A Banding Affect in Av (automatic exposure) Modes?
Hai everyone
My name's Bruce and I'm a Pentaxian. I own the Full-Frame K-1, and before grabbing a V6ii trigger and RF60X Flash I was using the AF540FGZII flagship flash from Pentax.
Now I actually shot a lot with this flash, and horridly (and shamefully to admit) in Av mode! Sometimes outside (so HSS worked etc), and more often than not the exposure was fine despite a great deal left to 'automation'.
I recently required the aforementioned cactus products, and whilst everything seems to work ok in Manual Mode, I have found that Av mode brings about a 'banding affect' to all my shots. Usually the upper part of the shot is brighter than the lower part of the shot.
In the two images provided, one shot is in Manual Mode (no banding effect), the other in Av mode (with the banding/bright upper part of the frame). Here's where it gets a little interesting. The Exif for the Manual Mode shot was ISO 800, shutter speed 1/80, f2, and when I toggled to Av mode I actually took the camera off Auto-Iso and set the ISO to 800 also, this then also gave the exact same shutter speed and f number, yet the banding was still there. I thought perhaps Auto-Iso was contributing, but it seems that even when I take less automation away from the Av mode (such as taking Auto-Iso off) the issue is still persistent.
Can anyone explain what is going on here? Is this common place, and the recommendation is just to shoot manual mode (which I probably should anyway).
Cheers,
Bruce
My name's Bruce and I'm a Pentaxian. I own the Full-Frame K-1, and before grabbing a V6ii trigger and RF60X Flash I was using the AF540FGZII flagship flash from Pentax.
Now I actually shot a lot with this flash, and horridly (and shamefully to admit) in Av mode! Sometimes outside (so HSS worked etc), and more often than not the exposure was fine despite a great deal left to 'automation'.
I recently required the aforementioned cactus products, and whilst everything seems to work ok in Manual Mode, I have found that Av mode brings about a 'banding affect' to all my shots. Usually the upper part of the shot is brighter than the lower part of the shot.
In the two images provided, one shot is in Manual Mode (no banding effect), the other in Av mode (with the banding/bright upper part of the frame). Here's where it gets a little interesting. The Exif for the Manual Mode shot was ISO 800, shutter speed 1/80, f2, and when I toggled to Av mode I actually took the camera off Auto-Iso and set the ISO to 800 also, this then also gave the exact same shutter speed and f number, yet the banding was still there. I thought perhaps Auto-Iso was contributing, but it seems that even when I take less automation away from the Av mode (such as taking Auto-Iso off) the issue is still persistent.
Can anyone explain what is going on here? Is this common place, and the recommendation is just to shoot manual mode (which I probably should anyway).
Cheers,
Bruce
Comments
It is important to realise that the K-1's shutter travel direction is reversed compared to the vast majority of DSLRs, i.e., the frame is exposed from top to bottom, not the other way round.
The phenomenon you are encountering is probably a difference in flash timing when using "Av" mode compared to "M" mode. It appears a faster flash release in "Av" makes the camera catch an initial peak output of the flash which is missed by the timing in the "M" mode.
You could try to set a small delay value (~2ms?) on the V6II or RF60X to see whether that shifts the bright part out of the frame.
I don't think experimenting with the "CUSTOM SETTING" (in the camera setup of the V6II) would change anything as that should only affect shutter speeds in the HSS range, but you could give that a whirl as well.
Thanks, I will try that and report back.
I'm not overly scared of switching to Manual Mode, it's just I primarily do my portrait work in Av mode, I'm concerned I may stuff up accidentally shooting in Av mode or something...
Would the small delay value be global tho, like if I try it and it works for Av mode, would that now then stuff up things in Manual Mode? ie I have to put it back.
PS I have no idea as of yet how to change the delay settings but I'll poke about
Yes, the delay would be effective independently of the camera mode and will most likely cause problems in "M" mode.I'd encourage you to fully liberate yourself from "Av" mode. It's just easier. I never wanted to shoot in "M" when wasn't using flash yet. I didn't see the point of doing some of the work the camera could do. But then I migrated from "Av" to "TAv" which gave me control over two camera parameters instead of just one.
I still use "TAv" for natural light photography because I don't need to control the ISO setting, other than indirectly through my aperture and shutter speed choices. However, when I'm using flash, I want everything under my control. Allow the camera to adjust just one parameter and you either have a brilliant understanding of its strategy or you become a passenger.
It's in the "FUNCTIONS" menu. Very easy to find and change.I recommend downloading the manual as a PDF file as it is searchable and you'll be able to answer such questions yourself in seconds.
I'm actually curious if this is just a 'me' thing and that perhaps something is wrong with my units, or whether this is something all Pentaxians with either a KP or K-1 with V6ii and RF60x are experiencing. Can anyone replicate the issue I'm having?
Out of curiosity, what happens if you mount the Pentax flash directly on camera hot shoe without the V6 II and repeat the two shots, one manual and one Av mode?
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