I’m fortunate to have been able to get in to the new EOS 5D Mark III and Speedlite 600EX-RT with ST-E3-RT, but they have caught me out with a little trick of their own.

I’m often asked to demonstrate how the workflow with Canon EOS Utility and Digital Photo Professional delivers loads of great features, functionality and quality for free. I find it always amazing to see how few people even try the software that comes in the box with their new cameras

So the story goes…

Live View mode can often catch photographers out when using flash, even non-dedicated flashes or pocket wizard type transmitters. You should keep Live View silent shooting set to Disabled just to be on the safe side.

I was demonstrating EOS Utility and using Live View mode to show the audience exactly what was on the camera as I took the pictures.

It also meant that using the software’s remote control of the flash settings I could easily show the audience the changes I was making to the flash setup for my shots. This was not only a software seminar, but also included the new wireless Speedlite flashes.

One of the cool new capabilities of the Speedlite 600EX-RT and ST-E3 is that you can release the shutter of the camera from the remote flash – Canon calls it linked shooting mode. Using linked shooting mode it’s possible to press a button on the flash and it will release the shutter of the EOS 5D Mark III that has the master ST-E3-RT or Speedlite 600EX-RT. There’s a note in the 600EX-RT manual that the linked shooting doesn’t operate if Silent LV shoot. is set to Mode 1 or Mode 2, in fact the manual says it needs to be set to disabled for linked shooting to work. In my case with the EOS 5D Mark III the linked shooting releases the shutter regardless of the Silent LV shoot. setting. However it’s probably for exposure metering that the camera needs to have the Silent Live View shooting disabled.

Remote tethered live view disables linked shooting

Remote Live View mode showing the level display from the EOS 5D Mark III

Back to my demonstration, I put the camera in Live View mode from EOS Utility and someone from the audience aimed it at my subject. Then I walked over to one of the Speedlite 600EX-RT flashes and tried to trigger the shutter using linked shooting – oops that’s not working.

Back at the office I have now tried it all again and if the camera is in Live View mode and connected to EOS Utility you cannot use Linked shooting.

The latest version of Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software v.3.11.26 includes Digital Lens Optimiser (DLO) on the lens tab in the tools panel.

DLO goes much further than the peripheral illumination aka vignetting, chromatic aberration, colour blur and distortion settings found in the Lens tab of DPP. DLO takes in to account the specific characteristics of not only the lens, subject distance, focal length and aperture but adds in specific knowledge of the low-pass filter configuration of the camera. The result is better quality images, since with this approach even diffraction effects can be corrected.

Digital Lens Optimizer (DLO) precisely imitates lens operation, with a series of complex mathematical functions replicating each stage of the journey of light through the optical path. Using this information, DLO can correct a range of typical optical aberrations, and loss of the resolution caused by a low pass filter, by applying an inverse function to each shot that takes the image closer to how the scene looks to the naked eye. This creates exceptionally detailed, high-quality images with highly manageable file sizes, providing photographers with maximum image quality and greater flexibility in post-production.

- Canon Europe, EOS 5D Mark III Technologies Explained

To be honest I was a bit sceptical at first, the images from the latest lenses are typified by being much improved over their predecessors. When it comes to RAW conversion tools, there is often several options available to a photographer and these days they all do a good job in the main. Only Canon DPP software is programmed using exact knowledge of what the camera writes in each file, and what each element of the data in a RAW file is intended to be used for. Factor in that the DLO works with a large number of EOS cameras past, present, and probably future too, it’s worth exploring.

When using DLO for the first time it needs to connect to a Canon server to download the lens profiles, this is a first for Canon, and I hope that it means that DPP will soon auto update the main program direct from Canon too (hint, hint ) There is currently over thirty lens profiles available and each one is quite large, seems to be around 25MB per profile so it’s best to download only the ones you need for lenses you use or own.

Canon software engineers are unique as they have access to many of the teams around the product, they will have been able to get the complete design information of each lens and then work with image processing specialists to all but eliminate small deficiencies that are normally accepted as part of modern lens design. We all want perfect lenses, but perfect is too big, too heavy and too expensive so we get “almost perfect” lenses.

