Recommendation for D7000/ Yongnuo YN-565EX ETTL Settings for Models?

Lautermilch

Senior Member
I just wore out a D90 and replaced it with a D7000 that was barely used.

I do models in 50mm and just want a soft fill flash. Examples of my D90 at work - https://www.flickr.com/photos/lautermilch/albums/72157689784540353

Anyway, I know there is an issue with settings with my D7000 and my Yongnuo YN-565EX as the images are not consistent.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of the settings I should be using? While I like to shoot in aperture priority mode I do a lot of newbie models and instead of standing still they are always moving so I have to shoot them in shutter priority.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I just wore out a D90 and replaced it with a D7000 that was barely used.

I do models in 50mm and just want a soft fill flash. Examples of my D90 at work - https://www.flickr.com/photos/lautermilch/albums/72157689784540353

Anyway, I know there is an issue with settings with my D7000 and my Yongnuo YN-565EX as the images are not consistent.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of the settings I should be using? While I like to shoot in aperture priority mode I do a lot of newbie models and instead of standing still they are always moving so I have to shoot them in shutter priority.
I replied to your other thread but you deleted your post... My question again is, are you shooting with Auto-ISO enabled?
 

nickt

Senior Member
I was about to reply to the other post, but it disappeared.... Admittedly, I didn't look at the pictures or think it through... but based on what Paul said I'll throw out there to check menu b3, easy exposure compensation. If that were ON, you might accidentally change exposure compensation. How it works is that B3 enables the opposite command wheel to control exposure comp when in A or S.
 

Lautermilch

Senior Member
I was about to reply to the other post, but it disappeared.... Admittedly, I didn't look at the pictures or think it through... but based on what Paul said I'll throw out there to check menu b3, easy exposure compensation. If that were ON, you might accidentally change exposure compensation. How it works is that B3 enables the opposite command wheel to control exposure comp when in A or S.

I see that B3 is 'off'.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I checked the settings. It is set for ISO 100. I tried to change it to auto and the camera said 'This option is not avaibible with current settings.'
Okay I'm confused because you're asking about settings for your D7000 but the links in this thread show you were using a D90, and both exposure settings and ISO used varies widely from shot to shot. In your previous post all your shots were taken with a D7000 and the only thing that changed with those shots was the Exposure Compensation/ISO.
 

Lautermilch

Senior Member
Okay I'm confused because you're asking about settings for your D7000 but the links in this thread show you were using a D90, and both exposure settings and ISO used varies widely from shot to shot. In your previous post all your shots were taken with a D7000 and the only thing that changed with those shots was the Exposure Compensation/ISO.

I do show my D90 in action with a link to one model as an example of what I am trying to accomplish.
As for the 'Exposure Compensation/ISO' how is that changing in the RAW files since I am only pushing the shutter in that series of images?
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I do show my D90 in action with a link to one model as an example of what I am trying to accomplish.
As for the 'Exposure Compensation/ISO' how is that changing in the RAW files since I am only pushing the shutter in that series of images?
When I look at the raw files posted to your Dropbox account the shutter speed remains constant at 1/250; at least in the images I looked at (e.g. numbers 3, 5, 8 and 11). What did change was the ISO, which varies from ISO 200 to ISO 560, which correlates perfectly to the Exposure Compensation (when applied, not all shots show EC being applied).

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you were "pushing the shutter" in that series of images. For instance images 003 and 011 both show exposure settings of f/1.8 at 1/250. However, image 003 shows ISO 200 with 0 EC applied while image 011 shows ISO 320 and an EC of +1.67, which correlates perfectly with an ISO increase from ISO 200 to ISO 320.
 
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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I arbitrarily downloaded 3 different images. All have different file properties. The only thing consistent is the shutter speed of 1/250".

File #1 - aperture f/2.2, ISO 100, Exposure Compensation -1.7 stop

File #5 - aperture f/1.8, ISO 560, Exposure Compensation +1.7 stop

File #9 - aperture f/1.8, ISO 100, Exposure Compensation 0 stop

The Exposure Compensation doesn't affect the flash. That's to control the ambient light. And there isn't much of any background light to worry about since she's against a wall. Why are you altering the ambient exposure so much? Unfortunately the file properties don't allow us to know whether or not you changed your flash exposure.
 
