Have had my D80 for over a year now and am
pretty pleased with it except for one thing (which
all digicams I have had have suffered from).
I call it "the inappropriate & aggressive use of the
flash when it's really not necessary".
I can't count the number of times that I've set up for
a pretty well lit shot (at least according to my standards)
only to depress the shutter, hear the **** flash pop up
(#$**&^%), have to stop, go through the steps of overriding
it, THEN finally get the shot.
Question is this - is there ANY WAY to tell the D80 to NEVER
use the flash (on all shooting modes) unless EXPLICITLY told to?
I couldn't find any info in the manual on this...unless I am blind
or something.
On a related topic, I was shooting desert landscapes last weekend
using high ISO and 30 sec. shutter speed in full manual and the
**** camera STILL wants to use the flash...only way around this
was to cup my hands in front of the flash in full manual or switch
to A mode where the flash can be turned off. To me, "Manual" should
mean just that - MANUAL control of ALL camera functions, not just
everything but the stinkin' FLASH...
On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:19:25 -0700, V Green <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote:
> Have had my D80 for over a year now and am
> pretty pleased with it except for one thing (which
> all digicams I have had have suffered from).
>
> I call it "the inappropriate & aggressive use of the
> flash when it's really not necessary".
>
> I can't count the number of times that I've set up for
> a pretty well lit shot (at least according to my standards)
> only to depress the shutter, hear the **** flash pop up
> (#$**&^%), have to stop, go through the steps of overriding
> it, THEN finally get the shot.
>
> Question is this - is there ANY WAY to tell the D80 to NEVER
> use the flash (on all shooting modes) unless EXPLICITLY told to?
In program/aperture/shutter/manual modes, it only fires the flash if
it's been manually raised (by pressing the flash release button on the
front of the body). I believe that some/all of the scene modes allow the
camera to automatically raise and fire the flash. So, switch to program
mode and you should be fine.
"Daniel Silevitch" <dmsilev@uchicago.edu> wrote in message
news:slrnfpqasb.bc9.dmsilev@Bardeen.gateway.2wire. net...
> On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:19:25 -0700, V Green <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote:
> > Have had my D80 for over a year now and am
> > pretty pleased with it except for one thing (which
> > all digicams I have had have suffered from).
> >
> > I call it "the inappropriate & aggressive use of the
> > flash when it's really not necessary".
> >
> > I can't count the number of times that I've set up for
> > a pretty well lit shot (at least according to my standards)
> > only to depress the shutter, hear the **** flash pop up
> > (#$**&^%), have to stop, go through the steps of overriding
> > it, THEN finally get the shot.
> >
> > Question is this - is there ANY WAY to tell the D80 to NEVER
> > use the flash (on all shooting modes) unless EXPLICITLY told to?
>
> In program/aperture/shutter/manual modes, it only fires the flash if
> it's been manually raised (by pressing the flash release button on the
> front of the body). I believe that some/all of the scene modes allow the
> camera to automatically raise and fire the flash. So, switch to program
> mode and you should be fine.
>
> -dms
>
I just tried again, and it's just as you say...
I must have not been in M when I was shooting
that night...should have checked the LCD status panel
more carefully I guess (little LED pocket flashlight would
have come in handy).
Anyway, sorry to trouble you all...how about your thoughts
on how to keep the flash OFF in Scene or Auto/P modes?
Any chance? Or is that sort of defeating the purpose of
having the camera make all the decisions for you? I usually
agree on its choices of aperture/shutter, it's only the flash
decision I take issue with.
"V Green" <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:C6dnj.41344$Wt7.10136@newsfe14.phx...
>
>
> I just tried again, and it's just as you say...
>
> I must have not been in M when I was shooting
> that night...should have checked the LCD status panel
> more carefully I guess (little LED pocket flashlight would
> have come in handy).
Not really. Flick the power switch to the right and the LCD light will come
on.
>
> Anyway, sorry to trouble you all...how about your thoughts
> on how to keep the flash OFF in Scene or Auto/P modes?
> Any chance? Or is that sort of defeating the purpose of
> having the camera make all the decisions for you? I usually
> agree on its choices of aperture/shutter, it's only the flash
> decision I take issue with.
>
>
I'm surprised you find the A/S decisions correct most of the time. Most D80
users complain that the camera frequently over-exposes.
>> > Question is this - is there ANY WAY to tell the D80 to NEVER
>> > use the flash (on all shooting modes) unless EXPLICITLY told to?
>>
>> In program/aperture/shutter/manual modes, it only fires the flash if
>> it's been manually raised (by pressing the flash release button on the
>> front of the body). I believe that some/all of the scene modes allow the
>> camera to automatically raise and fire the flash. So, switch to program
>> mode and you should be fine.
>
>I just tried again, and it's just as you say...
>
>I must have not been in M when I was shooting
And neither in S nor A nor P.
>that night...should have checked the LCD status panel
>more carefully I guess (little LED pocket flashlight would
>have come in handy).
Did you try turning the power switch all the way to right beyond the "on"
position? That is one of the nice icings on the D80 that you can illuminate
the settings without wasting a lot of power for the big display.