More megapixels, more diffraction

With the advent of high megapixel digital cameras, the laws of optics and physics also bring diffraction to the pictures. Diffraction results in a softening of the image as the aperture gets smaller. It’s interesting to see Canon provide a solution to diffraction with software, but in all practicality it’s the only real way to do so.

Eight types of correction

In discussion with some “folks in the know” I heard that there are eight specific effects that DLO is designed to correct. The eight kinds of correction apply to different parts of the frame. In the centre of the image; spherical aberration and axial chromatic aberration, the edge of the image; curvature of field, astigmatism, comatic aberration, sagittal halo and chromatic magnification aberration. Diffraction effects appear throughout the image, and these are also corrected.

Can you see a difference in real images?

Keen to see if there was a marked difference in my images I followed the advice in the DPP manual and re-processed some RAW images shot last year with the EOS-1D Mark IV and the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. Reading the instruction manual for DPP – yes I’m the one who does – it suggests that the effect is best reviewed when sharpening is set to zero. If you sharpen the image, the sharpening may well mask the improved resolution that the software achieves by reversing the effect of diffraction, however sharpening is not the only improvement that DLO makes. Once you have used the DLO function it’s fine to set the sharpening settings, they might be a bit weaker than you are normally using.

DLO adds a lens mark with a “+” symbol to the thumbnail displays.

Shooting motorsport is a long time passion of mine, so last year I was able to join the world rally event in Finland, known locally as the Finnish Grand Prix. The Finns certainly love the sport, and warm weather is a good way to get plenty of shutter speed to freeze the action.

Setting the DPP sharpening to zero I processed out the images as full resolution 16-bit TIFFs and then opened them in Photoshop. Spotting the difference was not easy, it’s not night and day kind of different, so I put the two images in one Photoshop file and set the blend mode to subtraction. I would now easily see the difference between the two pictures! Except that the difference was not easily visible, but there were some clear areas that looked to have some difference.

To enhance the difference I added a very steep curves layer on top of the image, it showed me exactly where the differences between the two images was happening. Kind of as I expected the obvious difference is the sharpness of edges in the picture, things like around the car, windscreen, competition number etc. But on further inspection I found more detail available in the foreground and background also.

• Difference between normal and DLO version
• DLO effect enhanced
• Curve used to view differences

The effects are not easily visible, but they are definitely better and when I made an A2 size print of my images it’s possible to tell the DLO from the non-DLO version. What’s more i’m now interested enough to try some more challenging images, in fact if you have a RAW file from a recent Canon DSLR taken with a lens in the list below why not give DLO a go for yourself? I think that DLO is a tool for those portfolio images and exhibition prints where you want the last word in quality, rather than something you would use each and every day.

The following lenses are improved by DLO

RAW images from the following cameras can be used with DLO

Speedlite 600EX-RT

I’m giving some more training for a group of photo specialists in Finland tomorrow. It’s been quiet on the blog while i’ve been preparing, but I have worked out a lot of points about the new Canon wireless flash over radio with the Speedlite 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT. I’ll be blogging some of them next week…

photographers keep on buying camera bags since they never have the right one, maybe the Heralder 38 is the one?

Heralder 38 – a very clever camera bag

The Vanguard Heralder range of camera bags picked up a TIPA award this year, so have obviously caught the attention of many photo magazine reviewers, I thought it would be good to have a look and see if they had all gone mad or been seduced by it’s combination of black and bright orange colour scheme. In doing so I discovered that the Heralder 38 is a very good bag for a lot of what I do, including travelling on planes with camera kit to deliver training seminars.

