ProperCharlie

quick qestion from a photography novice:

i have been taking pictures with the built in flash, but it seems to cause the subject to blink, resulting in them having their eyes closed in the picture. it's certainly a novel solution to red-eye reduction...

the camera is an olympus e-20, taking pictures using the default programme mode.

i know when i had a 35mm camera with a mounted flash, i used to point the flash at the ceiling to avoid bleeching out the subjet, but you can't do that with the little pop-uup flash unit on the olympus. is there any way i can chnage the settings to avoid the problem of everyone appearing to be asleep in my photos?

tia

tiggers

PC,

I'm pretty sure on the E10 and therefore I would guess on the E20 there is a pre-flash setting that sends a couple of pre-flashes before the main flash.

Any blinking happens on the pre-flash so that eyes are open for the shot, supposed to also reduce red-eye as well.

Can't remember exactly how to set it - check the flash menu options.

tiggers.

P.S. Edited to say that the built in flash is fairly poor and you would be far better buying a dedicated external flash if you are doing any serious flash photography with the E20.

ProperCharlie

tiggers - i think that the pre-flash function is on already. i was under the impression that this was what was causing the problem. i know that i separate flash unit would be better, but it's a bit OTT for taking snaps.

tiggers

There is a very noticeable delay after pressing the shutter before the picture is taken (much longer than a blink) when using the pre-flash so is this happening when you shoot with flash or not?

I used an E10 for about 12 months and whenever I shot with models using the flash (external flash admittedly) I never had one single 'blink shot' when using the pre flash.

As for being OTT for snaps - the E-20 is a damn good camera so why skimp on the accessories - you can get a used FL-40 flash for reasonable money on E-Bay or the likes.

Also take the bloody thing off the full auto 'Program' setting and at least use shutter priority then play with the flash compensation settings until you get used to what makes the images look well lit. Remember digital images aren't as forgiving in terms of under/over exposure as film so practice and you won't regret it.

tiggers.

ProperCharlie

cheers - i'll have a play once i get home. a friend of mine has the dedicated flash unit, for the E-20, so i might burrow that and see if it seems like a worthwhile investment.

ProperCharlie

i've just experimented with another E-20 that's here in the office. it seems that the pre-flash is so near to the shutter being released that you don't have time to open your eyes after the intial blink. bit of a design fault?

tiggers

Ahh!! Well that's definitely different to the E-10 and would definitely seem to be a bit daft design wise.

In that case you're going to need an external flash and use a diffuser or bounce it. Trouble with bouncing it off ceilings or walls is the shadowing can get nasty particulalrly on people's faces. Go the diffuser/flash softbox route would be my advise.

tiggers.

ProperCharlie

quick bttt in cae anyone can tell me how to avoid this eye shut effect without having to buy a separate flash unit.

tiggers

PC,

Tested my old E-10 last night - approx 1 sec of pre-flash before the shot is taken. Took 20 pics of my wife - not one blink!

I think either you don't have the camera set properly, the E-20 is vastly different although I can find no record of this or your subject is a duffer

Try the Olympus forum on DP Review as there are loads of E-20 owners on there.

tiggers.