backwards to trigger the studio strobes. At 1/64 and pointed away from the subject, there is no effect at all from the flash. All illumination comes from the slave.

[cheowps]

I know this is OT but ...

Just wondering how you "aim" for your studio shoot? Was the studio you were shooting at lit bright enough? I was trying to use my FZ10 to shoot some studio shots during the weekend but I couldn't see anything on my LCD cos the shutterspeed and aperture were set for the studio flashes.

Is there a setting to change to enable the LCD to see in low lighting conditions, i.e. not showing true live preview using the chosen aperture and shutterspeed?

[MDZ2]

Originally Posted by cheowps I know this is OT but ... Just wondering how you "aim" for your studio shoot? Was the studio you were shooting at lit bright enough? I was trying to use my FZ10 to shoot some studio shots during the weekend but I couldn't see anything on my LCD cos the shutterspeed and aperture were set for the studio flashes. Is there a setting to change to enable the LCD to see in low lighting conditions, i.e. not showing true live preview using the chosen aperture and shutterspeed?

Yah I think that's the problem with the FZ10. not very easy to change the settings when a flash is attached. Ironically, when the external flash is attached, only the shutterspeed can be adjusted. Or am I wrong? I am still having a bit of difficulty controlling the exposure because I can't do it with my fixed power strobes and the camera does not allow me to adjust aperture. Just have to keep piling the fabric over the home made softbox I guess.
As for looking through the lcd, I am guessing its to check on focus and the likes. I guess you will have to have some lights you can switch on to do this.

[cheowps]

Strange, because I don't have any problem adjusting both aperture and shutterspeed with a 3rd party flash attached for my FZ10.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by cheowps I know this is OT but ... Just wondering how you "aim" for your studio shoot? Was the studio you were shooting at lit bright enough? I was trying to use my FZ10 to shoot some studio shots during the weekend but I couldn't see anything on my LCD cos the shutterspeed and aperture were set for the studio flashes. Is there a setting to change to enable the LCD to see in low lighting conditions, i.e. not showing true live preview using the chosen aperture and shutterspeed?

this is wat i realise on FZ20 as well... in other camera like FZ7, the LCD preview only changes the exposure when you 1/2 press the shutter. but on FZ20 the LCD preview the exposure throughout

[cheowps]

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ this is wat i realise on FZ20 as well... in other camera like FZ7, the LCD preview only changes the exposure when you 1/2 press the shutter. but on FZ20 the LCD preview the exposure throughout

Looks like FZ10 and FZ20 not suited for low light flash shoots. I'm quite satisfied with my FZ10 otherwise.

[LightStalker]

Originally Posted by Eric168 What flash setting did you use? Did you set to AUTO/Red-eye reduction? Set it to this setting. I have try it and it work for me.

I shot with this guy at PSS the other day, i was using a FZ7 and there wasnt any hotshoe.. So i set my settings to F8, Red-eye, Forced flashed at 1/15. It came out great with the help of the OIS.

[MDZ2]

Originally Posted by cheowps Strange, because I don't have any problem adjusting both aperture and shutterspeed with a 3rd party flash attached for my FZ10.

How did you adjust your aperture with the external flash attached? I found that I was unable to adjust the aperture in either manual or aperture priority mode.

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ this is wat i realise on FZ20 as well... in other camera like FZ7, the LCD preview only changes the exposure when you 1/2 press the shutter. but on FZ20 the LCD preview the exposure throughout.

I found that if you set the camera to aperture priority, you get a much brighter preview even though the camera settings are the same, though I have not made any detailed comparison between the two settings in terms of exposure.

Anyone knows how to override the iso setting to 50 with the flash attached?

[tchuanye]

Originally Posted by MDZ2 How did you adjust your aperture with the external flash attached? I found that I was unable to adjust the aperture in either manual or aperture priority mode. I found that if you set the camera to aperture priority, you get a much brighter preview even though the camera settings are the same, though I have not made any detailed comparison between the two settings in terms of exposure. Anyone knows how to override the iso setting to 50 with the flash attached?

You may want to check your camera setting.

Under Menu>Ext Flash>Manual instead of preset

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by MDZ2 How did you adjust your aperture with the external flash attached? I found that I was unable to adjust the aperture in either manual or aperture priority mode. I found that if you set the camera to aperture priority, you get a much brighter preview even though the camera settings are the same, though I have not made any detailed comparison between the two settings in terms of exposure. Anyone knows how to override the iso setting to 50 with the flash attached?

not very sure of this, i don own a fz20, the one i used was my frend . at first i tot there was a LCD problem because i can't really see anything thru the viewfinder/lcd.
anyway even if changed to av mode to compose, we still have to switch back to manual mode for the final shot which is kind of troublesome for me but if im not wrong, in av mode you retain the same aperture but lost the shutter speed set when in manual mode (the shutter will recalculate when you 1/2 press, but not a very good idea since this value doesn't take into account of the slave flash )

[MDZ2]

Originally Posted by tchuanye You may want to check your camera setting. Under Menu>Ext Flash>Manual instead of preset

tchuanye, thanks. I don't how I could have missed that. I was scrolling back and forth looking for something to adjust. Maybe its time for me to RTFM

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ not very sure of this, i don own a fz20, the one i used was my frend . at first i tot there was a LCD problem because i can't really see anything thru the viewfinder/lcd. anyway even if changed to av mode to compose, we still have to switch back to manual mode for the final shot which is kind of troublesome for me but if im not wrong, in av mode you retain the same aperture but lost the shutter speed set when in manual mode (the shutter will recalculate when you 1/2 press, but not a very good idea since this value doesn't take into account of the slave flash )

Actually the shutter speed does not change in av mode either since shutterspeed does not have any effect on flash photography except to allow more or less ambient light in.
I think both man and av mode will give the same result except the av mode behaves like an SLR in that it keeps the aperture at max open for focusing, while the man mode works more like the SLR with depth of field preview permanently engaged, for you to see in real time the exposure of your picture. Not very useful for low light photography, in my opinion.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by MDZ2 tchuanye, thanks. I don't how I could have missed that. I was scrolling back and forth looking for something to adjust. Maybe its time for me to RTFM Actually the shutter speed does not change in av mode either since shutterspeed does not have any effect on flash photography except to allow more or less ambient light in. I think both man and av mode will give the same result except the av mode behaves like an SLR in that it keeps the aperture at max open for focusing, while the man mode works more like the SLR with depth of field preview permanently engaged, for you to see in real time the exposure of your picture. Not very useful for low light photography, in my opinion.

not sure very about that, but i think panny have realised this problem and solved it in their newer cam like fz5/7. not sure about fz30 tho.
actually the shutter changes/unchange to 1/60(in av mode) depending on the prev setting in manual.