Complete Guide to the Nikon D200- P17 potx

V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 481 only aperture and ISO overlap between the two exposures. When set to the defaults, the D200 does its best guess at making everything work “magically.” As you’ll learn in a bit, the default settings for the camera are to “balance” flash and ambient lighting (what Nikon calls TTL BL). That’s not always what you want it to do, and there are things that can keep the camera from succeeding at that. Flash Basics A flash produces a burst of light by pushing an electronic pulse across Xenon gas, which causes it to react F 118 . It does this in response to a signal from the camera that it’s time to produce flash. For flashes with variable power ability, such as those found in the Speedlight models and the internal flash, the amount of light actually produced is determined by when the electrical signal to the Xenon is shut off: • When a flash fires at full power, it essentially gives everything it has: the Xenon gas responds as much as it can and eventually decays to nothing. That takes about 1/1050 of a second on an SB-800. • When a flash fires at less than full power, this is done by stifling the Xenon flash prematurely by removing the electrical impulse. On an SB-800, for example, the “flash” can be shut off in as little as 1/41,600 of a second (1/128 power). In order to have any variability in flash output something has to measure the amounts of light produced and make the decision of when to shut the flash off. Either the D200 or the flash itself can both measure and control the amount of light. Yes, this means that the D200 has something inside it that measures the light produced by the flash (the 1005-pixel CCD 118 I used to use the word “ignite,” but technically that’s not correct, so I’ve modified my wording slightly. V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 482 in the viewfinder is used for this jobF 119 ). Like the ambient exposure, the CCD must get its measurements before the picture is taken, which is why you’ll see references to something called the preflash F 120 . Why before the exposure? Because the D200 has no way to measure the flash output during the exposure (none of the Nikon digital SLRs do). If you’re starting to think that there may be more “modes” and settings coming, you’re right. Flash exposure is no different than regular exposure: you have to set the camera/flash to do what you want it to. And there are lots of options you need to know about. Digital Flash Differences For 35mm film cameras, Nikon TTLF 121 flash sensors are designed to look at reflections off the shutter curtain before exposure and again off the film during exposure. But the D200 doesn’t have any film, and the sensor doesn’t reflect light the same way that film does, so this second exposure test isn’t performed. Nikon originally decided to modify its flash system slightly for digital cameras to include a new flash “mode,” called D-TTL, or Digital TTL. D-TTL is supported by the D1 series, the D100, and the D2 series with the SB-28DX, SB-50DX, SB- 119 Note that one way the D2 series and the D200 differ is that the D2 series has an additional five-segment sensor in the mirror box, which looks at the shutter curtain. This has subtle but real implications. The D200, for example, fires a preflash at the first shutter release press when set to M-Up, the D2 series waits until the second, thus putting the flash calculations closer to the actual picture taking. 120 The name preflash is a little misleading. Most newcomers expect to always see a separate flash from the main flash. But the preflash usually occurs so close to the actual flash that you usually don’t distinguish it from the main flash. If you don’t believe me, set your D200 to M-Up with the flash popped up and in a TTL mode. Press the shutter release. The mirror goes up, but before it does, the camera fires the preflash. Press the shutter release again. The curtain now opens and the flash is fired at the power calculated by the preflash. At any shutter speed faster than 1/8 with the camera in a normal frame advance method (S, CL, CH), the preflash and flash are close enough together that many people can’t distinguish them. 121 Just a reminder: TTL stands for Through the Lens. Flash measurements are performed by the camera looking through the lens. In theory, this is the most accurate flash capability. V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 483 80DX, SB-600, and SB-800 being the only flashes that can be used for TTL. Other flash units, including the original SB-28, cannot be used in TTL flash modes with these Nikon DSLRs. Indeed, if you attempt to do so, the shutter release locks and you can’t take pictures until you set the Speedlight to Automatic (A) or Manual (M) flash modes. With the D2h introduction, Nikon updated the flash system a second time to something Nikon calls i-TTL (they also call the entire set of new flash capabilities CLS, for Creative Lighting System). The D50, D70, D70s, D2hs, D2x, and D200 share this new capability. Unfortunately, a side effect of the i-TTL update is that only the SB-600, SB-800, SB-R200, and internal flashes support it. This is a critical change to note. Just to be clear: To get TTL flash on a D200 you must use the internal flash, an SB-600, an SB-800, or an SB-R200. Let me summarize a few things that are different between the three basic Nikon flash technologies before we go on. I realize that some of the terminology may be new to you, but by the end of the section on flash you