External flash. Acquaintance

An external flash is an indispensable tool for both photo enthusiasts and professionals. A modern external flash allows you not only to shoot in low light, but also to create a spectacular, artistic light in your photos in the same way as studio light sources do. A flash is not just a battery lamp, but a complex device that you need to learn how to work with. With this material, we are opening a new series of articles devoted to working with an external flash.

External flash shot

Why do I need an external flash? Indeed, almost all modern cameras (except, as a rule, purely professional or ultra-compact models) are equipped with a built-in flash - why not be content with it? An external flash has several significant advantages.

Built-in flash on Nikon D750

External flash Nikon Speedlight SB-910

The disadvantages of the built-in flash

"Flat" lighting. Using the built-in flash, you will receive the same lighting as a miner with a flashlight on his helmet. Front lighting destroys the whole play of light and shadow in the photo. But it is precisely due to it on the image plane that we can feel the volume.

Frame shot with frontally directed flash. The volume is poorly expressed, the shadows are too contrasting.

A shot taken with an external flash using the flash-to-ceiling technique, which will be described later. Feel the difference in the transfer of volume in the photo.

Limited creative work with light. From the first point, the second follows: once the flash is fixed on the camera body, we cannot change its position - to highlight the subject, for example, from the side. In addition, we can’t practically adjust the pulse power of the built-in flash, for us everything is decided by automation. The only option is to make exposure compensation for the flash. Only in this way can we make the light from the flash relatively (parameters determined by automation) brighter or darker.
High probability of occurrence of "red eyes". The problem is known to everyone who at least once photographed with a flash. Of course, in modern cameras, it is solved by a special flash mode, and with computer processing it is very simple to remove redness from the eyes. However, the problem exists. And it is connected, again, with the location of the built-in flash - on the camera, close to the lens - and the strictly frontal lighting that it gives.
Low power. The built-in flash can only illuminate objects a few meters away from you. Therefore, it is useless to shoot distant or large objects with its help.
Waste camera battery. The built-in flash is powered by the battery of your camera. And she eats quite a lot. Constantly using the built-in flash, you run the risk of putting the camera’s battery faster than usual.

One of the main advantages of the built-in flash is its compactness. The built-in flash is always with you - on the camera. Be that as it may, it can be used for its intended purpose. It is capable of not only “boring to highlight” the main characters of the frame, with its help you can even implement some creative tricks. One of them is the foreground highlight. For example, in this frame, the built-in flash highlighted the falling snow in the foreground. Since the snowflakes were out of focus, they gave funny circles in the photo.

NIKON D810 Installations: ISO 1250, F3.5, 1/125 s, 85.0 mm equiv.

Why do I need an external flash?

Now, knowing the minuses of the built-in flash, we can understand what photographers expect from an external flash. Let us examine in more detail what she can give the photographer.

Power. It often happens that the built-in flash power is not enough, especially when shooting at distances of more than 3-5 meters. An external flash is much more powerful. With its help, you can capture both far-off objects and fill large areas with light when shooting with wide-angle optics. However, the power of different models of external flashes varies - we will talk about this later.
Speed. External flashes (we are talking primarily about "native" models, not Chinese counterparts) recharge much faster, which means that the intervals between shots can be reduced and even serial shooting can be used. In addition, many flashes allow you to shoot at shutter speeds shorter than the sync speed , which the built-in flash cannot provide. There is a special high-speed synchronization for this.
Flexibility in configuration and operation. Serious external flashes allow you to control almost all of your parameters (power, viewing angle), choose various modes of automation (or completely disable it).

Nikon Speedlight SB-910 Flash Display

Remote control, creative work with light. Not only do most external flashes allow you to direct your head in the right direction, but there is also the opportunity to take the external flash away from the camera, which means creatively working with light.
Autonomy. An external flash is a completely independent accessory. It works on its own batteries, so it will not land the battery of the device. In addition, modern flashes work on the most common "finger-type" (type AA) batteries, which can be found in any outback. In addition, you can continue to use an external flash with another camera if you buy a new one.
The abundance of accessories. External flashes come in a great variety of all kinds of accessories. These include both a variety of light-diffusing nozzles, and, say, external battery compartments that increase the duration and speed of the flash. You can always expand the capabilities of your flash by choosing the right accessory.

External flash equipped with Lastolite Ezybox Hotshoe softbox

Color set

Hot shoe. Flash compatibility and automation

“Hot shoe” - such a strange name has a connector for attaching an external flash. Why is the shoe hot? Because it has contacts that transmit an electric impulse to the flash so that it works. Previously, to trigger outbreaks, it was necessary to apply a considerable voltage to such a connector, which is why it was called “hot”. There is a "cold shoe." This is the same mount, but without any electrical contacts, it serves only to physically fix the equipment. Besides the already not so powerful electric impulse, additional data, for example, information about the necessary impulse power, can be transmitted along the modern “hot shoe”. For the operation of modern flashes, it is important to ensure not only a simple transmission of the electric signal for the flash (just saying “Work!”), But also to organize the work of its complex automation, because a modern camera and flash must exchange a lot of data. Today, even firmware (a set of firmware for controlling the flash) is installed through the hot shoe connector! There are many flash mount standards. Each manufacturer tries to stick to its own developments.