Fill your boots bag

Timing was impeccable, the bag arrived a few days before my trip to Photofest in Dublin so it was a chance to test the bag on a fly-away presentation trip. This means I needed to carry an EOS 5D Mark III a pair of Speedlite 600EX-RTs, a Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT a couple of lenses, Macbook Pro, cables, chargers, passport and all the other useful stuff we take on our travels. I was surprised it swallowed as much kit so effortlessly, and kept stuff accessible. I’ve travelled with many kinds of bags over the years and often the best bags are the ones that don’t hold much but keep stuff accessible – this one holds a lot and keeps it accessible.

Comfortable to carry

Even full of kit, the well shaped and padded shoulder strap was comfortable while I waited in the inevitable airport queues and went between airport and hotels on shuttle buses. I liked the built-in had strap on the top of the bag it certainly was strong and didn’t cut in to my hands even with the bag fully loaded. I didn’t use the included security strap that fits between the bag and the shoulder strap to stop the bag falling off your shoulder since travel means you are often taking the bag off, putting it through x-ray and so on. It was supplied detached and apart from working out how to fit it I just left it off for the trip. If you are going to walk some distance with the bag then it will probably be helpful.

Easy to use

I found that in use the top zip that runs right across the top flap was the most used feature. I’ve had a similar arrangement on other bags but not used it so much as I did with the Heralder. Maybe this is down to the travel use I put this bag to? Keeping the top zip in place is a small magnetic catch that stops it opening when you are carrying the bag but doesn’t get in the way when you want to dive in and get something out. Also you can keep the contents pretty well concealed from other folks when using the top zip.

For me the dividers in the bag fitted what I needed to carry straight off the bat and the ever taller Speedlites sink well down in the bag which means I can put stuff on top of them, like the ST-E3! Dropping the EOS 5D Mark III in to one of the ‘lens’ bays was secure and when I can get a battery grip for the camera I’ll simply pull the velcro attached divider out of the slot. I soon found that the whole camera section can be removed, this could then turn the bag in to a useful day travelling or overnight bag if needed. Having this kind of multi-purpose ability is good in a bag for travelling. Even the laptop slot is removable – though I wished that it would be possible to remove it and the laptop through the top access zip when going through airport security.

The wettest drought on record

Camera bags have to serve many purposes, not just be the taxi for our kit, but also frequently protect it from the elements. The Heralder has a built-in rain cover to cover the bag for when the weather gets really wet. Once in place it makes it harder to get to stuff in the bag for the photographer and the rain. However if the cover gets wet it can be detached from the bag to dry. This is a genius idea, I hate other bags rain covers that remain attached to the bag since you have to empty the bag out to dry the cover. Not to say you’d need the rain cover in most situations – the bag is pretty weather resistant – but it’s well placed, accessible and detachable.

The bag also has a PVC-type material around the base that means when I’m out on location and put the bag down in a muddy puddle it won’t get the bag wet and the mud will easily wipe off when it dries. One of my older bags is not so well equipped and still has mud from the 1993 RAC rally ingrained in the fabric on the bottom.

The devil is in the details

It’s great to see a small bag for collecting cables, adapter, spare batteries and all that other stuff we include in our bags. I found that this little bag happily fitted on top of the lens slots where I had two lenses already in position.

It was only as I walked through  the airport did I realise there was an exterior pocket on the end of the bag, I could put a bottle of water in there so I did.

One of the small niggles I have is the use of a seemingly cut away quick release buckle, yes it may look more like a V for Vanguard but to me it looks like a potential weak point which is a shame since it’s the only one to hold the top flap down if you carry the bag unzipped.

The front of the bag has a deep space with pen holders, and some zipped compartments where you might want to put travel documents, only thing is they are quite hard to get at if you open the top zip to grab them quickly. This could be a good thing if you are out on the streets, less so if you are in the line for passport checks at the airport.

Conclusion

• Size – it fits enough kit, yet still is airline luggage carry-on size
• Layout – kit is easy to access from the top zip so you don’t need to open the whole bag
• Construction – rugged, durable materials, clever design touches that make me want to keep using it

Many thanks to Vanguard for providing a Heralder 38 camera bag for me to review. All they asked was for me to trial it and write up my views here on my site. What’s more they only got to see this review when it went live

Canon introduced the custom shooting modes a while back, but until now they have often been a trap waiting to catch out the photographer on a deadline, with the EOS 5D Mark III this has been changed for the better with the addition of Auto update settings.

