Sorry. Link on point 3) should have been attached to point 2)
Chuck Norcutt
On 9/29/2010 11:49 AM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> As it turned out I didn't have to leave yet so I'll continue
>
> I'm in agreement with the lightweight wooden frames for your diffusers.
> They could be shoot-through or might simply be propped against the
> wall to serve as large reflectors. If shoot-through, an additional
> layer(s) of cloth or paper can be used to cut the flash intensity if needed.
>
> Whether you use only the two T32s or also include the T20 you will not
> necessarily need the multi-flash connector. T32s have two ports which
> can be used for daisy-chaining from one flash to the other. But your
> first problem is connecting from the E-500 (which has no OM TTL
> connector) to the first T32 in the chain. Options are to:
> 1) place the first T32 in the hotshoe of the E-510,
> 2) place the first T32 into a standard hot shoe adapter
> (just like a T20 TTL autoconnector except that it takes a
> standard PC cord rather than OM TTL cord).
> 3) use a TTL auto shoe cord in the hotshoe if you have one. But the
> coiled, 0.6 meter cord may not be long enough to get to your
> light stand so you may need the 3 way connector to allow attaching
> an extension TTL cord. Seen here at far left (also has test button)
> <http://www.chucknorcutt.com/gear/Homemade%20bracket%20&%20various%20hotshoe%20adapters.jpg>
>
> The camera should only be set to manual exposure. Set the ISO to the
> lowest level (you'll have more than enough light), set the shutter speed
> to 1/180 (the maximum flash sync speed for the E-500) and adjust the
> flash exposure with the aperture. If still too much light at the
> smallest desirable aperture then move the flashes back or add more
> diffusion/filter material to cut the light. Another option to cut the
> light (but it will take more experimentation) is to put the T32s into
> normal auto mode (not TTL) and adjust their output by using the ISO
> slider on the flash head. But for this to work well you must always
> maintain the same flash/diffuser setup distances so that the auto mode
> sensor on the flash always sees the same target at the same distance,
> presumably the reflector or shoot-through material. Note that the auto
> mode sensor has about a 20 degree angle of view. Make notes on setup
> and distances once you've got the exposure correct. Then you'll have a
> production environment where exposure and color balance are fixed and
> changing subjects requires nothing other than focusing and pressing the
> shutter button.
>
> Both exposure and white balance setting will only be done once. For
> exposure *testing* I would use a bright white (same as the shooting
> setup) background but with no subject in place. The exposure is correct
> when the white background is near maximum brightness without actually
> being blown out. Forget the exposure meter, use the histogram on the
> camera and/or whatever image processing software you have. This
> exposure testing setup can also serve as the white balance setting
> environment. One you have the white background exposure under control
> such that there's no blowout you can use that same exposure for white
> balance setting using the "setting the one touch white balance"
> instructions on page 90 of the E-500 manual. But, beyond the exposure
> and white balance setting, I don't think there's a need to use a bright
> white background (for even reflection) with all the diffusion and other
> room reflections you're likely to have. Use whatever color you like
> best. A medium gray might produce a nicer contrast. Who knows, maybe
> even red velvet would look nice (although velvet tends to produce
> reflected hot spots). :-)
>
> One other thing I happened to think about is your shooting setup and
> need for a tripod. I suppose you're probably shooting vertically down
> on the casings. It occurred to me that you may be able to shoot
> horizontally with the casing slipped over a nail stuck in a backing
> board. That way you'd only need something like a cheap table tripod and
> it might make setup, focusing and shooting easier.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
> On 9/29/2010 9:31 AM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>> I just opened this up and read it very quickly because I have to leave
>> for a few hours. But it's clear to me that I haven't made myself clear
>> on a couple of points. First, NO NO NO aperture preferred mode. Fully
>> manual exposure only. Secondly, I'm not sure you've got this white
>> balance thing down yet. I'll be back in a few hours for some more detail.
>>
>> Chuck Norcutt
>>
>>
>> On 9/29/2010 5:28 AM, Olaf Greve wrote:
>>> Hi Chuck,
>>>
>>> Thanks again for the two additional explicative e-mails: they are
>>> great and I shall save them for having them as back
>>> reference. These e-mails make the exact problems, and paths for
>>> solutions very clear; excellent explanations!
>>>
>>> So then, to summarise matters somewhat, I agree that it is more than
>>> worth a go to use the OM gear I already have; that also gives me a
>>> very, very good feeling, as it pains me to see it all unused in the
>>> closet.
>>>
>>> It does mean, however, that I need to work on the set-up. I have two
>>> semi-broken video camera (rather light) tripods which I can use to
>>> improvise umbrella stands, if I can find the custom made ones again.