Hot shoe Nikon cameras

on the example of a Nikon D750 camera

Today, each camera manufacturer is developing its own technologies that make it easier to use the flash, and various modes of automatic operation. With this automatic flash, you need to somehow communicate with the camera in order to coordinate their work with it, so cameras from different manufacturers will have slightly different mounts. i-TTL is a system developed by Nikon for connecting cameras and flashes. It allows you to share flash and the apparatus with all the necessary shooting information. Thanks to i-TTL, you can use the flash in a fully automatic mode without using any special settings at all. All modern Nikon flash units operate on the i-TTL system, and many third-party flash units are equipped with it. Flashes that are not equipped with the i-TTL system will work on Nikon cameras only in manual mode: you will have to adjust their power, zoom (if any) yourself. ??????? ? ?????????? ?????????? Nikon ????? «???????????» (???????? ISO-518:2006) ??????? ??????: ?? ???? ????? ?????????? ??? ??????? ????????? ?????????????? (? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ??????????? ??????????), ??? ? ????????? ?????????? — ??????? ?? ???????????? ?????? ? ?????????? ??????? Wi-Fi ??? GPS. Can I use flash from a different manufacturer on my camera? Yes, but, firstly, for full compatibility and the correct operation of the automation, the flash must also have electronics compatible with the cameras of your manufacturer (in the case of Nikon, it must be compatible with i-TTL technology). Therefore, if you choose a third-party flash, make sure that it is designed specifically for your brand of cameras. Often in the names of the flashes they say: “For Nikon” or “For Canon”. And secondly, even if there is a formal compatibility of the correct operation of a flash from a third manufacturer with your device, no one guarantees: the main difficulty arises with the accuracy of working out the exposure with such flashes. “Native” flashes here work more accurately. Important caution. Although anything fits physically on a camera with a standard hot shoe, even old Zenith flashes, do not use them with modern devices! In old flashes, too hot a voltage is applied to the hot shoe, which can damage the electronics of the digital camera. It is safe to use only modern low-voltage flash units.

Which flash is right for your device?

Of course, the flash created by the manufacturer of your camera. Of course, in addition to the “native” outbreaks, there are many alternative solutions on the market, but photographers use them at their own risk. In my experience, it’s better not to be smart and get a “native” flash. So you will definitely have a fully compatible and reliable working tool, not a toy, which is likely to break after several shootings. “Native” to Nikon cameras are the Nikon Speedlight series. To date, the range of Nikon Speedlight flashes has many models - from the most affordable (such as Nikon SB-300) to professional (for example, Nikon SB-700 and Nikon SB-910).

Affordable Nikon Speedlight SB-300

Professional Nikon Speedlight SB-700

The basic technique of working with an external flash, which everyone should know about

The key difference between an external flash and an internal flash is not so much in power as in a rotating head. Thanks to it, you can implement a technique that will significantly improve lighting when shooting indoors. Of course, we are talking about the reception of "flash to the ceiling." The essence of the reception is simple: the flash is sent not to the forehead of the subject, but to the ceiling. When it works, the light will first hit the ceiling, which will act as a giant diffuser. And only after that the soft, diffused light from the ceiling will fall on our object. Thus, we kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, the light becomes diffused, without contrasting shadows. Secondly, it falls on the object not frontally, but from top to bottom: such lighting is more familiar to the look, and better emphasizes the volume of objects due to the soft play of light and shadow. The reception is very simple to execute. The automation of modern flashes does not require any additional settings from you: just lift the flash head up and it will adjust all the parameters accordingly. The only limitation of this technique is that it is applicable only where there is a ceiling. Please note that if your ceiling is not white (they are black, brown) or it is very high, the reception may not work. When the ceiling is higher than usual, the pulse calculated by the automatic flash may not be enough, and the frames will be dark. To avoid this, you can slightly increase the ISO on the camera. This can be done both on the flash and on the camera using the appropriate button. In addition, instead of the ceiling, you can try to use other surfaces to reflect the flash. For example, a wall or a reflector, which is specially mounted on a stand or given in the hands of an assistant. It is important that the reflective surface is white: the only way in the photo you get the color without distortion.

NIKON D810 / 70.0-200.0 mm f / 4.0 Installations: ISO 800, F8, 1/60 s, 98.0 mm equiv.

