Thank for this video. I got my hands on a 300TL to go with the T90, as I will be using it with a flash now. I wanted to have the original setup for the camera/flash combo. Very informative and a really great camera too. Glad I found one in great condition.
Pleasure! The T90 was an amazing camera - a massive improvement and leap in technology compared to my A1. There are some clever features when used with its dedicated flash, the 300TL. However, unless you use this combo all the time and familiarize yourself with it, it's not always that intuitive! Auto mode is straightforward enough, but some of the other modes aren't. I really had to dive into the instruction manual when making this video. Anyway, congratulations! You have a great flash and probably the finest manual focus film camera ever made.
My pleasure! Some of the functions seem over-complicated, although I'm sure they are useful at times. I was out with the 300TL a few days ago. I just had my T90 CLA'ed and wanted to test it, so went out to do some street photography with an FD 135mm f/2 and the 300TL. You can see the results on my latest video. I just set everything on Auto, including the 300TL, and the TTL did a great job managing the flash exposure. When I'm out taking photos, I just think about getting the shot and I don't want to worry about camera and flash settings. That's the beauty of the P setting on the 300TL and it works well!
Thanks Ian! Great technology for its day, but not many people interested in the T90/300TL. Looking at my video views, there are far more people interested in the A1. This surprised me, but I guess most people want real retro style cameras for film. The T90/300TL is kind of halfway house between retro and modern.
Thanks great video. Do all the modes for this flash assume that you are pointing the head directly at the subject? What if you are indoor and you wish to have less harsh light - or you wish to use a diffuser? Is that incompatible with all the metering inside the flash? Have you ever tried it and do you have any sample images? Thanks!
Thanks! The T90/300TL combination was the first to have spot metering for flash. You can therefore take a spot meter reading of your subject, do a flash exposure lock by pressing the T90's spot metering button, point the camera/flash away from the subject and it will still expose the subject correctly. For less harsh light you could use a diffuser, bounce the flash or use the flash off-camera. The TTL system will measure the light reflected off the film, control the amount of light and compensate for any loss of light. Another alternative would be to use one of the manual settings - M Hi or M Lo - but you would need to do some guide number calculations. The instant feedback with digital is one of its great benefits. You can adjust things and see the result straight away. With film you can only experiment with adjustments, take notes of what you did, and then analyse the results when the film comes back from the lab. It's been a long time since I used film cameras seriously. I like the instant feedback from digital and the fact it's so easy to dial in some FEC these days. I moved from the UK to Asia in 2003 and unfortunately many of my old negatives are thousands of miles away, so I don't think I have any sample images. That doesn't stop me from getting some sample images, but it's a little time-consuming. However, I do have some plans to do more film camera/flash videos for this channel fairly soon. I've done some basic videos on how to operate film equipment, but wanted to do some more videos about real world use of the equipment.
Thanks for your comment! You have made a very good choice. As I said in the video, from my video statistics I can see that lots of people are interested in the A1 but the T90 is light years ahead. After I bought my T90 I never used the A1 again. The 300TL is also a very nice accessory, and very advanced for its time. Happy shooting!
@@oJ862 Wow, 300TLs are suddenly all the rage! Maybe my video will appear on the TH-cam trending page? Than again, with 8 views so far, probably not 🙄 Thanks for your comment.
I will have to watch the video over a few times before trying out my 300TL. I've had it for years but never used it. I have 4 pictures left on a 36 exp roll in the T-90 right now. I've been re-learning photography after years (decades) of non-use. I just did 24 exp of B&W 400 film that was 13 years expired in a 1964 Canon FX with working light meter. It was a little cumbersome with the meter on top of the camera. I'm interested to see how good or bad that experiment will turn out.
The thing I've enjoyed most about shooting film again is going back to basics. Cameras nowadays do it right most of the time without any intervention and with the instant feedback we get we can make adjustments if it isn't right. Film needs a lot more attention at the time of shooting. It's been a very long time since I played with a camera that had a light meter! The T90/300TL represented a huge advancement in technology, but users needed to understand how to use it. You'll get used to it quickly and a little fill flash can make a big improvement. The E-TTL system does a nice job of balancing fill flash and ambient light. Thanks for your comment!
I used to have the canon T90 and the 300 TL and the other camera that has similar spot metering is the OLYMPUS OM4 also the canon 199A flash has a GREEN light on the left side of the flash back and I had few of then and to Confirm the flash is ok the green lights will show up which then tell you the flash is ready for taking photos
Thanks for your comments. I have only ever used Canon cameras, except for a brief foray into Sony when digital cameras first appeared. I also have a 199A for my A1. Very primitive compared to the T90/300TL with no TTL metering.
