How can I get better low-light indoor shots with a DSLR pop-up flash?
Asked 12/24/2011
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I’m shooting indoor, low-light scenes with moving subjects on a Canon 60D, often in quick point-and-shoot situations where I don’t want to carry or set up an external flash. The built-in pop-up flash gives harsh, contrasty results. Are there any practical settings or simple tricks to make it look better, or is there only so much a pop-up flash can do?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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I'm going to say no. MikeW's advice on using a high ISO and longer shutter is good, and you can do little bounce card and diffuser gimmicks, but the absolute difference these make just isn't enough — the built-in flash still will suck.
Most importantly, these gimmicks and other tricks and techniques run against one of your fundamental requirements: no setup. You're going to have a thing to fiddle with, and something to worry about. In many situations it'd be less hassle to do something which will make a big, positive difference: use a hotshoe flash, or use a wireless-TTL flash off-camera triggered by the built-in flash. For the latter, you can put your flash somewhere convenient and out of the way in the room (on a bookcase, say, pointed at the ceiling). This is some setup, but not really very involved. I do it all the time for pictures of my family.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A pop-up flash has hard limits: it’s small, close to the lens, and usually gives harsh light. Small diffusers or bounce gadgets can help a little, but not dramatically.
The most useful approach is to make the flash do less work:
- use the fastest lens and highest ISO you can tolerate
- let in more ambient light instead of relying on flash alone
- use the slowest shutter speed you can get away with for subject motion
- reduce flash power with negative flash exposure compensation
A practical method is to first find the ambient exposure without flash, then increase shutter speed somewhat and add flash at around -1 EV flash compensation, adjusting from there. This can reduce the stark, high-contrast “flash look.”
But if your requirement is truly “no setup,” there’s no trick that will make a built-in flash perform like a larger off-camera or hot-shoe flash. For a big improvement, an external flash—especially bounced or placed off-camera—makes far more difference than any pop-up-flash accessory.
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