Flash for Indoor Photography

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dmb8021

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I have a Z8 with a 24-70 mm lens that I use to take pictures of my nephews, but a lot of the time, there’s poor light, which means high ISOs, especially because I want to use higher shutter speeds since they can’t stay still.

My question is, would an on camera flash help and are there any that you recommend? I really know nothing about flashes so I’m not really sure where to start.

Thank you,
 
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If you shoot bursts when kids are running/playing etc flash does you no good as it has to recharge between frames. A few years ago I bought a flash for the same reason(i.e. kids indoors) and decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Since most of those photos just end up in electronic format or at most printed 8x10 or smaller the high ISO isn't an issue. No one but me ever sees the high ISO noise.
 
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An on camera flash would help and I recommend the Godox V1 round head flash, which I have used on my D500 for a few years now. It takes magnetic modifiers, so I bought and also use the AK-R1 accessory kit. I mostly use the diffuser attachment from it for my flash photography.
I've had no issues with it.
cheers,
Alex
added in edit...I agree with Dan's observation about shooting in a burst mode, but for a single shot, the flash works well in indoor photography. With the advances in noise reduction software, shooting at high iso is not as bad as in past years.
 
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Look at the Reference Guide for your Z8 go to the index at the back and look for Technical Notes. Under it you should see something like Compatible Flash Units and the Nikon Creative Lighting System. If you get a Nikon flash for your Z8 get one that is CLS-Compatible. The flash I use with my Z9 is the Nikon SB 5000.

If you purchased a third party guide to your Z8, there might be a lot of detailed info on flash and how to best use flash on your Z8. I have Thom Hogans Guide for the z9 and it has lot of info on various flashes and how they will work on the Z9.

If you are brand new to flash in general, look for books and videos by Mike Hagen on Nikon Creative Lighting System.
 
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An on camera flash will certainly help. If you are indoors aim the flash at the ceiling and use a midrange ISO like 1250. The goal is to have the ambient exposure rather dark yet have the flash at around 1/8th or 1/4 power or lower to help with recycle time. I use Godox flashes, I subscribe to the "buy them cheap and stack them deep" philosophy.
 
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i’ve only just started playing with flash, but a few random things i didn’t really understand starting off that i didn’t quite catch before playing with flash

this seems obvious in retrospect, but if you want the environment, you are going to have to expose for the environment before adding flash. this means you it’s not a magic bullet to lower your iso

flash has a duration based on power and that duration is effectively a second shutter. running on maximum power will mean maximum duration and likely NOT stop action in itself. basically you can use the flash as a shutter or the shutter as a shutter.

this has led me to use lower power. basically expose for environment and to stop action, then add a little flash to get the exposure decent on the subject

i’m using the godox ad200, and interestingly, at low power it can actually keep up with burst shooting to a certain extent
https://flic.kr/p/2pe4ZdC
 
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The simplest approach is to use a speedlight on the camera's hot shoe and so long as it swivels and tilts the light can be bounced of a wall or the ceiling to provide a softer lighting of subjects. Also the option of adding a small diffuser to the speedlight but this reduces its output by half.

Important not to use any smaller aperture than is necessary as at f/8 the flash needs to provide 4x as much light as at f/4. Distance is also a factor as going from a camera to subject distance of 4 feet to 5.6 feet to 8 feet to 11 feet with each increase in distance the amount of light hitting the subject is cut by 50%.

The Godox TT350N is a good speedlight that sells for $76 and supports Nikon iTTL. Add a Velo or similar softbox for times when you need to direct the flash at your subjects as when shooting in very large spaces or outdoors.

Outdoors the use of flash can help reduce the green tones with skin from light reflected off the grass and plant leaves.

Get one that uses 4 AA batteries to avoid having very long recycle times between shots.
 
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Flash makes a huge difference. You’ll eliminate ISO noise, get better colors, and control the look of the scene by controlling the light source. The trade off is that it’s harder to shoot, and it’s pretty obtrusive.

I’d get a Godox flash with a lithium battery. Lithiums recycle faster and have great battery life, and it’s easy to always have a full battery. I use a V1, but they have cheaper models that will work just as well.

Learning to shoot flash is a challenge. Do some reading and practice a lot. Get a human stand-in so you don’t blind your poor family (like I did). Here’s an elevator pitch of how I generally shot indoors:

1. Aperture to taste (I almost always use a 24-70/2.8 wide open)
2. Max sync speed
3. ISO to make the scene 2-4 stops underexposed (depending on how prominent you want the flash)
4. Bounce the flash off something to make the light come from the direction you want

The hardest part is choosing the direction for the flash. White ceilings are great. Light colored walls are good. You generally want a light above and to one side of your subject, so you can light the subject and a bit of the background.

The worst part about flash is shooting continuous. You’ll blind people and drain your battery. Candids are tough. I recommend single shots and timing your moments, and make sure the flash itself doesn’t blast eyeballs unless you want your subjects to fleet.