I have no idea about this at all. I've messed around with Canon's wireless flash system on EX flashes, but in my film days I only ever used a flash on the hotshoe. I don't think there's any wireless built into the 300TL. Off camera flash (with up to four flash units) is done with cords and back in the day there was dedicated hardware in the form of a TTL hotshoe adapter, connecting cords 60 & 300, a TTL distributor and an off camera shoe adapter. I would imagine that these accessories are very hard to get hold of nowadays. Whether or not you can use a modern wireless flash adapter, I really don't know. Sorry I can't help more.
@@PhilUKNet thank you, that info is quite helpful! I like to do off camera flash for portraits so I guess I’ll just keep using my sync cords I’ve been using with the A1 I believe there’s a dedicated wireless controller that interfaces with the hot shoe, but it’s just a remote trigger for the shutter I also ordered a 60T3 switch off eBay so I can do long exposures I read the mirror slap was designed to be so minimal that Canon didn’t bother to include a mirror lockup feature. Would you happen to know if that is correct information? Thanks again!
I think the appeal of the A1 is it's old school design. I have the A1 New F1 T90 and EOS 1V. I seldom use the the T90 simply because it can't compare to the 1V and if I want the best photos possible I grab my 1V. If I want to play around with something retro the New F1 is the most fun and the A1 is fun too. The T90 is a really good camera but for me it sits in an awkward place between retro and modern.
I have never owned an AF film camera. The T90 came at a very strange time. It was very advanced, but was still MF. When it was released AF had already been introduced and it was AF that really killed it. I still prefer the T90 to the A1. In theory, if you are using the same film and lenses there shouldn't be any difference in image quality, but I find that the T90's more advanced metering system gives me better images. I also just like the feel of the camera. However, most people think like you! My video of the A1 is 10x more popular than the video of the T90!
@@PhilUKNet If I did not own the EOS 1V then the T90 would be my go to camera because I also like the metering features such as multi spot and I also like the fast accurate shutter speeds and the 300 TTL. The reality is that I do have two EOS 1V's and they simply trounce the T90.
I've never tried. I just stick to the dedicated flash for each camera - 199A for A1 and 300TL for T90. I believe it will work and the flash will fire, but you won't get any TTL metering of course. And of course, you won't know how the shot is exposed until the film comes back from the lab. I think it will be hit and miss and I would suggest sticking to a dedicated flash. If you really want to use this combination a hand held light meter would be useful. Fire a test flash, get the exposure info and then set the camera. The immediate feedback with digital would allow you to mess around more, but with film there is no instant feedback and your exposure needs to be right at the time of shooting. When you start using non-dedicated flashes there are no guarantees exposure will be right.
I get this kind of question fairly often and I just don't know. The Rebel 2000 was part of the EOS system and therefore it is compatible with flashes in the EOS system. Prior to that, camera bodies tended to have dedicated flashes. The 300TL was the dedicated flash for the Canon T90. If the voltages used are the same and the same hotshoe pins are used for triggering and ground, etc, it may work. If not, there is a risk of damage to the camera and/or flash. The 300TL TTL system measures the light reflected from the film surface. The Rebel 2000 uses film, but I don't know if the 300TL TTL will still work. Looking online, there are people who will happily use flashes from one era on cameras from another era. I'm not one of them. In your situation with an EOS camera, I would be looking at a flash from the same EOS system. They are plentiful and easily available second hand and you can ensure they will be compatible. Using a pre-EOS flash with an EOS camera may work. If it does work, certain features probably won't work, such as TTL, and the worst case is that you may do some damage. It's up to you!
@@PhilUKNet I found a listing on KEH that says it is compatible with EOS cameras, but only for manual and TTL, not Advanced TTL, which for something I found at a thrift shop, its fine for me.
Hello Melvin. It's difficult creating TH-cam content about different subjects. If you put every subject on a different channel you don't get many views or subscribers on each channel. If you put everything on one channel people get confused and aren't interested in a lot of the content. But yes, the T90 and 300TL were very advanced for their time and there's a lot to know. Thanks for your comment.
