- Today, we are finally gonna
bring everyone out there up to speed on how to use a flash. That's it. If using this thing
with one of these things has mystified you, well, the wait is over. You're welcome. (easy-listening music) Hi everyone and welcome to pal2tech. Today, I'm introducing a brand
new series for this channel called Flash Basics for Fujifilm Cameras. And the video that you're
watching right now is lesson one. I'm doing this series because, first off, using a flash is so important for so many different
kinds of photography. And two, using a flash is so intimidating for so many different camera users. So intimidating, in fact, that a number of
photographers simply give up trying to learn to use a flash, and they never take that
next important step. First, a disclaimer to some
YouTube viewers out there: This is not going to be a
rushed 30 second loop, loop, looping to looping, to ping, to ping, to poorly edited pop music vertical video. Not with this. We're gonna take our time. We're gonna go through
this together step by step, starting with the very basics of flash and then moving to more advanced topics. In other words, we're going
to read "See Spot Run" before we move on to
"The Iliad" in Russian. So if you've got either an
attention deficit disorder, or you're already an
experienced flash user, I will leave links in the
description down below this video where you can play Tetris or shop online. No hard feelings. You can go now, and I'll
catch you in the next video. For the rest of you, let's get started. (upbeat music) Now, the idea behind using a flash, first and foremost, is to add
more light into your scene. And in that sense, it's sort of a way of adding more exposure
to your exposure triangle. But besides that obvious
use for flash, using a flash also brings two other
really important benefits into your photography. First, you can use your flash, or I should say, your flash's duration, to actually freeze your subject's motion without having to increase
your shutter speed. More on this awesome
benefit in a future video. And secondly, you can use your
flash as an adjustment layer to the existing light in your photo. You know how when you use Photoshop or Capture One to use an adjustment layer? A flash can work just like that. You can use it as a way to paint over or add to the existing light
that's already in your scene. Suppose you already have
an existing light source right behind your subject. Say you're outside and the
sun is behind your subject. You can use a flash to
paint on light, right? And add to that light for your scene. Okay, how do I turn it? Ah! (fun music) Fujifilm makes about six different types of native flash units. And with the exception of the EF-X8, which comes included with the X-T2, X-T3, and so forth, I prefer to
use third-party flash units such as these Godox units right here. These are reasonably priced. They offer a lot of features,
and they work fairly well. Now, just to be clear, Godox is not sponsoring this video series, and they have no idea that
I'm even making this video. When purchasing a third-party
flash, some of them will work with Fujifilm's automatic metering system, and some of them won't. I prefer those that offer TTL metering as one of their options. TTL stands for "through the lens." This allows the camera and the flash to share exposure and setting data so that you can use the flash in an automatic mode as an option. So think of TTL flash
mode as being similar to setting all of the dials
on your Fujifilm camera to A and letting the camera take
over and judge the exposure. So basically, what's
happening is once you have the TTL flash set on your camera, right, and you're aiming your
camera at a subject, and your camera is
looking through the lens and figuring out how much light is already there in your scene,
it conveys that information to the flash, and it
tells the flash to use a specific amount of light to make sure that you're scene is properly exposed. Of course you, can always override this and configure your
flash settings manually. But sometimes it's nice
to have that option of fully automatic. TTL will give you that. However, just to be clear,
for this video series, you're gonna be learning
how to use the flash in manual mode for almost all situations. So if you don't have a flash already, I would recommend picking
up either the TT685 or the TT350, but any decent
third-party flash will do. I do recommend though that
you get one that is made for Fujifilm cameras. On the Godox units themselves,
they'll have a little F written right on the unit. You see that right there? If you're unsure between
these two, I would say go with the TT685, as the larger size will give you room to grow. Now, once you have your flash, there are a few other accessories you're gonna wanna consider getting. Most notably, a wireless transmitter. Okay, they look like this, and an umbrella, okay? We are not gonna cover these today. These are gonna be in the very next video. (easy-listening music) Okay, so you've got your flash, and you've got your camera. Now, don't worry about it if
