I purchased a FL-300R flash to use with my E-M5 as a fill-flash. Back in the days of using Brand N, I used their fill flash system to brighten up dark shadows on sunny days, and add a bit of sparkle to photos on cloudy days. I want to do the same with my E-M5 and 300R. However, I find that despite setting my camera to a -1.3 stop flash amount, I find that I can't see the difference between using the flash and not using the flash. So.... Are they any good articles telling one how to use fill-flash on an E-M5. The manual is rather limited in this respect. Thanks.
Hi, 1. do you have the FL-300R on the hotshoe or are you triggering it with another Olympus flash? 2. do you have the FL-300R in the right mode (TTL, probably)? Barry
Did you turn the flash on? If you set it to -1.3 wouldn't that make it hard to see the difference? Try it in dark conditions to check it is working.
Do you have it set to fill flash? Or are you using TTL with -1.3? Here's the menu on my E-M10 for fill: {}
Try cleaning the flash shoe and flash bottom contacts first. I do not have the FL-300R flash units, but do have 2 of the FL-600R. With the Oly system there is flash compensation on both the flash head (almost invisible) and the camera itself. Changes on either affect the other. Also when the flash plus+/- setting in the camera menu is on, flash exposure will be be added to the camera exposure compensation. All of these setting have to be set properly for the flash to work and the manual, as you said, is really no help. As difficult as it is, Nikon flash is a bit easier to implement, as they at least provide a few flash guides, Olympus gives you nothing. So zero out all the compensation settings. Next make sure the flash is mounted to the camera or TTL will not show up on the back of the flash screen. Put the flash in the A mode with TTL. (On my flash there is no BL or fill-in setting, but there is on the camera). Select the SCP on the camera lcd and choose flash compensation here only. You should go at least 2 full stops either way, but remember, the camera is going to adjust the aperture, ss and possible ISO settings (if you have it set up that way) to compensate for a more/less powerful flash. You should be able to see a difference. If the above doesn't work, suggest you go all manual for a moment, both camera and flash, and try that to see if the flash power changes with the same ISO, SS and aperture settings. My Oly flash adjusts from full power to 1/128, which is a 7 stop range. Going from FP to 1/32 is only 2 stops and that should be clearly visible in your photos, unless you were shooting outside in sun. This is why I shoot manual flash 99% of the time, I am in control of the flash, not the camera. Once you learn the basics it is a lot better than TTl.