Good luck!
 
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I have done exactly the thing you are asking about. I used a DSLR with an accessory flash mounted on camera. I used it's built in diffuser and bounced it of the ceiling and walls. I used a 24-120 f4 lens. Generally, I set an ISO of 800, SS of 1/200 (max synch speed) and f5.6 or 6.3. I let the TTL flash adjust itself and got consistently good results. Bryan Peterson authored a very useful book titled something like: Understanding Flash Photography (I may not have the title exactly correct.) I've read it and found it very useful. I'm sure you can find it on Amazon.
 
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I am not a real experienced flash shooter, I think they work well when you can control the setting even a little, I just don't think kids in their daily activities allow this. I am not afraid to set my Z9 ISO max up to 10,000 or higher, use f2.8, and use the fastest shutter speed possible. Kids actions/expressions are what I am always trying to capture and waiting for a flash to recycle misses way too much. I can take a burst of images of my grandson from across the room without flash and he might never know and continue on with what he is doing, fire a flash and things will likely change. What I value with my family photos is capturing the moment and the expressions, I don't do much pixel peeping on these photos. My granddaughter is stingy with her grins so you have to be ready and persistent, I can take 1000 photos of her to get a few of her big grins, add a flash of any kind and I am afraid I would have to call grandma to help stop her crying.

My wife and I just completed a display of 8x10 prints in a hallway that contains our favorite images of our grandkids, while I would like to say that they were all taken with one of my Nikons, most were taken with our cell phones. It's not the quality of the image, it's what the image captured.
 
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Some good advice here. Flash is a whole new subject to learn. Most Flashes will support HSS (high speed sync) including Godox units. Downside is that HSS works on a lower power so you have to take this into consideration, but you won't be using the flash at full power most of the time anyway and my units will fire every time. Back in my film days when my kids were small I used to use 2 flashes off camera bouncing from the ceiling to give a more even general light. On camera flash is not the best but a good diffuser/sofbox will help, the biggest you can fit. On camera flash diffusers are easily available.

Adorama Flashpoint are re-branded Godox and are likely to be cheaper and maybe carry a better warranty and after sales service. Here in the UK Pixapro is the Godox re- brand I favour.
 
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May I add?
I hate on camera flash, its harsh light on the face with ugly shadows. Instead, use a stronger light bulb in the room… open the window shaded, and you could get away with acceptable ISO and decent prints.

Next idea, is to use flashes with umbrellas.

Using f/1.8 glass definitely helps though.
 
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I have been very satisfied with the sb700 and magmod system both on and off camera. Do however shoot primarily without flash unless I'm trying for a special effect as flash photography for me is time consuming both in preplanning and setup.
 
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I am no expert, but Flash Photography is as nuanced and difficult to learn as how to take award winning photographs of birds in flight. The necessary equipment can be as expensive and technical as the cameras and exotic lenses many on this Site use. I agree with all the comments posted here and the advice is solid for trying to mitigate the relatively poor results from using 'on camera flashes', particularly with TTL ( through the lens metering).

Decent results with lots of reading, studying and practicing can be obtained with multi flash strobes using diffusers or umbrellas off camera to spread out the light and using ratios of fixed light output. Flash meters are nice, but again a big learning curve and with Digital cameras not really necessary because we can review are results on the rear display.
One problem, not mentioned so far, is that with TTL flash, the pre-flash which determines the amount of flash duration for proper exposure, for sensitive people will cause their eyes to close ( if they are sensitive to light ) and ruin the resulting photograph, or else get the dreaded 'red-eye' where the pupils stay open because of the relatively dark ambient light.

The above observations are only representative of the 'tip of the iceberg' considerations for using flash photography and dozens or hundreds of books have been written on how to do it right by people much more qualified than I. Joel Klein probably gave the best advice so far, open up the window coverings letting in as much outside light if during the daytime and perhaps place stronger fixed lighting from regular home light fixtures which spread and bounce the light around the room in all 360 degrees.
Other than that, using fast glass as open as possible for required depth of field and higher ISO with NR software, shooting RAW will give probably more satisfactory results on 8" x 10" prints than using any 'on camera flash system'.

Personally, I have several Godox off camera small flash strobes (AD 200 Pro), various umbrellas and with proper placement and fixed power settings ( not TTL ), I can get decent results with my limited knowledge. However, setting up takes up space, planning and certainly takes away any spontaneity from the occasion as well as any mobility from room to room. I am not referring to formal portrait type setups, but just trying to get decent around the room, even lighting for candid shooting. Worked well for me when the grandkids were little, not so much now as older teens.

Just my two cents worth, and probably just embellishing on Joel's answer which again will most likely give the best results under the circumstances of equipment and knowledge.
 