What are C1/C2/C3?

The custom shooting modes appear on several cameras and are designed to take a snapshot of the camera configuration and store it for instant recall. Imagine you are a photographer covering a wedding – it happens – you are shooting a few pictures outside the church and it’s bright sunlight and you are using your preferred aperture priority mode and ISO 400 to take pictures of the guests gathering before the service. You go in the church to find it’s very dark and light by tungsten lights, you’ll need to change ISO and white balance most likely. Then when the service is over you will go back outside to shoot more pictures in the sunshine.

Using the custom shooting modes you would be able to store your “outside” settings then go in  the church to shoot with a different set of camera settings, but as you leave the church selecting the custom setting would recall the settings you used outside.

C1/C2/C3 – the catch

Prior to the EOS 5D Mark III the custom shooting modes remembered the exact settings you stored. So if you were shooting aperture priority at f/4 then changed to shoot at f/2 for some different shots the custom shooting mode only had the f/4 aperture stored not the last one you were using. If the camera automatically powered off you touch the shutter to wake it and the captured settings are recalled not the ones you might have been using last.

EOS 5D Mark III has an additional Auto update set. menu option that if set to Enable will update the custom shooting mode while you use it. However please note that this is not the default behaviour. With this simple change the C1/C2/C3 custom shooting modes have suddenly become much more useful for me.

• Custom shooting
• Auto update default
• Enable auto updating

For other cameras I often suggest that you set the power off timer to 15 minutes when registering the custom shooting mode, then the camera won’t auto power off and lose your settings as often.

Settings captured by registering custom shooting modes

Registering custom shooting modes stores a huge amount of settings, custom functions, playback functions in addition to simply the shooting mode, ISO, white balance, shutter speed and aperture. For me this means I can set a custom shooting mode for studio shooting use.

If you check the EOS 5D Mark III instruction manual on pages 333 & 334 you will find the information about which settings are stored with the custom shooting modes.

Simplifying studio shooting setup

In the studio I work in manual exposure mode, and I also switch the aperture control to the main dial and the shutter speed to the rear or quick control dial so I can lock the shutter speed to avoid it moving from my cameras sync speed with the studio lights. The combination of locking mode dial and lock for the rear / quick control dial is sure to prevent accidental changes in settings.

With the old cameras I set the camera to never power off to ensure I could keep the settings, with the EOS 5D Mark III I will simply set it to auto update the custom mode settings and it will work even more effectively for me.

Canon’s website says:

Canon’s web announcement

For me personally it means my two week old camera needs to go in to service for repair

Firmware update v1.1.2 for EOS 5D Mark III

To add to the woes of the EOS 5D Mark III there were a few bugs in the initial cameras that could be fixed with a firmware update, so firmware v.1.1.2 is advised for all EOS 5D Mark III customers with older firmware.

Firmware Version 1.1.2 incorporates the following improvements and fixes:

1. Supports a new accessory, GPS receiver GP-E2.
2. Fixes a phenomenon where a pink cast may develop over the image when the shutter is completely pressed with the camera’s power turned off (by the auto power off setting).
3. Fixes a phenomenon where the camera operation stops after one shot when shooting in High Dynamic Range (HDR) mode.
4. Fixes a phenomenon where the Shooting Date/Time in the EXIF data of the image shows a later time than the actual shooting time.
5. Fixes the time zone for the Samoa Islands.
6. Corrects errors in the Finnish menu screen.

Download EOS 5D Mark III firmware v1.1.2 from Canon

My new Speedlite 600EX-RTs and ST-E3-RT arrived just over twenty four hours ago, rather fortuitous as I need to be demonstrating them at some upcoming events soon.

