Original subtitles

Hey, did you know that your speed light

also has a zoom function?

Yeah, sounds strange, but it really is there.

The zoom function of the flash was created

so that your flash spreads the light in

a way that there is no unwanted spill

of light out of what is supposed to

be in your frame.

So, if you leave this setting as automatic,

it will change as your lens's focal length

changes.

As it's designed to reduce the waste of

the light, it will narrow down the beam

of the light if you shoot at longer

focal points, like 200 mm, or spread the

light wide if you're using a wide-angle

lens.

With most flashes, the zoom function will be

available from as wide as 28 mm, or

even 14 mm in some flashes, to as

narrow as 200 mm.

This zoom setting has great utility, but we're

not here for utility, we're here for creativity.

So, by using it, we can also creatively

add some drama by, let's say, highlighting only

a part of the frame.

But for now, I just want you to

understand what it does, where you can find

it in the flash menu, and in later

lessons, I will show you exactly how I

use it creatively.

So, let's check it out real quick in

a little exercise.

I recommend using a wide-angle lens for

this practice, so that you can see the

full effect of the zoom setting.

I'm using a 28 mm lens right now.

We'll point the camera to a plain wall

and underexpose the ambient light so that we

can see only the light coming out of

the flash.

This is also a great opportunity for you

to practice what we've learned in the previous

two lessons.

Let's set the zoom of the flash to

the widest 28 mm setting, just as our

focal length.

What we get is more or less evenly

lit wall, as the flash spreads the light

wide and covers our entire focal length.

Now, let's try zooming only flash to 50

mm setting, while keeping the lens at 28.

What we'll get is a vignette, and it

will show up as the flash concentrates the

light to only fill a part of the

frame that would be captured with a 50

mm lens.

If we zoom in with our lens as

well, the light will be even again.

But let's zoom back out and see what

we get if the flash is zoomed all

the way to 200 mm.

We get a big vignette and a quite

small circle of light in the middle.

So, now you can see how big of

a difference the zoom change makes.

And that's why I almost never keep it

at automatic setting.

I always set it manually for different light

situations and in later lessons, I will explain

exactly how I intentionally set it and why

I do what I do with my zoom

settings.

But for now, this will be more than

enough information for you to dive deeper and

to keep following the later lessons.

Okay, now that we know how to set

up our strength of the flash and also

our zoom of the flash, we're ready for

our next lesson and it is positioning of

the flash.

See you there.