Taking dinner pictures

[RoBeY]

i have an dinner party coming up and would like to know how to take nice pics with flash. i own a fz5. most ppl tell me that the internal flash is not strong enough to take decent pics under low lighting, and also too harsh.

is it possible to take nice pics with internal flash? i am thinking of using a plastic card to diffuse the flash. what aperture should i use and what shutter speed should i be keep to so that pics will not be blur? what about white balance setting? auto? :dunno:

or an external flash is a must to take decent pics? i dont really want to buy a slave flash...

TIA.

 

[sentinel_006]

Normally if the lights are dim, e.g. candlelight settings, then your background will appear dark as the flash can only illuminate the subjects in front. If you use a wide aperture, the pic may not be that sharp. If you use a slow shutter speed, the pic may be blur due to handshake, movement. U can bump up the ISO to compensate at the expense of noise. It's the same with an external flash.

 

[catchlights]

do you know that to diffuse the light will cut down a lot of power?
if you know the built in flash is weak, what's the point diffuse the light?

you want harsh shadow pictures or no pictures?

 

[genegoh]

Well, one reason why I switched from my FZ30 to DSLR was cos of this. Taking shots for events. Even with the FZ30's hotshoe, I felt that it was inadequate.
Your FZ5 has a large zoom range, but try to go near the subject to take the photo instead of using the tele end.
If you get an external flash, same thing. Don't use the tele end of your zoom.
At the end of the day, iso 100 or 200 is not going to work so well for indoor shots, and above that, the photos will turn out noisy.

My 2 cents.

 

[megaweb]

If the ceiling is low and white color, yes u can use a slave flash to bounce the flash off the ceiling. However the down side is the slave flash will fire upon any nearby flash from other camera.
Recommended settings, big aperture, speed 1/60sec, flash on , slave flash with reflector pointing 60 degree forward, ISO - try 100 to 200.


See my A70 + slave flash shots taken at very low lighting

 

[tchern]

i have an dinner party coming up and would like to know how to take nice pics with flash. i own a fz5. most ppl tell me that the internal flash is not strong enough to take decent pics under low lighting, and also too harsh.

is it possible to take nice pics with internal flash? i am thinking of using a plastic card to diffuse the flash. what aperture should i use and what shutter speed should i be keep to so that pics will not be blur? what about white balance setting? auto? :dunno:

or an external flash is a must to take decent pics? i dont really want to buy a slave flash...

TIA.

Yes, you can take extremely good pictures. just like my old FZ10. use sync flash and get every party mates to freeze.... 200% confirmed will get good pictures... :vhappy: