12-60mm on E510

[ohmymy]

Just gotten a 2nd hand 12-60mm recently for my E510. Generally happy with its performance.
Only problem is that the lens tends to cast a shadow mostly at short focal length when I used the internal flash.

A photo of my nephew with the lens shadow seen at the bottom:


Is getting an external flash the only solution for this problem?

Thought of using this lens for travel but if I need to buy and bring along an external flash it will add on to the weight and space requirement.

Will this problem occur on any lens that is much longer in dimension like a 70-300mm cos this is another lens I am interested in?

Thanks for any advise.

[dorts]

That's the disadvantage of using built-in flash. The FL-36 isn't very heavy.

If I remember correctly, you shouldn't use direct flash at babies/toddlers.

[onedollar]

Originally Posted by dorts That's the disadvantage of using built-in flash. The FL-36 isn't very heavy. If I remember correctly, you shouldn't use direct flash at babies/toddlers.

Yes, try to use an umbrella when shooting babies/toddlers.

eg.

[OlyFlyer]

Another way to improve is not to use the lens at the wide end. There is a whole lot of distortion caused by wide angle, and that is worse than direct flash IMO. By using the lens at the long end you may even be able to use the pop-up flash, especially without the hood.

[ohmymy]

Oops..........No one has mentioned that to me so far. Difficult not to use flash cos they dun stay still and the lighting indoor is not great.

How does the umbrella thing works? You mean put an umbrella above the baby?

[ohmymy]

Originally Posted by OlyFlyer Another way to improve is not to use the lens at the wide end. There is a whole lot of distortion caused by wide angle, and that is worse than direct flash IMO. By using the lens at the long end you may even be able to use the pop-up flash, especially without the hood.

Yup. After getting the shadow, I had to move further away from him and zoomed in. No shadow seem in this case.

[onedollar]

Originally Posted by ohmymy Yup. After getting the shadow, I had to move further away from him and zoomed in. No shadow seem in this case.

direct flash will not be good to their eyes.

[theITguy]

You cannot take the whole pie and eat it all yourself, you need to give and take.

By the way, the picture you shown can be taken with a compact, better still without the shadow cast. Environmental lighting is essential to show the audience what is the place.

[ohmymy]

Originally Posted by lkequan direct flash will not be good to their eyes.

Wow. Looks sophisticated. You actually have this kind of setup. Thks for showing the pic.

[nerfwings]

To answer your questions.

No, getting esternal flash is not the only soultion. Like what OlyFlyer said, use the tele end and it should be fine.

the 12-60mm is an excellent travel lens! I'm still lusting for one to replace my 14-54mm (which will have the same problem with the built-in flash) For most of my travel, i don't bring my external flash. And i'll never use the built-in flash. I'll just make do with the light i have avaliable.

70-300 and built in flash? i wouldn't dare confirm unless i try. Because 70mm is mild tele already so you might get away without having the shadow in the frame.

[onedollar]

Another way is to get a lens with large aperture. For eg, Olympus 50mm f2, Sigma 30mm f1.4 or Leica 25mm f1.4

Pushing up ur ISO to 400 with f2 should gives u enough lighting. Among the 3 lens, Sigma 30mm is the cheapest solution whereby Leica 25mm is the most expensive one. Since baby/toddles are small in size, 50mm should not be much a problem. And it is also good to have a lens with macro.

[onedollar]

Originally Posted by ohmymy Wow. Looks sophisticated. You actually have this kind of setup. Thks for showing the pic.

nerfwings knows the answer.. LOL

[ohmymy]

Originally Posted by theITguy You cannot take the whole pie and eat it all yourself, you need to give and take. By the way, the picture you shown can be taken with a compact, better still without the shadow cast. Environmental lighting is essential to show the audience what is the place.

Sorry. Don't quite understand what you meant in your first statement.

I am new to DSLR and photography. Have tried taking indoor shots without flash. Adjusted the shutter speed to allow more light but then the image usually turns out blur once the subject moved.

