Sigma 50/50e 5.5 AutoFill Flash Reduction, 5.6 Other Flash Options

highest sync speed (1/125 sec.). Also as light levels increase, to the point of over

exposureby the brighter ambient light, the lens aperture will get increasingly smaller.

Withthe camera in Av, Tv and M modes, the camera meter will insist on a full and

properambient light exposure in addition to your ﬂash exposure. It’s the same thing as

nightﬂash modein some other cameras. The background will be properly exposed by

the ambient light exposure and the ﬂash will insure that the subject in the foreground

isproperly exposed by the ﬂash. However,if the light is dim, the shutter speed will get

veryslow, often too slow to hand hold the camera. If that happens you can simply turn

the camera back to P mode which will raise the shutter to 1/60 second, butthis will

usuallycreate dark, underexposed backgrounds. A slow shutter speed with the camera

mountedon a tripod isoften the best solution. Also, the Elan II/IIe has custom function

#9 to keepthe shutter speed at 1/125 sec. in Avmode if you want that.

I ﬁnd that when using ﬂash, setting the camera to manual mode is usually easier to

keepeverything in control. Since the ﬂash exposure is being determined automatically

anyway, having the camera on manual really doesn’t slow much of anything down.

Also, remember, that with ﬂash the aperture effects both ambient lighting and ﬂash

lighting, but the shutter speed only effects ambient lighting. This is because the ﬂash

pulseis muchfaster than the shutter.

5.5 AutoFill Flash Reduction

The Elan II/IIe automatically provides negative Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC)

when shooting in bright light. If using ﬂash with light levels above 10EV (equal to

f/5.6 @ 1/30 seconds) the camera assumes you want a normal ambient light exposure

with ﬁll ﬂash to brighten the nearby subject, so it reduces the normal ﬂash output.

This effect fades in as the brightness of the ambient lighting increases above EV10.

The maximum of -1.5 stops of FEC is applied with TTL/A-TTL metering and up to

2 stops with E-TTL. This auto FEC happens in all camera modes and is designed to

makeyour ﬁll ﬂash pictures more natural looking. Mostpeople like the effect but many

photographerswant even more reductionfor their ﬁllﬂash pictures. This can be easily

donewith the Elan II/IIE by means of the FEC control on the camera body. This FEC

will be in addition to any auto FEC the camera decides on. Some EOS cameras have a

custom function to eliminate this Auto Fill Flash Reduction, but the Elan II/IIe does

not.

5.6 Other Flash Options

Other Flash Options: The Elan II/IIe does not have a ﬂash PC connector to use with

studio lights and other manual ﬂash units, but you can use a generic hot shoe to

PC adapter. Nikon’s AS-15 is a good quality one, but there are lowercost versions as

well. With a manual or studio ﬂash you will need a ﬂash meter to get consistent ﬂash

exposure. Published guide numbers can’t always be trusted.

The Elan II/IIe can also use auto ﬂash units like the venerable Vivitar 283/285 or

Sunpak 383. This is a way to get a more powerful ﬂash without breaking the bank to

do it. There are several big limitations however. The meter is in the ﬂash unit and it

will not take into account the lens’s ﬁeld of view. This can give inaccurate exposures.