Owner`s manual

4.2. SHORT SUMMARY ON USING FILL-IN FLASH 28

is calculated by the camera’s AE system, but the ﬂash must be activated manually before it will ﬁre. See

the respective sections above for more information.

4.1.6 Slow-Shutter Sync.

In P and A modes, pressing and holding the SPOT button while taking the picture causes the 700si to use

a shutter speed slightly higher than that required for normal ambient light exposure. The ﬂash exposure

is also controlled to provide proper exposure. This technique provides a natural appearance of the main

subject with better ambient-lit background detail.

Note: If the background is bright or a large aperture is set, the shutter speed may not be reduced.

4.1.7 Other comment

This seems to be excerpt from some mail by Phil Brandon. It is useful and clear enough to include it here.

The ﬂash-ambient programming is unchanged between the 700si and 800si.

Back to the thought of the programming for ﬂash: The camera has an Expert System which is the

control for everything. It picks which focus sensor to favor, how to build the exposure pattern, how to set

the shutter speed and aperture for effect, and how to balance ﬂash with ambient.

When ﬂash is used, the most important consideration is NOT overexposing the subject by adding ﬂash

to an ablient light exposure that is already correct. (This is the key). Exposure is AF integrated. Once an

AF sensor is locked in on the subject. An exposure pattern is built around it. The brightness of the subject

is then compared against the background. If the subject is somewhat darker than the background (not a

lot), the ambient light exposure might (probably will) be reduced up to 1 stop. However, the background

in this case will still be greater and thus over exposed. The Flash duration is shortened a bit to reduce

the ﬂash exposure so the addition of ﬂash will not produce a subject exposure that is “overexposed.” As

the subject and background become closer in brightness the ﬂash will power down even more. I would

expect to see a slight shutter speed increase (1/60 to 1/90 or 1/125) when the ﬂash is turned on and camera

is in A mode. The key to the background either over or under is a product of the subject brightness. Sort

of a by-product. It just happens.

With that said: if you adjust the Ambient light exposure, you will affect the ﬂash component as well.

If you like what the ﬂash is doing but want to increase the ambient by

1, you have to adjust the ﬂash

by 1 to make sure its exposure is the same as the unbiased setting (I know this will bring on more

questions). There is no way to really know exactly what the camera is doing by looking at any controls

or readouts. You can infer if you really know the system and really know the brightness levels of subject.

When I am really creating, I use manual exposure mode and spot metering. I read the mid tone of the

background. Compare it to the subject tones. Determine what shutter speed and aperture settings to use

for affect and then dial in my own –EV for ﬂash control. Takes practice but I then “Know” exactly what

to expect. If I am in a hurry and shooting print ﬁlm, I shoot Program with ﬂash and it looks ﬁne.

4.2 Short summary on using ﬁll-in ﬂash

[Author(s): Petr Holub.]

Based on my experiences and experiences of other people [3] here is a short summary on how to get gentle

ﬁll in ﬂash:

M mode (called Brainer mode by Gary Walts in [15])

– Meter your subject and set aperture and shutter speed for proper exposure with ﬂash turned off.

You can also use results of measurement in P mode again with ﬂash turned off and set those

vaules in M mode.

– Dial-in the desired ﬂash compensation – e.g. dial-in 0 5 ﬂash compensation or you can set

even no ﬂash compensation at all.