you don't have the Godox unit. That's fine. Just use whatever flash unit you have. So step one, turn on the flash. Now, if you go into your
camera menu settings, there is a section for flash, obviously. See that right there? And you can tell if your
flash is properly connected to your Fujifilm camera
because when you turn it on, additional options on
the menu become enabled. Now, as I said, this is lesson one, very beginning, so we're
gonna put our flash into TTL. On the Godox unit, you simply
press this button right here. And you keep pressing it to cycle through the various flash
modes until you get to TTL. Make sure that TTL is
the large version of TTL in the view finder. Now, there are a number of
items in your flash menu on your Fujifilm camera. And by the end of this video series, we are gonna go over all of them. However, we're gonna start with only the most important ones today. And that would be the one at the very top that says "flash function setting." If you notice the very top,
it says "shoe mount flash," and this will change depending
upon what type of flash unit is connected to your camera. If you connect the Fujifilm,
EF-X8 flash to your camera, look at how it just changed. You see that right there? Now there are four types
of flash categories that you can use with
your Fujifilm camera. The first is the EF-X8. This is the little popup flash
that comes with the X-T2, X-T3, and so forth, or
you can buy it separately. The second one is called sync terminal. And this is for flash
units that are connected to your camera via the sync
terminal located right here. You see that? Third is shoe mount flash, and that's what you're gonna
be using the most often. Any flash, basically, that you attach to your camera's hot
shoe mount right here. And finally, master optical. That is a flash unit
that currently functions as a master flash for the
Fujifilm wireless optical flash remote control system. We're not gonna be going
into that type of flash as we're gonna concentrate instead on third-party flash units
connected to the hot shoe mount. Since I put my flash in TTL mode, it automatically knows
that, and it shows TTL. However, you can change that by rotating the rear command dial. Check this out. You can go TTL, manual, multi, and then off. Again, we're focusing today on just TTL. Another thing to keep in mind
is that when you're making your setting change to the
menu on your Fujifilm camera, it is also affecting the flash
because this particular flash talks to the Fujifilm camera and so forth. This is the exact same thing as using, say, a third-party Viltrox lens, right? For auto focus. The Viltrox lens has these
electronic terminals. You see them right here? And even though it's a third-party lens, the lens talks to the camera
and will share EXIF data. The camera can set the
aperture, and so forth. So watch this. I'm gonna make the setting change using the rear command dial. I want you to look at the back
of the flash while I do that. You see how when I rotate it here, it changes it right on
the flash unit itself. Now the next item in this
menu area is called TTL mode. If your TTL mode is grayed
out and you don't see it, that's because you need to
set your shutter speed dial to automatic. Once you do, you're gonna need to go back into the flash menu, and
you'll see it enabled. Let's go through these. If you have this set to
standard, what that means is that the flash will fire
with every single shot you take regardless of lighting conditions. So if you're outside on
a big, bright, sunny day, the flash is still going to fire. And you would wanna have it set this way if you intend on using
your flash as a fill flash. More on that in future
videos, but just know that that setting pretty
much sets up your flash to fire all the time. Now, slow sync setting is interesting, and that is used for
when you want the light in the background of
your scene to be visible. Meaning you don't just
want, and you've seen this in flash photos where the
subject is brightly lit. You can see every detail, and the entire background
is black and dark. You can't see a thing. Okay, so by setting it to slow sync, what this basically does is
slow down your shutter speed to what your camera would normally use if you were not using a flash, basically exposing for
that background lighting. And then what it does is
when you take the shot, it freezes your subject, right? And you end up with a
combination of a well-lit subject but also that background
lighting that you can see. Have a look at this photo right here. The first photo was taken
with no flash at all. You see that right there? But you can see the background lighting. The second photo was taken
with TTL mode on standard. And here, the subject is a lot brighter, but the background lighting, not so much. And the third photo was
taken with slow sync, and you can see how
the background lighting and the ambiance in the
background really carries through. Now, there is actually a
third option in this menu. However, in order to
see it, you have to put all three of your exposure
triangle settings, your ISO, your shutter
speed, and your aperture, into automatic. Let's go ahead and do that now. Aperture into automatic,
ISO into automatic, and shutter speed into automatic. Basically, you've just made
the camera fully automatic. However, when you now go
back into your flash menu, under flash function
setting, into TTL mode, have a look at this. You see flash auto, it's a new choice. Now flash auto is basically
a fully automatic mode. Your camera will only fire
the flash if it's needed in order to properly expose the scene. And that's why you've
gotta have everything set to automatic mode so the camera can make the best decision that it can. Again, when you have it on flash auto, the camera only fires
the flash if it needs to. The next one on the list is zoom. You could either set
it to a specific value, or you could set it to auto. And this directly affects
what is set on the flash. Have a look at this. Now, most of the time, you're gonna wanna set this to auto because most of the time,
you're gonna be using lenses that communicate with the camera, and the camera knows
exactly what focal length you currently have it set for. For example, I'm using the 18
to 55 millimeter Fujinon lens. And if I set it to automatic, okay, as I rotate the lens, watch this. I'm rotating the lens
and look at the values on the back of the flash unit
while I'm rotating the lens. And you would use the
manual setting obviously, if you're using a fully manual lens like this 7Artisans 35 millimeter that has no contact points,
no electrical points at all. There is no communication at all between this lens and this camera. The camera has no idea
what the focal length is, so you need to tell it so
that it can tell the flash. The next choice is called LED. And you have a few choices here. Note also that this same
menu option is available if you go outside the
flash function setting. It's also right down here. See that? Same exact options. Now, the LED light setting
menu option is only for flash units that have
an LED light in them, right? So what you can do is you can set it as either a catch light, which
means that it'll fire off the flash, but it'll also
illuminate the LED light. So you get that nice little catch light in your subject size. That's one option you get. Or you can use it as auto focus assist, and your camera will use the LED light on your flash to help with auto focus and being able to do a better job at that. And there's the option here
to use it as a catch light, and also as a way to help
your camera auto focus at the same time. And lastly, you can
just have it turned off. Now, the sync menu controls
the timing of your flash. Meaning, at what point, right, when you press the shutter button does the flash actually go off? From the moment you
press the shutter button, when does the flash
actually fire with regard to your shutter curtain
being open or closed? Now, first curtain means that
the flash fires immediately right as you press the shutter button, right the second the shutter opens up. Now, second curtain means
that the flash will fire at the end of the process
of taking your shot just before the shutter closes. So what's the difference between the two? Well, the difference becomes apparent if you're capturing
motion blur in your shot and you're wanting to leave,
say, a trail of light. This whole process is gonna
be covered in a future video. I really don't wanna
get off track right now and explain all this,
but just know for now, to get started, put it
into first curtain sync until we get into those
more advanced topics. Now, auto FP high-speed
sync means that your camera will pulse light during the entire time your shutter is open. And this allows you to use a
much higher flash sync speed than you normally would. Again, most of the time, you'll wanna leave it on first curtain. And lastly, there is angle. Now, angle widens or
narrows the angle of light that is coming from your flash. And if you go in here,
there's a few options. Flash power priority
will give you more range, further range for your flash, but you're gonna have less
coverage over your entire scene. So instead of blasting
light all over your scene, flash power priority
concentrates that light into one specific area. It narrows the angle. Now, standard is exactly what it says. It matches a standard picture
angle to what you're shooting, and that's what I keep
mine on most of the time. Now, even coverage priority
gives you a bit more coverage, but your light is gonna now be spread out over your overall scene. Again, I keep this on standard
pretty much all the time. (gentle music) Now I have some homework for you to do. That's right. Homework for you to do before you attend this next lesson number