AFAIR the duration of the illumination can even be configured in the
settings.
>Anyway, sorry to trouble you all...how about your thoughts
>on how to keep the flash OFF in Scene or Auto/P modes?
I just checked, in P mode the flash behaves exactly like in A, S, or M.
>Any chance? Or is that sort of defeating the purpose of
>having the camera make all the decisions for you? I usually
>agree on its choices of aperture/shutter, it's only the flash
>decision I take issue with.
I just checked: even in scene or Auto mode once you've turned off the flash
using the flash button and the rear dial the flash will stay off until
either you change the flash setting again or you turn off the camera. For me
that's good enough because the D80 consumes _very_ little power in standby
and you can just keep it turned on all evening.
The other flash configuration options in the custom configuration menu are
available for M/A/S/P only but not for scene or Auto.
On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:47:30 -0700, V Green <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote:
>
> "Daniel Silevitch" <dmsilev@uchicago.edu> wrote in message
> news:slrnfpqasb.bc9.dmsilev@Bardeen.gateway.2wire. net...
>> On Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:19:25 -0700, V Green <vanceg@nowhere.net> wrote:
>> > Have had my D80 for over a year now and am
>> > pretty pleased with it except for one thing (which
>> > all digicams I have had have suffered from).
>> >
>> > I call it "the inappropriate & aggressive use of the
>> > flash when it's really not necessary".
>> >
>> > I can't count the number of times that I've set up for
>> > a pretty well lit shot (at least according to my standards)
>> > only to depress the shutter, hear the **** flash pop up
>> > (#$**&^%), have to stop, go through the steps of overriding
>> > it, THEN finally get the shot.
>> >
>> > Question is this - is there ANY WAY to tell the D80 to NEVER
>> > use the flash (on all shooting modes) unless EXPLICITLY told to?
>>
>> In program/aperture/shutter/manual modes, it only fires the flash if
>> it's been manually raised (by pressing the flash release button on the
>> front of the body). I believe that some/all of the scene modes allow the
>> camera to automatically raise and fire the flash. So, switch to program
>> mode and you should be fine.
>>
>> -dms
>>
>
> I just tried again, and it's just as you say...
>
> I must have not been in M when I was shooting
> that night...should have checked the LCD status panel
> more carefully I guess (little LED pocket flashlight would
> have come in handy).
Use the built-in backlight. Move the power switch one setting over from
"on" to turn the light on for a few seconds. Somewhere in the custom
functions menu is the setting for how long "a few seconds" is. The power
switch is spring-loaded in that setting, so when you let go, it will
snap back to the usual "on" position.
> Anyway, sorry to trouble you all...how about your thoughts
> on how to keep the flash OFF in Scene or Auto/P modes?
> Any chance? Or is that sort of defeating the purpose of
> having the camera make all the decisions for you? I usually
> agree on its choices of aperture/shutter, it's only the flash
> decision I take issue with.
In "P", the flash only fires when manually raised, whereas in Auto, the
camera will raise it if it thinks it's necessary. So, just go into P
mode and you should be fine.
Daniel Silevitch wrote:
> In "P", the flash only fires when manually raised, whereas in Auto, the
> camera will raise it if it thinks it's necessary. So, just go into P
> mode and you should be fine.
>
> -dms
>
This seems like a step backwards. My D70 only ever fires if I manually
raise the flash unit. I don't have it in front of me now but it was a
menu setting on the D70. -G
> I just tried again, and it's just as you say...
>
> I must have not been in M when I was shooting
> that night...should have checked the LCD status panel
> more carefully I guess (little LED pocket flashlight would
> have come in handy).
>
> Anyway, sorry to trouble you all...how about your thoughts
> on how to keep the flash OFF in Scene or Auto/P modes?
> Any chance? Or is that sort of defeating the purpose of
> having the camera make all the decisions for you? I usually
> agree on its choices of aperture/shutter, it's only the flash
> decision I take issue with.
>
>
Think of Program Mode ("P") as the same as Automatic, but without the
flash. The nice thing about P mode is that a) it will not allow the
flash to automatically pop-up, and b) you can easily override either the
shutter or aperture value that it suggests, if you want to. For that
reason alone, most of the time I shoot in P mode.
On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:51:42 -0600, Mr. G D Geen <geen@ti.com> wrote:
> Daniel Silevitch wrote:
>> In "P", the flash only fires when manually raised, whereas in Auto, the
>> camera will raise it if it thinks it's necessary. So, just go into P
>> mode and you should be fine.
>>
> This seems like a step backwards. My D70 only ever fires if I manually
> raise the flash unit. I don't have it in front of me now but it was a
> menu setting on the D70. -G
The point of Auto mode on the D80 is that it's a "camera does everything
for you" mode. I don't have the camera or manual in front of me right
now, but I think that includes auto-WB, auto-ISO, only the central focus
point is live, matrix metering, etc.. Letting the camera decide whether
or not the flash should fire is consistent with that mode. If you don't
like it, just turn the mode dial to 'P', and you get full manual control
of everything except for shutter/aperture.
D80 Flash 
Linear Mode