The structure of an external flash

Despite the variety of models, all external flashes have approximately the same structure. An external flash is usually equipped with a pivoting head that can pivot both up and down and left and right. For the most affordable flashes (for example, Nikon SB-300), the head rotates only vertically. A rotating head is a very important element in a flash. It is he who will allow you to work with her comfortably, having a maximum of possibilities for adjusting lighting. Above, we just examined the most common method of working with a rotating flash head. On the pivoting head is located both the flash lamp itself and the wide-angle diffuser. It is needed when you shoot with ultra-wide-angle optics and it is necessary for the flash to fill the entire space of the frame with light.

The illustration shows a flash with the head pointing upward, a wide-angle diffuser, and a reflective map.

An integrated reflective card may also be located next to the diffuser. It can be used as a small reflector when you shoot with a flash aimed at the ceiling. An interesting feature of advanced flashes (Nikon SB-700 and Nikon SB-910) is that they have a “zoom”: the flash can produce a beam of different widths. For shooting with short-focus lenses, it can provide a wide beam of light, and for long-focus lenses, a narrowly focused pulse. It is noteworthy that this function is used not only for its intended purpose (when the angle of illumination is adjusted to the focal length of your lens), but it is also used for creative work. Thus, you can create light spots in the image, for example, by choosing a narrow angle of illumination, but shooting with a wider-angle lens - below we will talk more about this technique. A high-quality flash always has a metal, rather than a plastic mount to the camera and is additionally fixed to it using a special lever. There are controls on the back of the flash, and advanced models (such as SB-700, SB-910) also have an information display that displays all the flash settings. On the front of the flash, behind the red glass, is the AF-assist illuminator. It helps the camera focus quickly and accurately in low light - another very useful flash function.

Key Features of External Flashes

Power. Leading number. Of course, different flashes have different power. In contrast to studio flashes , where the power is characterized in joules, for external flashes use the more complex concept of "guide number". What is a leading number? This is the distance (in meters) that the flash can give an impulse, and you will get a normally exposed frame.

Typically, when calculating a guide number, the following exposure parameters are used: ISO100 sensitivity and F1 aperture. Of course, a lens with an aperture of F1 is absolutely exotic, so this rule may require recounting. To do this, you can use the usual exposure calculator . So you can find out that F1 at ISO100 is the same as F2.8 at ISO800. The leading number of built-in flashes usually fluctuates around 10–12, and for external ones - from 20 to 60. It turns out that with F2.8 and ISO800, the built-in flash can “finish” only up to 10–12 meters, while the external can shine at a distance from 20 to 60 meters (depending on model). The problem is that different manufacturers measure the guide number differently. For example, Nikon measures the guide number for wide-angle, and many competitors measure telephoto for the flash zoom. And for flashes with zoom, this is important, because the pulse can shine with a wide viewing angle, but for a short distance, or maybe with a narrow beam and far. Therefore, even if the flash output is approximately the same, some models will formally lose to others in the leading number. To compare the outbreaks with each other according to the leading number, especially if these are outbreaks of various manufacturers, an ungrateful task. The leading number is a purely theoretical value, “a spherical horse in a vacuum,” and is most often used only to compare the power of various flashes when buying. After you buy a flash and start shooting, you will most likely forget about all the leading numbers.

In TTL (auto) mode, the flash displays information at what distance its flash will be effective. In this case, it is from 4.9 to 20 m.

In manual mode, the flash shows its power in fractions of the full pulse. Now it is set to power at 1/128 of the maximum.

On the flash itself, the pulse power is measured differently: in fractions of the maximum flash power. That is, 1 is the most powerful impulse, ½ is its half, and 1/32 is, accordingly, its one thirty-second part of the maximum. Modern external flashes allow you to finely adjust your power. For example, the SB-700 allows you to set the minimum pulse even in 1/128 seconds. For example, such small pulses are often needed when working with high-aperture optics, on open diaphragms.

Zoom range. As already mentioned, advanced flash models can change the angle of the emitted light beam. By default, this angle is tied to the viewing angle of your lens, but you can configure it yourself if you wish. The flash writes its viewing angle at the selected focal lengths. The wider the range of focal lengths the flash can handle, the better. For example, Nikon SB-700 can change the beam angle in the range from 24 to 120 mm, and Nikon SB-910 is already in the range of 17-200 mm. When using a wide-angle diffuser, the beam angle is suitable for lenses up to 14 mm. Of course, no one bothers you with shooting with lenses of other focal lengths, for example, with televisions. Just the angle of light given by the flash will be slightly wider than the viewing angle of the lens.

The viewing angle of the flash is conveniently adjusted during creative work with the flash, receiving, if not a point, then a rather narrow beam of light. This effect can be compared with the use of conical nozzles in the studio. That's just a sensible studio conical nozzle itself will cost almost like a flash. So the latter will turn out more universal and more profitable.