two that's coming up. What I want you to do is put your camera into 1/125 of a second shutter speed. Make sure that your ISO is set to 160, and then take your
aperture out of automatic so you can be choosing
whatever aperture you want while you're shooting. Then what I want you
to do is get an object, like a little toy, a
figure, something like that, and make sure that you have a light source way in the back as well. You wanna have the scene
kind of lit in the back with some atmospheric
or practical lighting. But you don't want that light too bright. Make sure that you've got
your flash on TTL mode and attached to your camera. Remember that TTL mode
right here is grayed out because we are forcing a shutter
speed of 1/125 of a second. And I'm doing that because I want for this homework
assignment for you to get a little bit away from
the all automatic version of the flash. So with it set up this
way, what I want you to do is rotate your aperture ring
until you have the background, not the foreground, not the subject, but the background properly exposed. Have a look at this. I'm gonna go ahead and
rotate the aperture ring. There we go. I am all the way wide open right now. And if there's still not
enough light to properly expose the background of your scene,
go ahead and raise your ISO to maybe something like this. Now, go ahead and take your first shot. And most likely, what you'll
find is that the flash is too overpowering, right? Now, what you wanna do in
that case is do not adjust any of the dials on your camera. You've already dialed in
what you want the background to look like, okay? The lighting in the background,
you don't wanna change that. What you wanna change is the compensation of the flash power. How much power, how much brightness, how much flash is being
blasted on your main subject? And what you do is you go
into your flash settings, and then go over here. You see this right there? This will allow you to adjust
the power of your flash. And you do so by rotating
the rear command dial. And these are stops of exposure. I'm gonna go ahead and bring it down for this example by three stops. You see that? Now that I've done that,
I'm gonna take another shot. Have a look at that. The subject just looks better. It doesn't have that bright
flash in the face look that you see in amateur shots. It looks better. You're on your way. You've got this. You can do this. What you need to remember is
the very first thing you do, expose for the background of your scene. Okay, get that looking right. Then take a shot. And most likely, that shot's
not gonna look very good, unless you nailed it and you're lucky. And then go back in and
adjust the power of the flash so that your subsequent shots look great. That's what you wanna do. Try that out. That's your homework, okay? That's it. We're not getting into
any other advanced topics. We're not talking about
wireless transmitters. We're not talking about umbrellas. We're not talking about anything else. You need to get these
fundamentals down first. This is what's important about flash, understanding how to dial
it back and kind of use it as a supplement to the already
existing light in your scene. In our next lesson, lesson number two, we are gonna focus on using
the flash in all manual mode, no TTL, which is the
main way that I want you to be using your flash in
most of your photography. We are running a marathon
here, not a sprint. We're going slow. And I want you to try out
what I was showing you today. Don't jump too far ahead,
but don't be afraid to experiment as well. The worst you do is you
fill up your SD card. So what? Erase them, try it again. Keep practicing. Keep understanding that you
can basically adjust your flash using all of the settings
in your Fujifilm menu. And if you can't do that, if you have a completely
different third-party flash, then learn how to do it on the flash. It doesn't matter which way you do it. What matters is the process. Get set for your scene,
expose for that background, make that background
lighting looking good, fire off the flash, and
then adjust the flash to suit the look that you want. I have barely scratched the
surface of using a flash and modifying light and all
of those sorts of things. And that's exactly how I wanna do it. For too long, photographers
or people who are new to photography will see a flash
and they'll get intimidated. Because when people jump
in, there's so much to it. It's a big topic, and I
want you to be comfortable with the very, very, very basics first. And you should be able,
before we go into lesson two, to be able to take a
shot, right, of a subject and have it not look like you
were taking it with a flash. Does that make sense? I hope so. Anyhow, thank you so much
for watching this first in the series video on flash. I hope you found the video
helpful or at least entertaining. And if you did, be sure to
give it the like and subscribe. I will see you again in
a new video very soon. Take care.