Which mode works best if shooting through an umbrella and the flash off-camera? Do you think A-TTL in Tv (because I like to drag the shutter for night portraits with a city skyline in the distance) will be ok? Also, I’m confused why if it’s TTL metering, it also needs the infrared sensor on the flash unit. Will an umbrella interfere with the sensor? (That’s why I wanted to get away from the 199a, to use modifiers)
Good questions! The T90/300TL came out during a major transitional era. There was a big technology jump around this time, but this is still a manual focus system. With no AF the camera doesn't know how far away the subject is, which I believe is what the infrared sensor is for. Knowing the distance to the subject, the camera will then be able to tell you if the subject is out of range. In some modes it will also use the subject distance sensed by the infrared to set the aperture. When AF cameras first came out the AF system wasn't great and it was possible to use the infrared on a flash unit to assist the AF. With TTL, the camera uses a sensor to record light reflected off the film and this measurement is used to adjust the power output from the flash. Therefore, provided the subject is within range, shooting through umbrellas with off-camera flashes shouldn't make any difference. If those things cause a reduction in light, then TTL should increase flash output to compensate and achieve the correct exposure. I haven't done any film flash photography for a long time, but when I did I mainly used the camera in manual mode. I would first meter the background and then put these values into the camera manually, not exceeding 1/250s. This was to get the background exposed correctly. When you turn the flash on and it fires, the TTL should ensure that the subject is exposed correctly by altering the flash output. This way, the exposure of the background and the subject should be balanced. I think that when you use A-TTL in auto or semi-auto (Av/Tv) mode on the camera it sets the shutter speed and aperture automatically. There is no doubt that flash photography with film takes real skill. We are so spoilt with digital nowadays being able to check exposure immediately and make adjustments. With film you only know if the exposure worked when the film comes back from the lab. If you don't have it already, the 300TL manual is available on-line and I also found a useful article here: www.heandshephoto.com/canon-eos-flash-photography/attl-advanced-ttl.html If you have the time, it's certainly worth doing some trial and error testing. I do very little film photography these days, and even less film flash photography. I'm therefore a little rusty. I've found that flash with Canon digital cameras tends to be overexposed so I dial in some negative FEC as a matter of course: -1/3 or -2/3. You might want to do some test shots using P, Tv and M to get the results you want. Good luck!
Thank for this video. I got my hands on a 300TL to go with the T90, as I will be using it with a flash now. I wanted to have the original setup for the camera/flash combo. Very informative and a really great camera too. Glad I found one in great condition.
Pleasure! The T90 was an amazing camera - a massive improvement and leap in technology compared to my A1. There are some clever features when used with its dedicated flash, the 300TL. However, unless you use this combo all the time and familiarize yourself with it, it's not always that intuitive! Auto mode is straightforward enough, but some of the other modes aren't. I really had to dive into the instruction manual when making this video. Anyway, congratulations! You have a great flash and probably the finest manual focus film camera ever made.
Brilliant video Phill thank you trying to figure out my 300TL
My pleasure! Some of the functions seem over-complicated, although I'm sure they are useful at times. I was out with the 300TL a few days ago. I just had my T90 CLA'ed and wanted to test it, so went out to do some street photography with an FD 135mm f/2 and the 300TL. You can see the results on my latest video. I just set everything on Auto, including the 300TL, and the TTL did a great job managing the flash exposure. When I'm out taking photos, I just think about getting the shot and I don't want to worry about camera and flash settings. That's the beauty of the P setting on the 300TL and it works well!
This is very informative. Thanks
Thank you!
Really really helpful!
Thank you!
Excellent! Thank you.
Thanks Ian! Great technology for its day, but not many people interested in the T90/300TL. Looking at my video views, there are far more people interested in the A1. This surprised me, but I guess most people want real retro style cameras for film. The T90/300TL is kind of halfway house between retro and modern.
Thanks great video. Do all the modes for this flash assume that you are pointing the head directly at the subject? What if you are indoor and you wish to have less harsh light - or you wish to use a diffuser? Is that incompatible with all the metering inside the flash? Have you ever tried it and do you have any sample images? Thanks!
Thanks! The T90/300TL combination was the first to have spot metering for flash. You can therefore take a spot meter reading of your subject, do a flash exposure lock by pressing the T90's spot metering button, point the camera/flash away from the subject and it will still expose the subject correctly. For less harsh light you could use a diffuser, bounce the flash or use the flash off-camera. The TTL system will measure the light reflected off the film, control the amount of light and compensate for any loss of light. Another alternative would be to use one of the manual settings - M Hi or M Lo - but you would need to do some guide number calculations.
The instant feedback with digital is one of its great benefits. You can adjust things and see the result straight away. With film you can only experiment with adjustments, take notes of what you did, and then analyse the results when the film comes back from the lab.
It's been a long time since I used film cameras seriously. I like the instant feedback from digital and the fact it's so easy to dial in some FEC these days. I moved from the UK to Asia in 2003 and unfortunately many of my old negatives are thousands of miles away, so I don't think I have any sample images. That doesn't stop me from getting some sample images, but it's a little time-consuming. However, I do have some plans to do more film camera/flash videos for this channel fairly soon. I've done some basic videos on how to operate film equipment, but wanted to do some more videos about real world use of the equipment.
