Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] T32's auto mode Accuracy

Subject: Re: [OM] T32's auto mode Accuracy
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2001 01:07:07 +0000
At 04:09 2/8/01, Titoy wrote:
Hi John:

I notice that in using my T20 or T32, the skin tone of people for pictures
taken less than 2 meters tends to be too "white." Its not to say the picture
were overexposed, but just the faces look to brightly illuminated.

This is unlike new cameras that supposedly have a soft flash setting that
gives nice colored skin tones.
Don't you share the same experience?

Regards

Titoy

Yes, but I've always blamed this on getting too close with an undiffused flash that's too powerful for such a short distance. There is a minimum flash duration (1/40,000th second ??) which means you have a minimum working distance. If you get below the minimum working distance for aperture and film speed, you will overexpose; the flash cannot quench itself fast enough.

Even if the flash can quench fast enough, a bare flash tube at under 2 meters can cause very harsh pinkish or ruddy tones, especially from fair skinned people, even if the overall exposure is OK. This is a reflection of the harsh, bright light off of the blood in the capillaries just below the surface of the skin. For softer lighting and better skin tones at short distances I use the 21mm wide-angle diffuser on the front of the T-32 . . . or a single layer of clean white handkerchief over the T-20. It diffuses the light to cut the harshness of a bare strobe tube. Diffuser dispersion and absorption also reduces effective power output capability by about a stop. (In Normal or TTL Auto, the flash duration will increase to compensate.) I leave the diffusers on the flash heads and only pull them off if additional flash power is required.

-- John


< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz