Olympus E-PL1 Flash

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The in built pop-up flash is handy in that it can be held back a bit with the finger to use it as a bounce flash, its low power output will only work of course in a small room or if a temporary reflector is held above the flash to create a bounce path.

By default it works TTL (outputs a triple flash burst, looks like a two flash burst) but can be made to work at set power outputs of Full - 1/4 - 1/16 - 1/64 (later models to 1/128 power) which is useful for triggering slave flashes as it's only a single flash occurring. The usual redeye and 2nd curtain options are also there. Also by default the ISO appears to set to 200 if using Auto ISO when flash is used. This is misleading as though the LCD may show ISO 200 when flash is enabled, in fact the image taken can be between 200 and 3200 ISO, this may vary with body (E-PL1, E-P3, E-PL5 all showed results in 200-3200 range) so tests are needed with your particular Olympus body. Don't look at the live view, always look at the review image and see what ISO it was.

Of more interest are the accessory flashes available that will give more power and more range, I have a list at http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~parsog/panasonic/11-flash.html#flashlist which was compiled for Panasonic LX3 but applies to the E-PL1 as well because all Panasonic and Olympus hot-shoe cameras use the same flash logic.

As an aside I checked the flash output from the pop-up flash and this flash timing emerged for TTL operation on first curtain sync.....

Pre-flash 1 at 0 timing.
Pre-flash 2 at  about 16 milliseconds from first pre-flash.
Exposure flash at about 165 milliseconds from first pre-flash.

This means that digital slaves work fine as the two pre-flashes are so close together so as to appear as one to all slave flashes, so successful triggering on main flash always occurs.

My occasional use of 1/8 second shutter delay does not alter this basic flash timing.

The E-PL1 focal plane shutter can only flash sync at a maximum of 1/160 second so limitations occur when attempting fill flash in daylight. The Olympus FL-36 or FL-36R and FL-50 or FL-50R or FL-600R flashes can do a high speed sync with the E-PL1 where the flash outputs a large number of small bursts throughout the entire shutter movement to make sure the whole frame is covered evenly for shutter speeds above 1/160 second where it is only a travelling slit uncovering the sensor.

If I use a Nikon SC-17 flash extender cable with my FL-50 then the little contacts are all in the wrong places and are ignored, the flash goes to self auto mode so I need to use camera Manual mode and match settings on flash and camera. The good news is that now 1/320 second is the maximum reliable flash sync speed for the E-PL1, some bodies allow faster (the E-P5 allows 1/500 sec before shadows appear), and if cropping then even higher can be used. At 1/400 the bottom of a horizontal frame is being intruded on by the shutter blades. To simulate this effect it would be easy to use a piece of  Scotch Magic tape to block the minor contacts and only allow the centre trigger to work. That tape peels off cleanly so is the best one to use.


Tape in situ, use fresh tape each session.

One nice advantage of going to self-auto mode with an external flash is now there are no multiple TTL flash bursts so less likelihood of subjects blinking.

Here's the variety of shadows caused by the focal plane shutter at various shutter speeds, this example all at 3:2 aspect ratio. At 4:3 the 1/320 shot will still be clear of shadow. At 16:9 ratio the maximum speed can be 1/400 sec and is clear of shadow. The thumbnail file name has the shutter speed added to it. Later cameras run the shutter the opposite direction so the shadow creeps in from the top of the image.



Also the FL-300R, FL-36R and FL-50R can be used as wireless remote slaves with the E-PL1, look for Menu 2 RC Mode to turn it on and set up the flashes. The pop-up flash then does not contribute to the exposure but becomes a signalling device sending coded bursts of low power flashes to the remote slaves. There is no help about this feature in the E-PL1 manual, you need to consult the FL-600R, FL-300R, FL-36R or FL-50R manuals to work out what is going on. The older FL-36 and FL-50 flashes work for TTL and other modes but do not have that remote wireless slave capability.

You cannot mix flashes, that is if using RC control then you cannot also have a flash in the hot-shoe or cabled to the hot-shoe. If so, the hot-shoe flash cancels RC mode and you only have TTL control via the hot-shoe. Later cameras have variations of this ability.

Here is an extract of the FL-50R manual showing the camera RC (remote control) menu, I guess it all makes sense when you experiment, I don't have an R series flash as yet. The menu shown is from an E-3 but is the same content on all Olympus cameras that have this feature.

rcmode


It's worth expanding on what the RC flash menu can give you. Press the Start/OK button to bring up the above menu and then select an item and press OK again for the selections below. The Info button cycles between the RC, SCP and simple menus.

The left hand column shown above allows any of the three groups A, B, C to be individually set to TTL or Auto or Manual or Off. Each group can have up to a recommended maximum of three flashes in it, so a maximum of  9 flashes should be enough to suit anyone.

If a group is set to TTL then the next column allows the TTL flash adjustment to be varied from plus 5 to minus 5.
If a group is set to Auto then it can also be varied  from plus 5 to minus 5.
If a group is set to Manual then it can be set to the choices of  1/1, 1/1.3, 1/1.6, 1/2, 1/2.5, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/8, 1/10, 1/13, 1/16, 1/20, 1/25, 1/32, 1/40, 1/50, 1/64, 1/80, 1/80, 1/100, 1/128.
If a group is set to Off then it is off.

The right hand column works on all groups together and the top item chooses Normal flash where the upper sync speed limit is 1/160 second for the E-PL1, or chooses FP where the high speed sync flash works to allow flash sync at higher shutter speeds than 1/160 but with lower output and shorter flash range.

The second item set the camera flash output low, mid or high to allow reliable communication with varying flash distances.

The third item sets the camera channel to 1, 2, 3, or 4 which must match all the slave flash channels. This may help prevent conflicts with other users with the Olympus remote flash system in the vicinity.

In reading the Metz AF44-1 Olympus compatible flash manual, it appears that this model flash at least can work with the E-PL1 RC control with some limits "The flash unit is compatible as a slave flash unit with the wireless Olympus RC flash system (RC = remote control or remote mode). This means that one or more slave flash units can be controlled remotely from a master or controller flash unit on the camera (e.g. mecablitz 58 AF-1O digital) or from the camera master. Slave flash unit 44AF-1 is always set to slave Group A and all remote channels 1, 2, 3 and 4."

Other Metz models need to have their manuals checked to see if they have less or more features where Olympus RC control is concerned, find all Metz manuals from here http://www.metz.de/en/photo-electronics/instruction-manuals/mecablitz.html
The more expensive Metz models seem to have more complete implementation of the Olympus RC control method.


Big flashes in the hot-shoe make the package a bit cumbersome, so a side bar and flash extender cable makes more sense. The flash extender cable can be anything that fits if just using the flash in self auto mode, but if a TTL flash is being used then any of Olympus, Panasonic or Canon flash extender cables work as they all have contacts in the right places. The Olympus and Panasonic cables will not work on a Canon camera because there is one less contact on them.

Of course with FL-36R or FL-50R or FL-300R or FL-600R then the wireless capability can be used and the flash extension cable is not needed.

In my case I have an Olympus FL-50 flash for TTL and bounce TTL where it is very successful. Though it is a bit large, the better fit is the FL-36R now purchased to take advantage of the RC slave control. For a small carry anywhere flash I take a little old Nikon SB-30 flash and use it in self auto mode. It provides a bit more output than the pop-up and also sits higher so lessens lens shadow problems. The FL-300R would be the ideal replacement for this little Nikon flash.
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