should be fully up to speed; just come back to this chart then. V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 484 Old Film TTL D-TTL i-TTL Cameras Supporting Virtually all film cameras after the FA D1 series, D100, D2 series D2 series, D50, D70, D200 Flash Units Supporting All Speedlights since the SB-24 SB-28DX, SB- 50DX, SB-80DX, SB-600, SB-800, SB-R200, D100 internal flash SB-600, SB-800, SB-R200, internal flash (D50, D70, D200) Preflash occurs After mirror up, before shutter opens After mirror up, before shutter opens Before mirror up, before shutter opens Flash Measurement occurs Preflash and again during exposure Preflash only Preflash only Flash Measured by 5-segment sensor in mirror box 5-segment sensor in mirror box CCD in viewfinder Multiple TTL flash supported? Yes with cables or wireless with SU-4 No Yes with cables or built-in wireless functions TTL controlled wirelessly? Yes, but all flashes fire at same level No Yes; flashes can even be grouped to fire at different levels (with SB-800, SU-800, or D200 internal flash as Master) A D200 using i-TTL is a good news, bad news situation: the good news is that this is arguably the most elaborate, user- controllable, and accurate TTL flash system Nikon—or perhaps anyone—has produced. The bad news is that you can only use the very latest flash units with it, which may mean purchasing new equipment. Like all recent Nikon camera bodies, a flash-ready indicator is displayed in the D200 viewfinder when a flash—internal or external—is fully charged and ready to fire. This same indicator blinks for three seconds after a photograph is taken V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 485 to indicate that the flash fired at full power, which may indicate underexposure (of the subject). Fortunately, with a D200 you can immediately review the image on the color LCD to determine if this “full power” warning actually meant underexposure. More Hidden Flash “Gotchas” One thing that catches a number of D200 users unaware is that the Program exposure mode limits apertures that can be used with flash based upon ISO value. And given the fast apertures of most pro lenses, you’re quite likely to bump up against this limitation at some point: Allowable Apertures in Program ModeF 122 ISO Value Range (internal flash) Range (external flash) 100 f/2.8 to f/32 f/4 to f/32 125 f/3 to f/32 f/4.5 to f/32 160 f/3.2 to f/32 f/4.5 to f/32 200 f/3.3 to f/32 f/5 to f/32 250 f/3.5 to f/32 f/5 to f/32 320 f/3.8 to f/32 f/5.6 to f/32 400 f/4 to f/32 f/5.6 to f/32 500 f/4.2 to f/32 f/6.3 to f/32 600 f/4.5 to f/32 f/6.3 to f/32 800 f/4.8 to f/32 f/7.1 to f/32 1000 f/5 to f/32 f/7.1 to f/32 1250 f/5.3 to f/32 f/8 to f/32 1600 f/5.6 to f/32 f/8 to f/32 H0.3 Not available Not available H0.7 Not available Not available H1.0 Not available Not available 122 Be wary of data in Nikon’s manuals. For example, the chart on page 200 of the D200 English manual is incorrect (as are several others; but this one is particularly important to point out). It seems to imply (once you relate the heading to the data) to all flashes. It doesn’t. It applies only to the internal flash. My tables are created through empirical testing. V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 486 Yes, that table means what you think it does: if you set Program exposure mode using external flash, those fancy wide apertures of your expensive lenses won’t ever be used. Another issue to note with the D200 is that the focal lengths the Speedlight uses are geared towards 35mm film, not the D200’s 1.5x field of view reduction. This means that you’ll normally be lighting a wider angle than the D200 is taking in, wasting flash strength. Here’s a handy table to use when shooting with a Speedlight flash: D200 Safe Flash Head Focal Length Settings Lens Focal Length Set Flash to 14mm 20mm 17-18mm 24mm 20mm 28mm 24mm 35mm 35mm 50mm 50mm 70mm 60-70mm 85mm >85mm 105mm* *Assumes SB-800 In other words, if you have a 20mm lens on the D200, manually zoom the flash head to the 28mm mark. The settings in the above table are the closest that guarantee full- frame coverage for the D200’s reduced sensor size, and provide you the maximum flash power for that coverage, extending the distance at which you can shoot with flash. Flash Modes Like most Nikon 35mm film camera bodies, the actual method used to calculate flash exposure varies considerably depending upon camera settings, flash settings, and the lens being used. A full discussion of the intricacies of Nikon’s flash system can be found in my Nikon Digital Flash Guide, but what follows is a simple recap of what’s available using a D200. V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 487 i-TTL Balanced Fill-Flash (TTL BL on external flash LCD; no indicator for internal flash): this is the default flash mode for most camera settings. Requires use of a D, G, P, AF, AF-I, or AF-S lens (basically any lens that has what Nikon calls a CPU in it F 123 ). The camera balances exposure information from the matrix meter with additional information from the lens (focal length, aperture, and distance at which the lens is focused) and from a series of nearly invisible pre-flashes, which the CCD in the D200’s viewfinder analyzes. When set in this mode, the D200 normally attempts to balance the flash with the ambient light. Generally, less flash is produced in this mode than if you set the flash manually for the flash-to-subject distance. Note that no measurement of the light produced by the flash is made by the D200 during the exposure, as is done on the 