Mike Chaney's Tech Corner

The new G1 sounds great, but it will need some lenses and a good external flash.  It should be easy to find the lenses, but:

Who knows about a flash with a head that can turn up and also rotate and use the functions of the camera?

Wil

I think the two flashes people are using are the Panasonic FL-220 (compact but I don't think it'll do bounce flash straight up) or the Olympus FL36 (looks a little more versatile).

I've been using my Canon 580EX on my G1.  I may eventually get a smaller flash since that flash is bigger than the camera and isn't meant for that camera.  I have to say though, in TTL mode I've had no problems even with bounce flash.  The G1 seems to get a better exposure with bounce flash than any of my Canon cameras for which that flash was made!

Mike

That's very interesting.  I have an EX 580 II and use a lot of bounce flash.

How do you set up the exposure, etc. using your 580?

Wil

I've just been using manual exposure and I'll set the Shutter speed to either 1/60 or 1/125 and the aperture to the largest aperture (usually).  They come out perfectly every time.  If I'm working with really high ceilings (12ft or so), I might have to bump the ISO up to 200 or 400 but that's the only catch.

Here's a shot I took yesterday.  I just pointed the 580EX straight up at the ceiling and snapped.

(http://www.pbase.com/mchaney/image/113155178/original.jpg)

Mike

That looks great.  While I use a Canon 1dIII as my main camera, I have bought a Canon G10 for a walk around -- expedition camera.  After your article and other reviews, I have put the G10 on eBay and will buy the Panasonic G1.  Thanks for your efforts.

Have you used the tele-lens at all?

Wil

Yes.  I have the 45-200 lens and it's a very good lens.  Not quite as tack sharp as the 14-45 but still very good.

Mike

I have a G1 coming and hope to use it on an assignment a week later at a church Vacation Bible School.  A flash will be needed and there really isn't time to get a dedicated flash for the camera.  From my reading, the Metz 48 AF seem to be the best match.  All of the best matches are larger than the camera, and it seems that choosing a flash on size isn't the way to go.

You use the Canon 580, and I plan to make some tests with the Canon 580 II.  You said that you just use manual, but I hope you could be a little more specific since my time is getting short.

1. In manual mode, do you try to set the exposure correctly for the scene?

2.  Do you set the 580 to ETTL?

Thanks
Wil

I just set the camera to manual, select 1/60 or 1/125 exposure (depending on what I want to do) and set the aperture to whatever I want: usually a wide aperture because I'm usually doing bounce flash.  With the flash set to ETTL, the camera and flash take care of the rest and the flash uses the amount of power needed for the current settings and scene.

Mike

Thanks Mike!