How do I use live view and autofocus effectively with studio flash in a dark room?
Asked 5/2/2021
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2 answers
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I shot portraits in a dim studio using a single softbox flash and reflector. With my Sony A7 III set around 1/60s, f/2.2, ISO 50, the live view looked almost black because the ambient exposure was very low and the flash only fired during the exposure. Autofocus still worked, helped by the light in the softbox, but composing was difficult.
How can I work more effectively in this kind of setup? Is there a way to preview flash exposure in live view while still using autofocus, or should I use a different camera/display setting or lighting approach?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
6
You simply cannot preview the exposure of light that does not exist at that moment. You had modeling lights on, which is about the best you can do.
You do not have to use such a dimly lit studio environment. But you do generally want to start with a dark frame exposure (or nearly). To help with AF/live view you could turn up the modeling lights if available (but "proportional" is usually the better choice), or bring up the room lights some and use a higher sync/shutter speed. You could also use a smaller aperture, if that was suitable for the desired image (often is for a studio pic); as long as you had more flash power available. And make sure exposure preview is disabled; otherwise you will see your dark frame exposure.
Originally by user70370. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user70370
5y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
You generally cannot truly preview flash exposure in live view, because the flash light is not present until the instant the photo is taken.
What you can do is make live view usable for framing and AF:
- Disable exposure preview / set live view to a framing-oriented mode rather than a final-exposure preview mode. On Sony, this is typically the Live View Display setting.
- Use modeling lights on the studio flash, or raise them if possible. Modeling lights are the normal way to see the lighting pattern and help autofocus.
- If needed, add more room light or other continuous light for focusing/composing; the flash should still dominate the final exposure.
- If your setup allows it, use a smaller aperture and/or settings that are less extremely dark for ambient preview, while keeping within flash sync limits and available flash power.
So the practical answer is: you don’t preview the actual flash exposure directly; you use modeling/continuous light plus the camera’s non-exposure-preview live view mode to compose and focus.
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