Hi everybody, I used a T20 flash for the first time last week, and Im just wondering if my experiences were typical.
First off I put new batteries in and shot half a roll of random things around the house, to gauge how much exposure compensation I needed. Olympus say in the T20 instruction manual that between -1 and -2 stops are necessary to prevent the subject "whiting out" when the background is dark. Overall I found the sweet spot to be at -1 1/3; I used HP5+.
With this in mind, and some T-Max 400 in my pocket, I go to a friend's house party at the weekend. I slowly shoot 1 & 3/4 rolls over the course of around 8 hours, and everything seems fine until I go to take 2 shots in quick succession near the beginning of the 2nd roll, when I realize the recharge time is nearly 60 seconds, when it had been 2-4 previously. Even using f/22 once on the test roll hadnt made it charge longer than about 7-10 seconds - I stuck firmly to around f/4 on the night as recommended by the T20 manual.
Looking at the developed negatives, most of the entire second roll and some the last 10 frames of the first are very faint. Fortunately I could save quite a few thanks to Adobe Lightroom, and I suppose because T-Max 400 (II) doesnt need extra development when rated at ISO 800.
Im assuming the batteries went low on power after, say 40 shots and created the very long recharge times and underexposure, am I correct? Is this normal efficiency for an T20? My Nikon SB15 (and to some extent the SB24) seems to go on forever.
The frames that were exposed properly came out nicely btw. However my Hotshoe shattered dramatically (common, I know) at 4am. I considered sticking around until dawn for more light...
First off I put new batteries in and shot half a roll of random things around the house, to gauge how much exposure compensation I needed. Olympus say in the T20 instruction manual that between -1 and -2 stops are necessary to prevent the subject "whiting out" when the background is dark. Overall I found the sweet spot to be at -1 1/3; I used HP5+.
With this in mind, and some T-Max 400 in my pocket, I go to a friend's house party at the weekend. I slowly shoot 1 & 3/4 rolls over the course of around 8 hours, and everything seems fine until I go to take 2 shots in quick succession near the beginning of the 2nd roll, when I realize the recharge time is nearly 60 seconds, when it had been 2-4 previously. Even using f/22 once on the test roll hadnt made it charge longer than about 7-10 seconds - I stuck firmly to around f/4 on the night as recommended by the T20 manual.
Looking at the developed negatives, most of the entire second roll and some the last 10 frames of the first are very faint. Fortunately I could save quite a few thanks to Adobe Lightroom, and I suppose because T-Max 400 (II) doesnt need extra development when rated at ISO 800.
Im assuming the batteries went low on power after, say 40 shots and created the very long recharge times and underexposure, am I correct? Is this normal efficiency for an T20? My Nikon SB15 (and to some extent the SB24) seems to go on forever.
The frames that were exposed properly came out nicely btw. However my Hotshoe shattered dramatically (common, I know) at 4am. I considered sticking around until dawn for more light...