First impressions, the radio is easy to set-up, I didn’t need to read the manual and was able to get the two 600EX’s to talk to the ST-E3. I love the Group mode that becomes available when you use the flashes on the latest EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X cameras – I would say that after radio triggering this is one of the most beneficial elements of the update for me. Group mode gives the ability to shoot with one group of slaves as E-TTL another as manual or even external metered (some might say thyristor) mode. In the 600EX-RT self portrait below, I’ve set it to be manual mode with 1/128 power from the ST-E3. This flash is working while having it’s picture taken! Then I have another 600EX-RT in E-TTL II mode slightly off the axis of the camera to the right side with it’s head zoomed in to 200mm to only illuminate the back of the flash.

Speedlite 600EX-RT

Picture taken with no modifiers at all, just using the zoom on the flash heads. Flash is on black acrylic (perspex) sheet and there’s a big 120cm x 80cm white diffuser overhead at an angle to allow the pictured flash to create the white spot on the black acrylic in front of the flash unit.

Top tips for new Speedlite 600EX-RT owners

• Change the ID of your flashes and transmitters from the default 0000 to stop other folks using your flashes
• Using the AUTO radio channel selection seems to work very well for me so far
• The flash and ST-E3 have personal functions P.Fn in addition to the custom functions C.Fn, but you can only change the P.Fn from the flash / transmitter not from the camera menu so learn how to access the P.Fn from the flash / transmitter
• The flashes are a bit longer when the head is pointed up to put them in the bag. You might need to have a camera bag divider re-arrangement to fit them in
• Set the zoom on the flash head before you put the flash well out of reach on the end of a tall light stand, you can’t change the flash head zoom over the radio link. I have been used to using Syl Arena’s OCF-33 10m E-TTL II cable for my master flashes in the past and this allowed me to change the zoom of the master flash from my camera
• Try out the Ext.A mode on some of the slave flashes, i’ve had good results in trials myself
• Get plenty of AA batteries, preferably rechargeable ones, as you will be experimenting a lot. 4 x AA in each 600EX-RT and 2 x AA in the ST-E3 RT

There’s an updated version of DPP 3.11.26 now available for download from Canon Europe and Canon USA sites to fix this initial trouble.

As to the light leak issue  the camera suffers from and that’s been acknowledged by Canon I’m not sure how a firmware update will fix the issue. In the meantime i’ll keep shooting with the camera that is now making me appreciate one of my least used lenses once again.

Download DPP 3.11.26 from Canon Europe

Download DPP 3.11.26 from Canon USA

Also I found the latest version of the EOS Movie Plug-in for Final Cut Pro on the Canon USA site too.

The article is now published and I just picked up a copy of the magazine to have a read. You’ll need to pick up a copy of the magazine for yourselves since I don’t want to spoil the conclusion to the article by sharing it here. The May 2012 edition of Professional Photographer is in stores now.

Three simple steps:

• Open Keynote and choose the master slide template you want to use for the image slides
• Gather all the images in a single folder
• Create a two-step automator workflow to put the images on Keynote slides

Open Keynote and choose the master slide

When you work with Keynote then you usually have several slide masters, they are visible in the panel on the left though you might need to drag the panel down so that you can see them. Choose a suitable master slide and customise it if you like, but importantly remember the name of this master slide template, you need it for the last step. I used Photo – Big

Gather all the images in a single folder

I usually create a folder for each presentation and a subfolder with the images i’ll use for the presentation. This helps to ensure I only resize and work on the copies of the pictures not the originals. If necessary I use another automator workflow to resize my pictures to a suitable size to go on my slides. Since Keynote can be set to specific pixel sizes I would set this as a first step in my creation of the presentation, and then size the images to be no bigger than the slide size. This keeps the presentation files down in size too since you don’t insert 10MP images to show on an 800 x 600 pixel projector. You could also output images from DPP using the batch function, Lightroom or Aperture so that your images are the correct size and in the correct folder.

Create a two-step Automator workflow to put the images on Keynote slides

I use a Spotlight search to find automator and then create a two-step workflow that gets the selected images from the finder and then creates a new image slide using the required slide template in the currently open presentation.