>>> If not, other things could be improvised, such as firing through a bed
>>> sheet (possibly clumsy due to the size) or through the paper that
>>> clothes designers use (I don't know the proper English word for it) in
>>> order to diffuse the flash. I'm leaning towards the idea of giving
>>> both a go, see what works best, and then create some two wooden frames
>>> with the material of choice in between, so as to be able to more
>>> easily put them in place, without having to suspend them from
>>> something. As a beside, a thing I forgot to mention is that when I did
>>> some home-studio-experimenting, I used to tape off the windows with
>>> that type of paper too, so as to prevent outside light coming in
>>> harshly, and having it diffused.
>>>
>>> Indeed a BIG advantage of the digital era is that the exposure can
>>> directly be previewed for being more or less correct. Actually
>>> downloading a picture to the computer and checking it full size (as
>>> the LCD seems to give a brighter display then what I see in the end
>>> results!) should very quickly give a good indication for good
>>> settings, distances, etc.
>>>
>>> I may choose to not go for three flashes, but rather to just use the
>>> two T32s, at a 45 degrees angle from both sides of the object in
>>> question. I think I can then get away with it. I did at one point in
>>> time experiment a little bit with the T28 directly on the E-500 firing
>>> t manually. Even when fully stopped down that gave me an almost
>>> completely white picture. Totally overpowered. This then directly
>>> makes clear that one or two layers of diffusing material will be
>>> needed, so the bed sheets or transparant paper might be a better
>>> alternative than having it bounced in my custom made umbrellas. The
>>> semi transparent ones you mention sound good though. Particularly if
>>> they come cheap and complete with stands. A thing I shall be keeping
>>> my eyes open for.
>>>
>>> With that as intended set-up in mind, I can put the T32s in the T20
>>> autoconnectors for easily mounting them on the tripods. Hooking both
>>> up with the OM TTL cables (i.e. not the manual cables, which I don't
>>> have) to the three socket distribution block should then take care of
>>> the simultaneous firing of the both. I think, and that is, I'm just
>>> about 99.99% sure that I also have the proper hot-shoe cable to hook
>>> the distribution block up to the camera (IIRC, when using the 4Ti for
>>> this, I used to hook it up to the socket on the front, so as to be
>>> able to use a longer cable for that).
>>> Then, both T32s could be set to half-power (a thing achieved on the
>>> back of the flash with the switch panel, IIRC) and the camera should
>>> then probably be set to force flash usage (which setting is best? you
>>> mentioned something about the highest sync speed possible... is that
>>> something like 'lightning x4' or so?). Once configured correctly, the
>>> set-up could be tested, using a variety of ISO and aperture settings.
>>> The camera could then possibly be set to aperture preferred mode,
>>> hence getting a more consistent DOF too.
>>>
>>> Then, if the above is correct, a thing I'm still not 100% certain
>>> about (exposing my noop knowledge of the fine details of digital
>>> photography ;) ), is the theory behind proper WB setting. My reasons
>>> for wanting to switch to a white background would be that it tends to
>>> be more reflective than 18% gray (i.e. on the often round-shaped lying
>>> down items it helps to light somewhat from below, hopefully preventing
>>> side shadows (perhaps this is a flawed theory, as shadows shouldn't be
>>> an issue if the light is diffuse enough) and also to be able to more
>>> easily do the digital post processing, by having the pictures work
>>> towards getting a completely white background, as easy visual
>>> reference. Sounds good or flawed?
>>>
>>> Then, as for setting the WB properly... How can I best do that? Does
>>> this get done once in some custom mode, against a 100% subject (such
>>> as the intended backdrop?), and can that be locked into the camera for
>>> all subsequent shots?
>>>
>>> Once I have gotten all those techniques mastered, and once I have a
>>> suitable set-up going (a thing which I may not get around to until at
>>> the very least this weekend, and then there's TOPE too to finally get
>>> launched soon...), I will undoubtedly have some follow up questions as
>>> to how to best use Paint Shop Pro for the digital post processing.
>>> I've been a long time user of it, and I tend to like it better than
>>> the de-facto bloated and over-expensive Photoshop. In fact, PSP
>>> supports plenty more advanced features than I will be likely to ever
>>> need for the post-processing. All the stuff like tweaking curves,
>>> brightness, contrast, colour balances are there; possibly a bit less
>>> flexible than in PS, but it should be possible to get this figured out
>>> correctly too. IIRC one can also record some macros (or otherwise
>>> create pre-defined bulk processing options) which would be really
>>> great: I could then work on defining a standard set of tweaks, which
>>> can then simply be applied in bulk to possibly hundreds of pictures
>>> per shoot, after which the only manual work would be to possibly tweak
>>> rotation, cropping, and actual image selection.
>>>
>>> Sounds good -in theory- so far? :P
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Olafo
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