[ohmymy]

Originally Posted by lkequan Another way is to get a lens with large aperture. For eg, Olympus 50mm f2, Sigma 30mm f1.4 or Leica 25mm f1.4 Pushing up ur ISO to 400 with f2 should gives u enough lighting. Among the 3 lens, Sigma 30mm is the cheapest solution whereby Leica 25mm is the most expensive one. Since baby/toddles are small in size, 50mm should not be much a problem. And it is also good to have a lens with macro.

Bit reluctant to push the ISO cos of the noise. I did have a 50mm. Guess too obessed with this 12-60 and forgotten about it.

[dorts]

Originally Posted by ohmymy Bit reluctant to push the ISO cos of the noise. I did have a 50mm. Guess too obessed with this 12-60 and forgotten about it.

Noise shouldn't be a real issue IMO. I usually push my ISO to 800, and I don't really mind the noise. At most use noise removal software, at the expense of a little detail.

[theITguy]

Originally Posted by ohmymy Sorry. Don't quite understand what you meant in your first statement. I am new to DSLR and photography. Have tried taking indoor shots without flash. Adjusted the shutter speed to allow more light but then the image usually turns out blur once the subject moved.

That is to say, you have to compromise here and there.

1. Increase ISO to 800/1000/1250/1600
2. Zoom in a bit to Anticipate the shadow possibly created
3. Use an External Flash
4. Use a compact camera instead to better do the job, like the Fujifilm F100d with IS and high ISO performance.


I dunno why everyone is talking about noise, noise and noise. Do they prefer to miss the opportunity to capture that moment or to capture that less than perfect moment but some noise, which cannot really be seen on a 4R print (as if most people print nowadays).

The most memorable pictures are captured when that moment is there, and most of the time you do not have that privilege of perfecting the setup of the equipment. You can wait till the technology improves so much until ISO 3200 virtually do not have noise, but then your cute nephew may not be cute anymore. Worth the misses? You decide.

[viewwing]

Originally Posted by ohmymy Bit reluctant to push the ISO cos of the noise. I did have a 50mm. Guess too obessed with this 12-60 and forgotten about it.

Noise? Maybe asking this question willl help. Decide between a blur picture and a noisy one which u can make out the details...

I opted for the latter. heck i even use 1600iso on my E-510 when i desperate and cannot use flash. its still better than getting a blur and unusable picture which mean 0 pic...

For the E-510 ISO 400 is very usable. even for cropping. 800 is a little noisy a little. But still usable if you aren't printing A3 sizes... The noise is not that clear once u print it out. And it definetly will not show when ur're view on an 42 inch LCD tv. in fact... it looks kinda "real".

Thats also one of the main points of DSLR. U bump up the iso... consumer P&S and most prosumer can't bump it up too much cause it gets REALLY noisy and messy even at the lower iso of 200... but 5MP can print up to A4. So what about our DSLR?

Mine's usually at ISO400 unless i'm shooting landscape where its really bright...

For babies... i guess u don't have much choice... try to keep your shutter 1/30 that should be able to freeze slow movements... 1/60 would be more idea... u can also try putting a tissue in front of the flash... not very good but is diffuses the flash.

The point on why no direct flash should be used is the baby's retina is still developing... it may be damage by the strong light... so better be safe than sorry

[viewwing]

Originally Posted by theITguy That is to say, you have to compromise here and there. 1. Increase ISO to 800/1000/1250/1600 .

Bro... how to set iso to 1000... don't seem to have it on my menu...

[nerfwings]

Originally Posted by lkequan nerfwings knows the answer.. LOL

Haha. the setup is like...the best way to describe is studio-like.
Quite amazing how much passion for the hobby lkequan has. (yes hobby not business)

[OlyFlyer]

Originally Posted by lkequan direct flash will not be good to their eyes.

It won't do any harm as long as you are not at nose distance, like the wide angle demands to fill the frame. Of course, it can be irritating to anyone, but unless you are machine gunning, which is not possible with the pop-up anyway, and have a few meters distance direct flash won't harm a baby or anyone.

99% of the baby images are taken with direct flashes out of P&S. I never heard of mass blindness among babies anywhere on this Earth.