Nikon D810 / Nikon 70-200mm f / 4G ED AF-S VR Nikkor / Nikon Speedlight SB-700

An example of the creative use of zoom and light filters (about them below) flash. Nikon SB-700 is installed to the left of the composition, 105 mm zoom is set on it. A yellow light filter is installed on the flash to color the background in pleasant warm colors. The narrow beam of the flash did not illuminate the entire background evenly, but only a fragment of it.

Colour temperature. Like all light sources, the light from a flash has its color temperature . Usually it is 5500–5600 K. If you are shooting with mixed lighting and not only a flash is shining on the subject, but also extraneous lighting (from home or office lamps to street lamps), it is important that the flash is combined with it in color temperature. Otherwise, the object will be painted in different colors. For these purposes, advanced Nikon flash units (SB-700, SB-910) are supplied with special filters that correct color temperature. The green filter is for shooting under fluorescent lamps, and the yellow one is for incandescent lamps.

A typical situation when shooting indoors, when the light from the flash is combined with home lighting from incandescent lamps. The foreground has the correct colors, while the background has turned yellow.

Set the yellow filter to the flash. And now, both the background and the foregrounds have the same color temperature.

Pulse duration. An interesting feature of external flashes is that their power is adjusted by shortening the flash pulse. For example, with the SB-910, at full power, the pulse lasts 1/1100 seconds, while at 1/128 it is already fantastic 1/38000 seconds. Such short impulses, with proper dexterity, will allow you to shoot frames with very fast movement: insects in flight, drop drops in all details. And of course, such short impulses will be enough to “freeze” a person in motion.

How to choose a flash?

We already talked a lot about external flashes. In all this information, it is very easy to get confused for a novice photographer choosing his first flash. Therefore, we will devote the final section of the article to tips on choosing a flash - what to pay attention to first of all. All items are in descending order of importance.

Compatible with your camera. Of course, in order to work effectively with the flash, it must be 100% compatible with the camera. Do not think that controlling the flash manually is easy, quite the opposite. Therefore, it is important that all flash control functions correctly. In this regard, a win-win option will be the purchase of a "native" flash. Do not be afraid to overpay for it - as a bonus for such an outbreak you will get impeccable quality, reliability, all possible functions and warranty service.
Rotating head. The most important element of the flash is the turning head. It will allow you to use the “flash on the ceiling" technique, creating high-quality, soft lighting in the pictures. Flashes without a swivel head, I advise you to immediately dismiss them - they are unlikely to be better than the built-in flash, unless a little more powerful. It's good that in the modern Nikon flash range, even the simplest SB-300 has a swivel head.
Manual settings options. If the first two points are tips that are suitable for all photographers, now recommendations for those who want to engage in photography at an advanced level will go. In 99% of cases, the flash is used in fully automatic mode. But there is also 1 percent of creative filming, where you need full control of the flash: you need to adjust, say, its power or adjust the zoom. Nikon SB-700 and Nikon SB-910 have rich manual settings in the Nikon flash line.
Reload speed. If you often do reportage, wedding filming, then for you this is the number one parameter. The speed of your work will depend on how quickly the flash will recharge between pulses. Note that inexpensive Chinese flashes often gain power in almost tens of seconds! The Nikon SB-700 flash also gains maximum charge in 2.5 seconds when using nickel-metal hydride (alkaline) batteries. Please note that the flash recharge speed is highly dependent on the quality of the used batteries or rechargeable batteries: when using unsuitable or worn-out power sources, the recharging may be delayed.
Zoom The range of changes in the angle of illumination of a flash can be important both for ordinary shooting and for solving creative problems. Of course, the wider the range of variation of the angle of illumination, the better.
Power.The flash power will affect both the recharge speed parameters and will allow more efficient work with reflected light (reflecting it from the ceiling, for example). Flash power is really important when you have to shoot at very long distances (for example, when hunting) or at very closed apertures using studio equipment (for example, softboxes or lightcubs). If you are a photo shooter or are engaged in subject studio photography (namely, the subject is removed in extremely closed apertures to achieve maximum depth of field) using external flashes, then you should pay attention to the flash output. In other cases, do not forget about power, but pay attention to other characteristics! Even if the power is a little lacking, just raise the ISO a little bit.
Remote control features. If you are engaged not only in reportage photography, but also work in those genres where there is a place for the production of light, then you will be very interested in the possibilities of remote control of flashes. Do you want not frontal, but lateral lighting in the photo? No problem - we put the flash on the side, and it synchronizes with the camera remotely, and on full automation! Yes, this can be done with any flash if you have an expensive TTL synchronizer, but Nikon flash has a feature that allows you to do without any additional accessories. Nikon's only flash, camera, and creative lighting system - technology that lets you combine flash and camera into a true wireless network!