s2 pro with sb28 manual

[stedi]

Hi everybody,
I would like to make some picture in a church ... i have my sb28 and finepix s2rpo.
And i want to use my camera in mode S and my flash in manuel and choose the iso on the flash.
But something is wrong . I can't put my flash all in manuel.
How do you make the picture in a church or something like that?
Because all is dark behing...
Thanks for your help
Have a nice day
Stephi

[killians913]

Stephi,

What kind of photos in the church are we talking about? Are we talking about taking photos of people at the altar or just an overview of the church?

Why do you think you need to put the flash in manual? What value in the "S" mode are we talking about on the S2? Do you have or are you planning to use a tripod?

Need more info...

Lockett

[stedi]

I have to make picture of a wedding. The last time I put my camera all in TTL and my flash the same in direct. But behind it was dark and the person very white .

[killians913]

Stephi,

I "think" I understand what it is you're trying to do. What lens are you using and how fast is it? Is it a zoom or fixed focal length? Assuming it is an f2.8 lens and the ambient light in the church is reasonably well lit and not totally dark or bright, let me offer the following suggestions for a camera to subject range of 8 to 15 feet:

1. Put the S2 in the M mode, shutter speed at 1/30 sec, fstop at f4, ISO 400

2. Put the SB-28 in the A (Auto) mode set at f4 (the SB-28 should recognize the ISO 400 setting when connected to the S2 hotshoe)

If you stay within these parameters, the background should not be totally black and the exposure on the subjects should be pretty much on target.

If you are beyond 15 feet (but less than 25 feet), you will most likely have to increase your ISO to 800 (or more), but your SB-28 settings should still work.

Play around with the ISO since the S2 is known for its ability to produce excellent images even at ISO 1600.

Be sure to experiment and watch your histogram. That's the beauty of shooting digital...you can experiment till you get it right for your situation.

Lockett

[Tom V]

I wouldn't trust any AUTO or TTL exposure with the SB-28 with an S2. Setting the flash to TTL basically, as far as I can tell, gives you something like the correct exposure at the lens's maximum aperture, regardless of what the lens is set to. If you stop the lens down to f/8 the flash will still operate as if the lens were at f/2.8 (or whatever you max aperture is). Setting the flash to A is better than TTL, but I would be checking the histogram levels every time the subject or camera settings changed.

A search on these forums for S2 and TTL Flash will turn up dozens of thread documenting how the S2 cannot make accurate TTL exposures at all apertures.

Also, Fuji states that the flash exposure system is not designed to produce accurate exposures when the camera's ISO is higher than 400. You can get good exposures at higher ISOs, but you will have to figure out the exposure yourself, or rely on luck.

By putting the camera on S, you are letting the camera pick the correct lens aperture, which in a dark environment, is probably going to be wide open (maximum aperture), depending on ISO, and ambient light. Why? Just use M and pick your shutter speed (1/30?) and choose an aperture to match your flash output (if the flash is on M) or depth of field needs.

Or, put the camera on A, choose your aperture (hopefully something close to max aperture), have the camera flash mode set to SLOW (to allow sufficently slow shutter speeds to get some ambient exposure), and let the flash blash your foreground subjects with the flash in M or A mode. If you feel lucky or crazy, use TTL mode.

I don't know why you can't get your flash to go into M mode. In M mode, you would be able to set the flash output to full (1/1), half power (1/2), etc., possibly all the way down to (1/16).

I have an S2, SB-25 and SB-29.

[stedi]

Hello
I would like to thank you for your tips ... because now it work very good.
The exposure is perfect. Thanks a lot.
:)

[killians913]

I'm curious as to what you ended up doing in the way of settings for the camera and flash.

Can you share with us what and how you did it? Any examples?

Lockett