explain strobe diffusers to me

[spoolin01]

I have a technical question for the experts here. I think I understand how a pre-flash digicam would produce this effect - the strobe ignores the pre-flash that the cam uses to ascertain how much returning light to anticipate, then floods the image with unexpected external light when the camera's exposure flash goes off.

I see that the Fuji 810 is not a pre-flash type. How does AE with flash work in this type of camera, why is the strobe overwhelming the Auto mode in this case? Could the AE setting (such as center weighting - not sure that's an option with the 810), or the Exposure Compensation setting be used to improve the close-up flash pics taken with Auto in this case?

 

[Nemrod]

Neither of my D2000 strobes bought about two years apart came with a diffuser. I purchased them separately.

N

 

[ozziworld]

Please post the EXIF info. I think we can figure out what is wrong with the settings.