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I've been shooting flash since 1962... In those days, it was necessary, particularly indoors. If possible, I also bounce the flash off the ceiling, a wall, or reflectors. Here's the simple secret to using flash indoors to capture kids or pets at play: use fill flash, not direct flash. This means using the available light and letting the flash fill the shadows, corners, etc. On a Z9, you can automate this if you're using an SB5000, and it works quite well. You're set if it's daytime and you have outside light through the windows. If there's incandescent light, you likely need a filter on the flash to match the color of the lighting. This used to be easy; most light bulbs were 2700k. With LEDs, the color varies from 2700K to above 6000K, so the color balance can be a challenge. (I use a color temperature meter, which I've had for a very long time.) The other secret is to use more than one flash in a large area. Typically, I have one on camera, although not in the hot shoe. I have a custom bracket that elevates the flash above the lens just enough to cast a shadow if used directly. Others are typically placed in corners and pointed to the ceiling or on a light stand to light a particularly dark area. With the Nikon flash units, the synchronized flash is automatic, but sometimes the levels need to be adjusted to balance the lighting correctly. When the grandkids are visiting, I'll set these up in advance where there's unobtrusive. I do not shoot bursts, but I can pop the shutter pretty quickly when the kids are active. I agree with the previous comments -- I've been doing this forever and I'm still a neophyte!
 
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Flash takes a little thought to produce natural looking images. I like the W. Eugene Smith's statement "I use available light which means any damn light that is available".

Nikon cameras and iTTL speedlights (Nikon or third party) make it easy to add fill flash and have zero need to calculate exposures. The only limitation is keeping the shutter speed at 1/250s for sync of flash to shutter and that should be fast enough for the kids. With the Nikon speedlights the user manuals provide very useful information on which settings to use and when for different situations.

NiMh rechargeable batteries provide more than enough power but for limited use the alkaline AA batteries provide enough power for the speedlight and they will be fresh. Key is to minimize the output for the speedlight by not using too small an aperture and having 4 AA batteries to recharge the capacitors in the flash unit.

If the flash starts to act erratically it is a signal that the batteries are not provide a high enough voltage for the speedlight's electronics to function properly. This is often the case with NiMh rechargeable batteries that start out at 1.2 volts instead of 1.5 volts as with alkaline batteries.
 
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Footnote: for the Nikon strobes, there's an auxiliary battery pack that holds eight AA rechargeables. Plugs into the flash and provides power for a long time. I use this when I know I'm going for a lot of pix. [Multiple third party versions on Amazon.] Don't know if there's a similar pack for the Godox units. (I tried a couple of Godox flashes with the Z9 when it first came out and could never get them to work correctly. From the reports above, I presume that is no longer a problem.)
 
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FWIW - My Godox V860iis with the lithium power pack will recycle on full power in under 2 seconds where the same flash powered with 4xAAs take 6 seconds.

In my use I only have to charge them once a year, not because they are flat, but just to keep them from deterirating like any lithium batteries.
 
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dmb8021 said:
I have a Z8 with a 24-70 mm lens that I use to take pictures of my nephews, but a lot of the time, there’s poor light, which means high ISOs, especially because I want to use higher shutter speeds since they can’t stay still.

My question is, would an on camera flash help and are there any that you recommend? I really know nothing about flashes so I’m not really sure where to start.

Thank you,
Click to expand...
As others have already mentioned, a decent speedlight flash attachment would certainly help. If you’re interested, I have a virtually new Yongnuo speedlight that works very well with all Nikon camera bodies that I’d be happy to sell you for $50. I think the original retail was around $110.
 
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I use and on camera flash with a large "bubble " type attachment on the flash head. It diffuses light and I worry less about the color of walls and ceilings which can be an issue with bounce flash.
 
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dmb8021 said:
I have a Z8 with a 24-70 mm lens that I use to take pictures of my nephews, but a lot of the time, there’s poor light, which means high ISOs, especially because I want to use higher shutter speeds since they can’t stay still.

My question is, would an on camera flash help and are there any that you recommend? I really know nothing about flashes so I’m not really sure where to start.

Thank you,
Click to expand...

I haven't done it myself (yet) but I've seen some stunning landscape work using flash. What I've witnessed is off-camera flash used to highlight an image, or portions of one. For example, a close object such as interesting patterns in a rock wall, or a tree that's in the foreground of a larger/broader landscape. This requires syncing the flash (flashes) with the camera and a stand or person to hold the flash.
 
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rloeb said:
Footnote: for the Nikon strobes, there's an auxiliary battery pack that holds eight AA rechargeables. Plugs into the flash and provides power for a long time. I use this when I know I'm going for a lot of pix. [Multiple third party versions on Amazon.] Don't know if there's a similar pack for the Godox units. (I tried a couple of Godox flashes with the Z9 when it first came out and could never get them to work correctly. From the reports above, I presume that is no longer a problem.)
Click to expand...

Some of my Godox units needed a firmware update for the Z9.
 
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