How very timely.... My T90 and 300TL are on the way! Good info. Thank you!
Thanks for your comment! You have made a very good choice. As I said in the video, from my video statistics I can see that lots of people are interested in the A1 but the T90 is light years ahead. After I bought my T90 I never used the A1 again. The 300TL is also a very nice accessory, and very advanced for its time. Happy shooting!
I have just received one of these as well, how strange.
@@oJ862 Wow, 300TLs are suddenly all the rage! Maybe my video will appear on the TH-cam trending page? Than again, with 8 views so far, probably not 🙄 Thanks for your comment.
@@PhilUKNet I bought mine to replace my more valuable and technically inferior 199a. Thanks for the video, saves me reading the manual.
@@oJ862 Really? 199A's cost more? That makes no sense at all. I can't understand why people are buying up A1's and AE1's, but ignoring T90's.
I will have to watch the video over a few times before trying out my 300TL. I've had it for years but never used it. I have 4 pictures left on a 36 exp roll in the T-90 right now. I've been re-learning photography after years (decades) of non-use. I just did 24 exp of B&W 400 film that was 13 years expired in a 1964 Canon FX with working light meter. It was a little cumbersome with the meter on top of the camera. I'm interested to see how good or bad that experiment will turn out.
The thing I've enjoyed most about shooting film again is going back to basics. Cameras nowadays do it right most of the time without any intervention and with the instant feedback we get we can make adjustments if it isn't right. Film needs a lot more attention at the time of shooting. It's been a very long time since I played with a camera that had a light meter! The T90/300TL represented a huge advancement in technology, but users needed to understand how to use it. You'll get used to it quickly and a little fill flash can make a big improvement. The E-TTL system does a nice job of balancing fill flash and ambient light. Thanks for your comment!
I used to have the canon T90 and the 300 TL and the other camera that has similar spot metering is the OLYMPUS OM4 also the canon 199A flash has a GREEN light on the left side of the flash back and I had few of then and to Confirm the flash is ok the green lights will show up which then tell you the flash is ready for taking photos
Thanks for your comments. I have only ever used Canon cameras, except for a brief foray into Sony when digital cameras first appeared. I also have a 199A for my A1. Very primitive compared to the T90/300TL with no TTL metering.
thanks, tricky thing to explain.
Very tricky! This video wasn't particularly easy. Thanks for your comment.
@@PhilUKNet be fun to see how successful the TTL is after all, might get one
Do you know if there's dedicated hardware to trigger the flash wirelessly for off-camera flash? Thank you
I have no idea about this at all. I've messed around with Canon's wireless flash system on EX flashes, but in my film days I only ever used a flash on the hotshoe. I don't think there's any wireless built into the 300TL. Off camera flash (with up to four flash units) is done with cords and back in the day there was dedicated hardware in the form of a TTL hotshoe adapter, connecting cords 60 & 300, a TTL distributor and an off camera shoe adapter.
I would imagine that these accessories are very hard to get hold of nowadays. Whether or not you can use a modern wireless flash adapter, I really don't know. Sorry I can't help more.
@@PhilUKNet thank you, that info is quite helpful! I like to do off camera flash for portraits so I guess I’ll just keep using my sync cords I’ve been using with the A1
I believe there’s a dedicated wireless controller that interfaces with the hot shoe, but it’s just a remote trigger for the shutter
I also ordered a 60T3 switch off eBay so I can do long exposures
I read the mirror slap was designed to be so minimal that Canon didn’t bother to include a mirror lockup feature. Would you happen to know if that is correct information? Thanks again!
I think the appeal of the A1 is it's old school design. I have the A1 New F1 T90 and EOS 1V. I seldom use the the T90 simply because it can't compare to the 1V and if I want the best photos possible I grab my 1V. If I want to play around with something retro the New F1 is the most fun and the A1 is fun too. The T90 is a really good camera but for me it sits in an awkward place between retro and modern.
I have never owned an AF film camera. The T90 came at a very strange time. It was very advanced, but was still MF. When it was released AF had already been introduced and it was AF that really killed it. I still prefer the T90 to the A1. In theory, if you are using the same film and lenses there shouldn't be any difference in image quality, but I find that the T90's more advanced metering system gives me better images. I also just like the feel of the camera. However, most people think like you! My video of the A1 is 10x more popular than the video of the T90!
@@PhilUKNet If I did not own the EOS 1V then the T90 would be my go to camera because I also like the metering features such as multi spot and I also like the fast accurate shutter speeds and the 300 TTL. The reality is that I do have two EOS 1V's and they simply trounce the T90.