The reason I use Automator this way is that I might need to change the workflow from one presentation to the next, usually the slide template needs changing. If I always used the same master name I could make the workflow something that would be available with a right click from within the finder.

My workflow uses the Get Selected Finder Items function to get the files from the finder. You just need to select all the images from the folder before running the workflow. Then I add the Create Image Slide step from the presentation section of the automator library. This is also where I set the Master to Photo – Big to ensure all the image slides use the same template that I want. Once it’s done click on Run and your presentation will have extra slides with a single image on each slide.

Yes it’s that simple, and super effective; I’ve made a slideshow with over 150 images several times with this method, but even if you only have to put 6 images in a presentation it’s very quick to do.

In the annual awards from the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Canon has picked up awards for the EOS-1D X, EOS 5D Mark III, PowerShot G1 X, EF 8-15mm f/4L USM Fisheye, EOS C300 and the PIXMA MG8250.

TIPA is comprised of 29 member magazines from nine European countries plus Australia, Canada, China, South Africa, USA and the Camera Journal Press Club (CJPC) of Japan. Their general assembly meeting in Cape Town in March voted for the winning products in over 40 categories.

Full details of the winners in each of the categories can be found on the TIPA website. Vanguard the makers of the tripod I reviewed here last year also picked up awards for their BBH-200 Ball Head and the Heralder series of bags. Amongst the accessories Wacom’s Intuos5 series of tablets and the X-Rite i1 Display Pro also picked up TIPA awards this year.

Canon Press release excerpt:

Canon today announces the company has been awarded six separate honours by the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) – Europe’s leading photo imaging and press association. Designed to recognise the best products launched in the preceding year, the TIPA Awards are considered the most coveted imaging honours worldwide. The 2012 awards again acknowledge the quality present across Canon’s wide portfolio, including the revolutionary new Cinema EOS range.

Comprising editors from leading photography titles worldwide, the TIPA panel meets annually to discuss the latest products, taking everything from innovation to design and overall product quality into account. The panel selects and acknowledges the outstanding imaging products from the previous 12 month period, and this year awarded prestigious accolades to the following Canon products:

• Best DSLR Professional: Canon EOS-1D X
• Best Expert Compact Camera: Canon PowerShot G1 X
• Best Professional DSLR Lens: Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L USM fisheye
• Best Multifunction Photo Printer: Canon PIXMA MG8250
• Best Video DSLR: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
• Best Professional Videocamera: Canon EOS C300 Digital Cinema Camera

“It is a great accolade to have received six awards from TIPA. This past year has been exceptional for Canon, with a range of ground-breaking product launches, including the landmark EOS C300 and the much awaited EOS 5D Mark III,” said Kieran Magee, Marketing Director, Professional Imaging, Canon Europe. “The phenomenal reception from the TIPA judging panel highlights Canon’s commitment to imaging excellence and the impressive consumer and professional products we have developed.”

Canon’s full press release

Even more fun is coming real soon because there are also some Speedlite 600EX-RTs and an ST-E3 on the way too…

Fortunately I don’t own a cat so I won’t be testing it by taking cat pictures, but instead it will be put to work taking pictures and being used for training. In other news there appears to be a lump of molten plastic in my wallet and my credit card is missing?? Now all I need is someway to recycle the lump of plastic and convert it to a BG-E11 battery grip.

Canon announced the introduction of the new EOS-1D C, a digital single-lens reflex (SLR) camera targeting the motion picture, television and high-resolution production industries. Delivering outstanding video quality, advanced low light performance and film-like dynamic range, the compact and lightweight EOS-1D C supports in-camera 4K (4,096 x 2,160) video recording with 4:2:2 colour sampling, offering greater creative freedom for video professionals.

Full press release on Canon Europe site.

