Question on D3 with SB800?

[D300fan]

It appears that I'm not getting a meter reading while my SB800 is on my D3. I believe when the camera is on spot metering that I won't get a reading, but why is it not working while on the other metering modes? The meter is completely lit going one direction and while adjusting either my shutter speed or f-stop, it will not adjust. Am I doing something wrong? Please explain this to me.

Thanks
George

 

[jfrancis]

You would have to be in manual exposure mode to use the camera meter when a Speedlight is in position.

 

[D300fan]

Manual is all that I shoot in.

 

[jfrancis]

I just mounted an SB900 on my D3 in manual mode and the meter works perfectly. Are you at a high enough ISO if you are doing this indoors?

 

[jfrancis]

Works in spot metering mode also.

 

[PhilDPho]

If you're somewhere dark, and you're using a speedlight, if you're at ISO200 and a fairly fast shutter speed the ambient will underexposed

 

[D300fan]

I was shooting at ISO 500 @ 1/50 while inside, and ISO 200 @ 1/250 while outside. Can't figure this one out?

 

[jfrancis]

Hmmm. So what happens if you manually meter a scene without the flash, so that exposure is dead on . . . and then attach the Speedlight? Does the meter shoot off in one direction?

 

[Uncle Frank]

It appears that I'm not getting a meter reading while my SB800 is on my D3. I believe when the camera is on spot metering that I won't get a reading, but why is it not working while on the other metering modes? The meter is completely lit going one direction and while adjusting either my shutter speed or f-stop, it will not adjust. Am I doing something wrong? Please explain this to me.

Thanks
George

When you have a flash on your camera, your maximum shutter speed is limited by the sync speed of your camera (1/250) at the high end, and whatever setting you've selected for "flash shutter speed", which is the minimum shutter speed you can select when using flash. The factory default is 1/60.

When you were outside, the shutter speed of 1/250 in combination with iso200 and the aperture you selected, was causing the ambient light to overexposure the image. Your metering system should have reflected this by showing white bars to the left of center.

When you were indoors, the shutter speed of 1/50 in combination with iso500 and the aperture you selected was causing the ambient light to underexpose the picture. would have caused severe underexposure without flash. Your metering system should have reflected this by showing white bars to the right of center.

Your solution outdoors would be to use a tighter shutter, or to put the flash is FP mode, so that it wouldn't restrict the maximum shutter speed to 1/250.

You don't really need a solution for indoors, since the flash will illuminate your subject. But your background will be very underexposed. You could address that by increasing the iso, selecting a larger aperture, or by changing the setting for flash shutter speed to a longer interval selecting a longer shutter speed.

I think your metering system is working perfectly.

 

[jfrancis]

But not in manual exposure mode Frank.

 

[Uncle Frank]

But not in manual exposure mode Frank.

Unless I've mistyped something, I believe all of those statements are true in manual mode on any Nikon DX camera. I can't imagine that the switch to FX would have caused Nikon to alter the underlying structure they've been using for their DX cameras.

 

[jfrancis]

When you have a flash on your camera, your maximum shutter speed is limited by the sync speed of your camera (1/250) at the high end, and whatever setting you've selected for "flash shutter speed", which is the minimum shutter speed you can select when using flash. The factory default is 1/60.

When you were outside, the shutter speed of 1/250 in combination with iso200 and the aperture you selected, was causing the ambient light to overexposure the image. Your metering system should have reflected this by showing white bars to the left of center.

When you were indoors, the shutter speed of 1/60 in combination with iso500 and the aperture you selected, was causing the ambient light to underexpose the picture. Your metering system should have reflected this by showing white bars to the right of center.

Your solution outdoors would be to use a tighter shutter, or to put the flash is FP mode, so that it wouldn't restrict the maximum shutter speed to 1/250.

You don't really need a solution for indoors, since the flash will illuminate your subject. But your background will be very underexposed. You could address that by increasing the iso, selecting a larger aperture, or by changing the setting for flash shutter speed to a longer interval.

I think your metering system is working perfectly.

Of course you are correct about max synch speed, but the camera does not limit you to the 1/60 (or whatever minimum you set) in Manual mode. If you want to set a SS of 1/2 second you can. And that works on both FX and DX cameras because I just tried it. Therefore, underexposure should not have been a problem as long as the OP kept lengthening the SS.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Of course you are correct about max synch speed, but the camera does not limit you to the 1/60 (or whatever minimum you set) in Manual mode.

Good catch. I corrected my earlier post.