Depends of camera. Some cameras have 1/125 sec max syncronisation speed, some can use flash with faster shutter.What camera do you have?http://www.stan-pustylnik.smugmug.com..

Fastazzgtp wrote:.

When the flash is off the shutter is automatically slowed down? Howexactly does one effect the other?.

You need a set number of photons to properly expose the sensor.When the flash is on it provides extra photons..

When the flash is off the shutter speed goes down (the shutter stays open longer) to allow more photons in..

Clear as mud? Or were you asking a different question.A member of the rabble in good standing...

Ricoh caplio r6. Just seems like I cant take a decent pic unless I have the flash on...

Fastazzgtp wrote:.

Ricoh caplio r6. Just seems like I cant take a decent pic unless Ihave the flash on..

You would really have to post examples for advice..

What is wrong with the pics taken with the off; the indecent ones? Are the blurry from camera shake, out of focus, under/over exposed?.

Brian A...

Fastazzgtp wrote:.

When the flash is off the shutter is automatically slowed down? Howexactly does one effect the other?.

Followed you here from Ricoh Talk......

When the flash is turned on, the camera normally assumes that you are relying on flash only illumination and sets a moderate shutter speed to catch both the flash and a bit of ambient light. Typically the flash takes 1/1,000 second, so anything slower than that will include the flash. Most cameras settle on about 1/30 sec as a default with flash in low light. If in good light and using flash as a shadow fill-in then the shutter speeds will be faster to stop background overexposure and the flash sets itself to suit that condition..

In low light conditions, you can set the camera to measure the ambient light and get good background exposure when using the flash, but a tripod is needed to stop the background being blurred due to camera movement..

With the flash off the camera measures the ambient light and sets a shutter speed and aperture combination to attempt a successful result. With low light and low ISO the shutter speeds will get too slow (see the shutter speed on the LCD before you take the shot, it appears at half press if in the proper view mode of the LCD) - so to combat that you use a higher ISO or Auto ISO or wait until the light is brighter..

The anti-shake is not magic - it can only help down to a certain level of slow shutter speeds. Maybe 1/8 or 1/15 sec shots are possible but certainly 1/3 and 1/2 sec shots are full of shake and subject movement..

I assume that you are talking about the Ricoh R6, it has a small aperture lens and limited adjusts and is often referred to in the Ricoh forum as a good daylight camera which has difficulties when the light is low. Success in low light depends on using a tripod and a slow ISO and Time Exposures and put up with the fact that anything that moves will be blurred..

Digital or film, this has always been the situation. Low light photography has many problems. Use the camera in Auto ISO mode when in low light for better results. In full daylight set it to ISO 64 for best results..

It's maybe better to ask specific questions about your Ricoh camera in the Ricoh forum - it's awash with GX100 talk at the moment but there's plenty of R3/4/5/6 people still lurking with ability to help..

You need to post example images that show the faults that you may get and people have a better chance of helping..

Regards.............. Guy..

Thanks... I just figured my questions were more suited for the beginner forum instead of Ricoh forum. Do any of you guys cover the flash to achieve faster shutter speeds in low light?..

Fastazzgtp wrote:.

Thanks... I just figured my questions were more suited for thebeginner forum instead of Ricoh forum. Do any of you guys cover theflash to achieve faster shutter speeds in low light?.

I think that you would be better off posting this question in the Ricoh forums because I think that your problems are caused by the limitations imposed by your camera when using the flash..

Most of us answering questions on this forum are used to cameras which give us a lot of control when using flash, hence your problems are difficult to understand. If I want a faster shutter speed when using flash, I can set a faster shutter speed (up to a point). Covering the flash to achieve a faster shutter speed is not a concept I have ever come across because I have not run into the limitations that you are experiencing.Chris R..

Here is a good article about flash photography. It's geared towards Canon cameras but will give you a good overall understanding about the qualities of all camera brands and help you understand flash photography..

Http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/..

Fastazzgtp wrote:.

Thanks... I just figured my questions were more suited for thebeginner forum instead of Ricoh forum..

No, really all the questions become model specific as they all do things differently..

Do any of you guys cover theflash to achieve faster shutter speeds in low light?.

In low light you MUST have slow shutter speeds to capture that low light. Unless you use a faster ISO setting, or use a larger aperture. The Ricoh models always tend to large apertures with their auto settings to try and keep shutter speeds fast. With highest ISO of 1600 in the case of the R6 you may end up with a very grainy result, but it is a result..

But there's limits, if the light is dim, photography is a problem for nearly all cameras, unless maybe using an expensive DSLR with very expensive large aperture lenses..

Like last night I was photographing the lunar eclipse with my DSLR and when the darkening was starting the exposures were reasonable as the moon is lit by the sun at the same intensity as the sun lights the Earth. But when the eclipse was total, the result was horrible as I needed to go to ISO 1600 and tried up to 4 seconds shutter speed. But of course at 4 seconds the moon moves quite a bit and I had motion blurs on the moon and any stars in the frame. If I tried a faster shutter speed the result was nearly black and unusable and very noisy due to the high ISO. Low light photography has been very difficult from day 1 of photography to the present day..

If you did manage to force an unrealistic fast shutter speed in low light, all you end up with is a black image due to severe under-exposure. Covering the flash won't do anything sensible, it even maybe might cause a fire (I've made paper smoke when using it as a diffuser in front of the flash)..

What are you trying to photograph that requires that fast shutter speed in low light?.

Regards................ Guy..

It seems like every time I need the camera it's indoors, in low light, or around dusk...

Fastazzgtp wrote:.

It seems like every time I need the camera it's indoors, in low light,or around dusk..

All pocket cameras (and most consumer DSLRs) struggle under those conditions, it's the small aperture lenses that cause it. Maybe the best of the low light cameras is the Fuji F30 and F31 but I'm not sure if they still make them..

Outdoors in low light it's a case of using a tripod and very slow shutter speeds and putting up with subject motion blur..

Indoors it's a matter of using flash and adding slave flashes if the room is larger..

Low light calls for DSLRs with large aperture lenses attached and large accessory flashes. It's always been the same for film and now for digital. There's no magic. It's just that the fastest ISO settings on digital cameras now seem to be able to deliver better images than the dreadful high ISO film of olden days..

Regards............... Guy..