Sony Possible Flash Problem NEX5 ?

djnww

Rookie
Hi guys,

Hoping you can help me out.

I've noticed that when trying to take night portraits on Intelligent Mode, my shutter speed is approximately 0.6" without a flash. That's to be expected.

However, when I lift up my flash, the shutter speed improves slightly. However, the shutter speed is still too slow at 0.4". I would think intelligent mode would adjust the shutter speed to at least 1/60 with the flash being turned on.

Can anyone please tell me if they suffer from the same issue ?

Cheers,
Dan
 
NEX-5 Flash/ISO issue

Dan,
I'm experiencing the same issue. I have also noticed that in program auto mode (all set to auto) the ISO does not change when the flash is activated. In low light conditions the camera will select ISO 1600 with or without the flash and only changing the shutter speed. I have to manually select ISO 200 so achieve good results.

I-Auto will select night shot regardless of flash activation resulting in poor hand held shot.

I spend over 2 hours on the phone with a Sony rep to no avail. He could not duplicate my issue with his NEX-5 because he was not in a poorly lit room. The ISO will change from 500 to 250 in dim lighting with a flash but when the conditions are worst the camera seems to choose a higher ISO regardless of weather or not a flash is used. The end result was that need me to mail in my camera for testing and a 20% off coupon! Being stationed in Japan makes this issue difficult to resolve, especially having to wait for mid-night to call due to the time difference.

I do not believe that there is a defect with my camera but an issue with the NEX-3/5 line that Sony needs to address. All compact and SLR cameras I have used will select an ISO around 100-250 when the flash is used, why not this camera. My wife can take decent pictures with any camera in auto but having to change settings on the NEX has forced her back to her simple compact. This is a shame for an otherwise perfect camera.

Dan I have read months of reviews blogs searching for anyone that has identified this issue. I was surprised that with the extensive reviews this issue was not discovered. Either are cameras are defective or the reviews concentrated more on how the camera performed in low light without the flash. I'm hoping for a firmware fix in the near future.

Rob
 
Thanks Rob. Great to see that this is more likely a problem with the firmware.
I will have to continue taking shots at night in manual mode.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Cheers,
Dan
 
It seems that you just need to use a different shooting mode to adjust the ISO. It would be nice to adjust the ISO in Program Auto, (my favorite mode so far), but it seems not set up to do so.

I know not what you want to hear, but that seems to be what the system is set for.
 
I have taken over 4000 photos since August with mixed results. I programed one of the buttons for ISO, this made life a lot easier with and without the flash. I have found that using manual mode with the shutter set to 1/60 and f to 5.6 produces great results when using a flash or program auto with the ISO set to 200.
 
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