35mm film camera bodies; the amount of flash produced is completely determined at the end of the pre-flash measurements, which occur before the shutter opens. Thus, if lighting conditions change rapidly, the amount of flash produced may be incorrect. That happens rarely, but the lower power of the preflash does make the accuracy of the flash exposure calculations slightly more subject to error than the during-exposure re-measurement the film bodies do. The more likely problem of preflash on the D200 is that it triggers “early blinkers.” There’s just enough time between the preflash and the actual flash that some fast-responding individuals will start to or already have blinked their eyes in response to the preflash by the time the actual flash goes off F 124 . That almost never happened with the old film TTL system. A few paragraphs back you’ll note that I wrote that the D200 “normally attempts to balance the flash with the ambient 123 On a D200, AI and AI-S lenses can also support balanced TTL if you’ve entered their data using Non-CPU lens data (on the SHOOTING MENU). 124 Hint: use FV Lock to control when the preflash is done. See CSM #F4 on page <471>. V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 488 light” when in Balanced Fill-Flash mode (TTL BL). That “normally” is an intentional qualifier that needs some discussion. Previous Nikon DSLRs tended to continue to try to balance ambient and subject light, even in dark conditions. The D200 has firmware changes that seem to recognize low light conditions and change the strategy of TTL BL. Unlike, for example, the D70 or D100, the D200 seems to do a better job of lighting the subject independently of the background exposure when you’re using flash. Thus, the “old background dim, subject dim” result that some earlier Nikon DSLRs produced seems to be gone. That removes one of my objections to using TTL BL as the default. One other slight change that will only be of interest to seasoned Nikon flash users: there is no longer any indicator of the type of Balanced Fill-Flash that the camera performs if you use an older autofocus lens (the ones that didn’t provide distance information to the camera). On some older Nikon bodies, subtle differences snuck into Balanced Fill-Flash levels, usually due to the metering system and lens being used, and this was indicated by different symbols on the flash LCD. With the i-TTL systems, those symbols no longer appear and Nikon doesn’t try to explain any differences that may occur (other than an oblique reference to lenses without CPUs). As far as I can tell, there still are some subtle differences being made due to camera settings, but they are indeed very subtle and mostly ignorable. Note: Unlike the SB-24 and later flashes on film bodies, the D200 internal flash, SB-600, SB-800, and SB-R200 always fire pre- flashes in i-TTL modes, even if the flash head is set to a bounce angle (Speedlights used on 35mm bodies cancel pre-flashes if the head is swiveled or angled at anything other than the normal position, relying only on the reflected flash measurement during exposure). V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 489 The pre-flash is usually a series of short pulses, with a regular pattern. Standard TTL (TTL on external flash LCD): This flash mode is available with all autofocus lens types and AI-P lenses, and lenses for which you’ve entered data with the Non-CPU lens data function; the camera automatically chooses it if you select spot metering or Manual exposure mode. Unlike the Balanced Fill-Flash mode, Standard TTL attempts only to insure that the flash provides the correct exposure for what the camera thinks is the subject. In other words, the camera does not attempt to balance background exposure with subject exposure, as it does in the Balanced Fill-Flash TTL mode. High-Speed TTL (TTL FP) (TTL BL FP or TTL FP on external flash LCD; only available on SB-800 and internal flash): The D200 supports a variant for both Balanced Fill-Flash TTL and Standard TTL: FP. FP doesn’t change the type of TTL being performed (Standard or Balanced), it only changes the allowable shutter speeds. If FP is active—and you make it so by setting Custom Setting #E1 to 1/250 (FP auto)—the upper shutter speed limit of 1/250 for flash is removed. That may seem like something you’d want to have available all the time (it is a setting I suggest as a default), but be careful. Shutter speeds above 1/250 cause the flash to produce its light differently. Instead of a single flash burst, the output is done in a series of very short, small bursts of flash, which reduces the overall output of the flash by a bit over two stops. If you use the TTL FP option, make sure to pay attention to the range display on the external flash LCD whenever you shoot at faster than 1/250; the flash may not be V1.03 Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 490 able to cover the distance you’re shooting at. For internal flash, consult the range table later in this eBook. Summary of i-TTL Flash Modes Flash LCD Displays Exposure Modes Metering Modes TTL Type Performed TTL BL Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual Matrix, Center- weight Balanced Fill Flash (shutter speed capped at 1/250) TTL Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual Spot* Standard TTL (shutter speed capped at 1/250) TTL BL FP Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual Matrix, Center- weight Balanced Fill Flash (no cap on shutter speed) TTL FP Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual Spot* Standard TTL (no cap on shutter speed) *Standard TTL mode is set automatically when you select this option. Note: TTL flash modes can also be changed (if the camera isn’t set to Spot metering) by using the Mode button on the external flash. In other words, if you see TTL BL on the flash LCD, pressing the Mode button selects TTL instead. Non-TTL Flash Modes In the TTL flash modes just described, the D200 performs all the calculations necessary to adjust the flash output level. When you press the shutter release, the camera tells the flash when to start firing and when to stop. The flash simply follows the camera’s orders to turn on and off. Three remaining flash modes, Auto Aperture (ÊÊ), Automatic (Ê), and Manual (Ë) flash, differ in that the flash performs much of the flash exposure calculation and the camera body does not determine when the flash shuts off: [...]... rounded to the nearest digit; all numbers below that rounded to the nearest tenth To Set Repeating Flash 1 Press the MENU button to show the menu system a Use the Direction pad to navigate to the Custom Settings tab Press the > key to enter the Custom Settings menu b Use the Direction pad to navigate to Custom Setting #E3 Press the > key to enter the Flash Mode setting Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon. .. Press the > key to enter the Custom Settings menu b Use the Direction pad to navigate to Custom Setting #E3 Press the > key to enter the Flash Mode setting Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 507 V1.03 c Use the Direction pad to navigate to Manual flash mode Press the > key to enter the Manual flash mode settings d Use the Direction pad to navigate to the Manual flash power you want to. .. c Use the Direction pad to navigate to Repeating Flash mode Press the > key to enter the Repeating Flash mode settings d Use the % and " keys on the Direction pad to set the Manual flash power you desire Only powers of 1/4 to 1/128 are allowed Press the > key to select the flash power to be used e Use the % and " keys on the Direction pad to set the number of flash repeats you desire Only 2 to 15 repeats... With the Speedlight mounted on the camera, press the Mode button on the back of the flash until ÊÊ is displayed on the flash LCD (only one Ê is displayed on the SB-28DX) Automatic Available on all Speedlights that support Automatic flash Move the Flash Mode switch on the Speedlight to A (or AUTO), or press the Mode button on the Speedlight until Ê is displayed on the flash unit’s LCD You may need to. .. distance indicator on their LCD in this mode, though the limited “resolution” of this indicator means you can’t totally rely upon it Flash modes can usually be set on the flash unit, too: Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 492 V1.03 TTL Only available on the SB-600, SB800, and SB-R200 With one of these Speedlights mounted on the camera, press the Mode button on the back of the flash until... Note the distance on the scale on the lens 5 Aperture = GN / Distance Work the calculation and set the correct aperture (Determine the GN by looking at the tables, below) 6 Set the D200 to the exposure mode you wish to use, and set your aperture and shutter speed, as usual Just make sure that the aperture you set matches the one you just calculated in Step 5! Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon. .. with the D200, Shutter-priority is another choice; the point is to get out of Program exposure mode.) • Set the Slow Sync flash option on the camera Why? Because this removes the 1/60 lower shutter speed limit in Aperture-priority exposure mode On the D200 you have an alternative: use Custom Setting #E2 to set the lower Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 501 V1.03 shutter speed limit to. .. depending upon whether the flash fired at partial Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 504 V1.03 power or full power) If you attempt to take another picture using flash before the recharging has completed, the flash may not have enough power to correctly illuminate your picture I said that the internal flash is low power You may wonder what that means The GN at ISO 100 for the internal Speedlight... already, but to be consistent with the Nikon Flash Guide and to elaborate on some of the deeper features of the internal flash unit, I’m going to provide a step-by-step section, just as I do with the common external flashes in the next section To Set TTL on the Internal Flash 1 Activate the flash by popping it up (press the Flash Release button) 2 If you haven’t already done so, use Custom Setting #E3... doorway If you choose to use Auto Aperture or Automatic flash mode, you need to always watch to make sure the flash sensor is seeing the same subject as the lens and is not blocked by cables or other objects 125 Most older Speedlights and third-party flashes that do not communicate anything with the camera and only understand the “fire now” signal Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D200 Page 491 . f/2.8 to f/32 f/4 to f/32 125 f/3 to f/32 f/4.5 to f/32 160 f/3.2 to f/32 f/4.5 to f/32 200 f/3.3 to f/32 f/5 to f/32 250 f/3.5 to f/32 f/5 to f/32 320 f/3.8 to f/32 f/5.6 to f/32 400 f/4 to. f/5.6 to f/32 500 f/4.2 to f/32 f/6.3 to f/32 600 f/4.5 to f/32 f/6.3 to f/32 800 f/4.8 to f/32 f/7.1 to f/32 1000 f/5 to f/32 f/7.1 to f/32 1250 f/5.3 to f/32 f/8 to f/32 1600 f/5.6 to f/32. 4. Set the flash to Standard TTL mode (on the D200, this is automatic if you’re in spot metering; otherwise you’ll have to press the Mode button on the external Speedlight to cancel the BL