EOS-1D C images

Four new Cinema EOS lenses for 4K movie capture

Canon announced the development of four new digital cinematography zoom lenses, as the company expands its EF Cinema Lens range to provide greater creative options for video professionals. Joining the seven high-end lenses announced in 2011, the new models support 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolutions and will be smaller, lighter and more compact – offering outstanding mobility and quality. Available with both EF and PL mounts, the lenses will also be available at competitive prices, offering premium performance to a wider range of users.

Full press release on Canon Europe site.

New Cinema EOS lenses images

Canon Cinema EOS C500 development announcement

Canon announced the development of a new digital cinema camera capable of recording 4K-resolution (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) video. Targeting both the motion picture and high resolution digital production industries, the EOS C500 will offer 4K RAW output and will be available with Canon’s EF mount and the industry-standard PL mount.

Full press release on Canon Europe site.

Cinema EOS C500 images

So Canon is showing clear commitment to the Cinema EOS range and movie making in general. I’m just left wondering if I can get away with an April fool in 2013 that says the EOS 5D Mark III will be getting a firmware update for 4K video shooting

I’ve just been looking over the new version of EOS Solution Disk for the EOS 5D Mark III and found a couple of small changes in EOS Utility. From a quick look I’ve seen some of the preferences have received a little update.

Date / Time options for filenames and folders

This is quite small, but finally you can configure the filenames (and folders too) with a date format that suits you without having to create a custom file / folder name structure.

Camera time update settings moved to preferences

Sometimes I half think there’s a couple of Canon software engineers who read my site and change these things to see if they catch me out.  I wrote in my post a few weeks back about how to get the software to automatically change the time in your camera – it will need a bit of an update as now the settings are in the EOS Utility preferences.

You can only get this version with the EOS 5D Mark III at this time, the updaters are not available online as yet. I’ve also found some other updates in Digital Photo Professional and I will post more about these in a future post.

Fill-in flash is often used to reduce the contrast that occurs in photos that have a bright backlight, these typically leave your subject with a dark face as it’s in shadow. Adding a pop of flash will lower the contrast range and light the face. Canon E-TTL II will always try to achieve balanced fill-in flash if the camera is in Aperture Priority (Av) or Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. In Program (P) the camera might give fill-in flash and might not.

Program mode

1/20s @ f/4 no flash

1/60s @ f/4 with flash

I find that program mode with flash is the combination most likely to catch photographers out. Let’s assume you are taking pictures outside on a nice sunny day, you are shooting with a backlight from the sun and using the flash for fill from the front. It’s all looking great with nice balance. Now you go inside and the light level has dropped so the camera stops doing fill-in flash and the backgrounds behind your subjects go dark or even black and it makes the subject stand out from the background much more – often making people think the flash is over lighting the subject.

Aperture Priority mode

1/20s @ f/4 no flash

1/8s @f/4 with flash

Using Aperture Priority the camera has chosen a much slower shutter speed 1/8s to allow the parts of the scene that are lit by ambient light to be captured. (I think a cloud passed overhead too!) The key thing to note here is that Av mode will always try to balance the flash and ambient lit parts and Av is quite happy to choose thirty seconds (30s) for a shutter speed if you shoot in pitch black coal cellars. The problem often becomes camera shake being visible.

Shutter Priority (Tv) will also try to balance flash and ambient, but often if you choose too small an aperture you might run out of flash power to light your subject so I tend to avoid using Tv mode for flash pictures entirely, and would use manual mode instead.

Key points to remember

Program 1/60s @ f/4 ISO 400 with flash

• Av (& Tv) will always do fill-in flash, even if you end up with camera shake
• P will only do fill-in flash if there’s enough ambient light to get the shutter speed above 1/60s
• Increasing the ISO can help you to achieve a faster shutter speed for the ambient light, it also lets your flash recycle faster. The picture above is taken at ISO 400 rather than the ISO 100 used for the window shots at the top of the post
• Manual exposure mode on the camera puts the photographer in control of the ambient light level

In the event of very bright sunlight, or an intention to use wide aperture lenses then high speed sync is often the next topic to learn. I’ll cover that in a future post.

Thanks to my model Zuki Jai and Orchard Studios for being great people to work with.