Owner`s manual

Chapter 4

Flash photography

4.1 Flash–Ambient Control

[Author(s): Phil Brandon. Reviewed by: Petr Holub.]

This section is copy of one found on the web [16] (hopefuly I don’t violate any copyright by including it in

this guide). It’s written by Phil Brandon from Minolta USA about 700si and paritally 800si but it seems to

work for my 600si as well – so it’s probably general a bit. On the bottom of the web page [16] there are

some other notes – probably about 800si. It would be really nice if somebody who speaks both Thai and

English translates those in English.

Whether using its built-in ﬂash or an attached accessory ﬂash, the Expert Flash system of the 700si is

designed to recognize basic lighting conditions and adjust ambient light settings and ﬂash duration to

achieve the best results automatically. The table 4.1 on page 26 indicates adjustments made for all situations

4.1.1 P Mode Flash

When the ﬂash is up or any dedicated accessory ﬂash is attached to the 700si’s hot shoe, either directly or

through accessory connectors, it will ﬁre automatically in P mode whenever necessary. The shutter speeds

between 1/200 and 1/60 second and apertures within the working range of the lens will be set automatically

depending on the ambient light level. The camera’s TTL ﬂash metering system monitors the amount of

light which reaches the ﬁlm plane and automatically stops the ﬂash output when it detects that sufﬁcient

exposure has been received.

In backlight conditions requiring ﬂash or when the forced-ﬂash button is pressed, the ambient light

exposure of the subject will be reduced by approximately one stop and the ﬂash brightness will be reduced

from 1/4 to 3/4 stop to maintain proper subject exposure. The backgroundwill be up to 1-1/2 stops brighter

than the subject exposure.

When the SPOT button is pressed for slow-sync ﬂash photography, ﬂash brightness is reduced by 3/4

stop and shutter is set to a speed slow enough to allow normal background exposure.

The ﬂash will not ﬁre if the 700si is set for either PA or PS modes. Press the MODE button to resume

normal P Mode ﬂash operation.

Changing Program Flash Control with the Custom xi card

Normally the 700si’s exposure computer will decide when to use ﬂash even if the built-in ﬂash is popped

up or an accessory ﬂash is attached and turned on. If you would like the ﬂash to ﬁre everytime the ﬂash

is lifted, use the Custom xi card to switch the Program ﬂash control to manual switchover. The table 4.2

shows the function number and setting to make.