kathleen (01/14/83)
Whoever wrote the article about using a flash didn't state whether or not they had an adjustable flash head. If so, the flash burn in the eyes is easily corrected. Simply tilt up the head of the flash and use it in a bounce position. You may have to open up a half a stop on your camera to compensate for the bounce. If your flash head is not adjustable, there are still ways to diffuse the flash. You could purchase a diffuser from a camera store to fit over the flash or you could rubberband a piece of white cloth over the head and use the flash in this manner. You would have to experiment with the flash to determine the amount of stops to compensate for the diffusion,but it would be to your advantage to do this. Perhaps by using a smaller size roll of film for this experiment, you could keeps costs down. Happy shooting!! Katie
prgclb (01/14/83)
I think the red spots in the eyes when taking flash pix are due to illumination of the persons' retinas. Can anyone confirm/deny? Of course, this will only happen when the flash is very close to the lens, like on instamatics. That's why people with outboard flashes on their 35mm SLRs don't have the problem -- not because they're pros, but because the flash will be several inches from the lens. Carl Blesch Bell Labs - Naperville, Ill. IH 2A-159, (312) 979-3360 ihuxm!prgclb
gjm (01/14/83)
The strange appearence of people's eyes in many flash photos is typically referred to as "red eye". This condidtion is caused by direct reflection of the flash off of the retina. "Red eye" is most apparent when the flash to subject's eye path is nearly parallel to the path of the reflected light from the subject's eye to the camera lens. So tilting the flash head for bounce as Katie suggests will eliminate the condition, but also cuts down on the effective range of the flash unit (less of the light output from the flash reaches the subject). If you are indoor with good reflecting ceilings and walls, bounce should be an effective measure with even pleasing effects. However, it is ineffective outdoors because of the lack of reflecting surfaces. The standard way to reduce "red eye" is to move the flash source "off center" away from the lense as far as necessary (or possible). This is why some of the pocket 110 cameras supply you with a stalk to mount the flash cube away from the lense. Bracket mounts or flash extensions can also be used, but you must be aware that many flash sensors are attached to the flash head, so moving the unit also means moving the sensor away from the lense (where it is the most accurate). Many flash systems offer "remote sensors" to mount on the camera for off-camera flash. Note that it is the angle that is critical, so close subject usually have less problem with "red eye", while subjects at longer flash ranges require the flash to be farther off-camera to eliminate the condition. Gary Murakami ihnp4!gjm
halle1 (01/15/83)
The problem still exists if the flash is mounted on the SLR, although it is not as bad. It must be removed several more inches to stop the redeye.
nrf (01/15/83)
another way to reduce 'red-eye' is to provide additional light in the room if possible so the subjects pupils contract further.
dmmartindale (01/16/83)
You get the red-eye effect whenever the flash and camera lens are within a small enough angle of each other from the point of view of the subject. The darker the room and thus the wider their pupils are, the greater this angle can be and still get the effect. But it simply angle that matters, not absolute distance of flash from the camera lens - I've gotten redeye in pictures taken with a telephoto lens where the flashtube was 6-8 inches away from the lens, but when the subject is 30 feet away that isn't much of an angle.
jhillis (01/17/83)
RE: redeye Rinse the prints in murine
rs55611 (01/20/83)
Several people have recommended using bounce flash (tilted flash head) as a means to eliminate "redeye", mentioning in their responses that there is a loss of flash intensity that must be compensated for. Some clarification is needed. First, with automatic flashes, no compensation is needed, as the light coming back to the flash sensor has already bounced off the ceiling, and is therefore already less intense. Thus, the flash (or the camera, in the case of TTL flash metering, as on Minolta x-700) will automatically adjust for the bounce flash. The thing which you have to be aware of is that the maximum flash to subject distance over which the auto-flash will work properly has been reduced. Most auto-flashes with bounce heads have an indication on the table on the back of the flash which shows maximum distance as a function of film speed (this also shows the appropriate aperture for each film speed). This table will often also show a reduced maximum distance when using bounce flash (automatic mode only) Aperture compensation at the camera is only needed for manual flash mode. Another warning: Pictures taken with bounce flash can be discolored if the surface that the flash bounces off of (prior to getting to the subject) is colored. Thus, bounce flash off of a white ceiling works, while bouncing off of a painted wall (holding the camera vertically, for instance) will cause coloration. (Off-white ceilings give a nice warming effect.) Diffusers placed over the flash head avoid this, and will also be automatically compensated for by auto-flash operation. Bob Schleicher ihuxk!rs55611