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Lautermilch

Senior Member
OK, trying to narrow this down.
I just took some shots of a softbox standing still and making sure I did not hit anything but the shutter. I waited ten seconds between shots and had the flash sound turned on (annoying) to let me know the flash was ready each shot. I would feel the shots should be pretty much the same but the same thing is happening.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/emnx5zjn4z3x165/AACDylVS0q-RMKhaS3NnjuXka?dl=0

So, in Faststone image viewer, it shows the 'Exposure Bias' from 0.0 to -1.67 EV. What could be causing this change?
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Thanks!!
That fixed it. I never heard of bracketing so I looked it up and could not find how to turn it off until I looked in the Nikon manual.
I thought I might have a defective camera.

Glad Fred's info resolved your problem! :encouragement: Bracketing is helpful when shooting a scene with a high dynamic range. It allows the photographer to take several images at different exposures and merge them into one. So one image will capture details in the highlights, another will capture details in the shadows, and another will be shot at its normal exposure. Bracketing can be set to take a series of 3, 5, or more images in a sequence.

Enjoy your D7000. :)
 

editorial_use_only

Senior Member
My experience with flash is that I get best results with all manual and nothing auto. For event work I do use TTL but I will be in M with auto-ISO off. And for portraits I would go all manual. It's a chore to walk back and forth from camera to flash 1 to flash 2 to flash 3 to get your ratios right but (1) there are some remotes that let you adjust power from the camera and (2) that's what the shot takes sometimes, fiddling around until you get what you want.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
First thing to check is which mode are you using? If you are shooting in auto mode, a lot of options will not be available to you. One more thing to consider is to make certain that you wait for the flash to completely recharge between shots. Sometimes one can get carried away and the flash will flash, but could be less than fully charged.

You would also make sure that you are not using spot metering when you just want to fill in with the flash, otherwise the exposure will vary quite a bit depending on what the meter is measuring on.
 

Lautermilch

Senior Member
First thing to check is which mode are you using? If you are shooting in auto mode, a lot of options will not be available to you. One more thing to consider is to make certain that you wait for the flash to completely recharge between shots. Sometimes one can get carried away and the flash will flash, but could be less than fully charged.

You would also make sure that you are not using spot metering when you just want to fill in with the flash, otherwise the exposure will vary quite a bit depending on what the meter is measuring on.

Normally I shoot in shutter priority as the newbie models have a hard time standing still. Pro models can pose and hold it so I can do a few different apatures.

I will check the metering mode as well today and appreciate that advice.
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
You are making the camera do too much of the deciding. Turn off EVERYTHING and with flash shoot manual exposure. Itis much easier and more consistent. Auto ISO---off
Bracketing --off
Aperture priority --off
Shutter priority --off
Easy compensation--off

Manual exposure triad....aperture, shutter and ISO all need to be set for the specific feature that control. There would be reasons to set the shutter very slow, moderate or fast when using flash based on desired results
DOF is an important concept that your intended results would be impacted by. Outdoors with a busy background, a shallow Depth of Field to allow the subject to pop out of a blurry background calls for a lage aperture. A longer Depth of Field is best when the entire target subject is to be sharp like in a studio where you have multiple light sources and controlled background means stopped down. Weaker lenses often perform very well at f/5.6 or f/8
ISO is a consideration in noise tolerance and light contribution from flash.
Set those parameters based on condtions and intent of the shot. After that, let the flash make up the difference.
The balance between ambient and flash really changes the image and is a creative tool. If you want the background to be close to the exposure of the subject, make all your exposure adjustments to expose the background as you prefer and let the flash take care of exposure of the subject. The background will not be influenced as much by the flash but the subject exposure will be determine almost entirely by the flash due to the vast difference in exposure duration between ambient and the very short flash pulse.
All this sounds confusing at first but once you get the hang of manual exposure you will see why almost all serious flash or strobe photography is done in manual mode. It is also faster.
I shot 435 frames last night, all flash, and no exposure problems or missed focus in a highly variable lighting environment of a dance club for the owners who wanted promo shots for their nightly music programs. Between fob machines, laser sweeps and wild mixes of color temperature and light intensity. Every shot worked, all manual and no hassle or wasted time.
It is not hard or time consuming, it takes less time than constantly dialing in different ratios of light.
 
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