Will that flash work with the A series canon cameras?
I've never tried. I just stick to the dedicated flash for each camera - 199A for A1 and 300TL for T90. I believe it will work and the flash will fire, but you won't get any TTL metering of course. And of course, you won't know how the shot is exposed until the film comes back from the lab. I think it will be hit and miss and I would suggest sticking to a dedicated flash. If you really want to use this combination a hand held light meter would be useful. Fire a test flash, get the exposure info and then set the camera. The immediate feedback with digital would allow you to mess around more, but with film there is no instant feedback and your exposure needs to be right at the time of shooting. When you start using non-dedicated flashes there are no guarantees exposure will be right.
Hi, any clue if this flash will work with a canon rebel 2000?
I get this kind of question fairly often and I just don't know. The Rebel 2000 was part of the EOS system and therefore it is compatible with flashes in the EOS system. Prior to that, camera bodies tended to have dedicated flashes. The 300TL was the dedicated flash for the Canon T90. If the voltages used are the same and the same hotshoe pins are used for triggering and ground, etc, it may work. If not, there is a risk of damage to the camera and/or flash. The 300TL TTL system measures the light reflected from the film surface. The Rebel 2000 uses film, but I don't know if the 300TL TTL will still work.
Looking online, there are people who will happily use flashes from one era on cameras from another era. I'm not one of them. In your situation with an EOS camera, I would be looking at a flash from the same EOS system. They are plentiful and easily available second hand and you can ensure they will be compatible. Using a pre-EOS flash with an EOS camera may work. If it does work, certain features probably won't work, such as TTL, and the worst case is that you may do some damage. It's up to you!
@@PhilUKNet I found a listing on KEH that says it is compatible with EOS cameras, but only for manual and TTL, not Advanced TTL, which for something I found at a thrift shop, its fine for me.
@@willowrabbit You got your answer!
You should just create a dedicated channel just for the T90 and the 300TL as that's just so much information to disseminate !
Hello Melvin. It's difficult creating TH-cam content about different subjects. If you put every subject on a different channel you don't get many views or subscribers on each channel. If you put everything on one channel people get confused and aren't interested in a lot of the content. But yes, the T90 and 300TL were very advanced for their time and there's a lot to know. Thanks for your comment.
Which mode works best if shooting through an umbrella and the flash off-camera? Do you think A-TTL in Tv (because I like to drag the shutter for night portraits with a city skyline in the distance) will be ok?
Also, I’m confused why if it’s TTL metering, it also needs the infrared sensor on the flash unit. Will an umbrella interfere with the sensor? (That’s why I wanted to get away from the 199a, to use modifiers)
Good questions! The T90/300TL came out during a major transitional era. There was a big technology jump around this time, but this is still a manual focus system. With no AF the camera doesn't know how far away the subject is, which I believe is what the infrared sensor is for. Knowing the distance to the subject, the camera will then be able to tell you if the subject is out of range. In some modes it will also use the subject distance sensed by the infrared to set the aperture. When AF cameras first came out the AF system wasn't great and it was possible to use the infrared on a flash unit to assist the AF.
With TTL, the camera uses a sensor to record light reflected off the film and this measurement is used to adjust the power output from the flash. Therefore, provided the subject is within range, shooting through umbrellas with off-camera flashes shouldn't make any difference. If those things cause a reduction in light, then TTL should increase flash output to compensate and achieve the correct exposure.
I haven't done any film flash photography for a long time, but when I did I mainly used the camera in manual mode. I would first meter the background and then put these values into the camera manually, not exceeding 1/250s. This was to get the background exposed correctly. When you turn the flash on and it fires, the TTL should ensure that the subject is exposed correctly by altering the flash output. This way, the exposure of the background and the subject should be balanced. I think that when you use A-TTL in auto or semi-auto (Av/Tv) mode on the camera it sets the shutter speed and aperture automatically.
There is no doubt that flash photography with film takes real skill. We are so spoilt with digital nowadays being able to check exposure immediately and make adjustments. With film you only know if the exposure worked when the film comes back from the lab.
If you don't have it already, the 300TL manual is available on-line and I also found a useful article here: www.heandshephoto.com/canon-eos-flash-photography/attl-advanced-ttl.html
If you have the time, it's certainly worth doing some trial and error testing. I do very little film photography these days, and even less film flash photography. I'm therefore a little rusty. I've found that flash with Canon digital cameras tends to be overexposed so I dial in some negative FEC as a matter of course: -1/3 or -2/3. You might want to do some test shots using P, Tv and M to get the results you want.
Good luck!