High speed photography and shutter lag: I recently bought a trigger for lightning, sound, etc. I was going to make my first attempt by capturing a bursting balloon. Well, I'm not...

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I recently bought a trigger for lightning, sound, etc. I was going to make my first attempt by capturing a bursting balloon. Well, I'm not posting since I didn't get there. After I finally got the camera and the flash to both respond to the trigger, I found they respond at different times. The flash was instantaneous, but the camera was a little after. Not knowing what the problem was, I contacted the vendor who said that the shutter lag was the problem. The way around this is to shoot in total darkness with the camera on bulb. You release the shutter (manually), then burst the balloon and let the trigger do its thing with the flash, the close the shutter. I think I can do all of that with a little testing to get the exposures right and to have a dark enough location, but was wondering if there is another way around the problem.

Your thoughts?

repleo Loc: Boston

Sounds like a good plan. Post some pics here if it works.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

My thoughts are without knowing what camera you're using, flash equipment, or make of triggering device, any comments are going to be, for the most part, useless.
--Bob

manofhg wrote:

I recently bought a trigger for lightning, sound, ... (show quote)

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

rmalarz wrote:

My thoughts are without knowing what camera you're using, flash equipment, or make of triggering device, any comments are going to be, for the most part, useless.
--Bob

Sorry, I should have posted more info.

MIOPS Smart trigger
5D Mark III
Canon 430 EX II

ejones0310 Loc: Tulsa, OK

manofhg wrote:

Sorry, I should have posted more info.

MIOPS Smart trigger
5D Mark III
Canon 430 EX II

Shutter lag shouldn't be a problem unless you are leaving some settings on auto. Try setting exposure and focus to manual and see if that doesn't fix the problem. Don't forget to put ISO on manual is it has an auto setting. I am betting the auto focus is causing it.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

repleo wrote:

Sounds like a good plan. Post some pics here if it works.

Main Photography Discussion is NOT the appropriate section in which to post pictures!

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

ejones0310 wrote:

Shutter lag shouldn't be a problem unless you are leaving some settings on auto. Try setting exposure and focus to manual and see if that doesn't fix the problem. Don't forget to put ISO on manual is it has an auto setting. I am betting the auto focus is causing it.

I have been running the camera in manual mode, what I always use as well as manual focus for this situation. Here is some of the discussion with MIOPS.

Me: Are saying that no one who has a 5D mark III can use this device as intended? If I use my flash on my camera, no MIOPS, the two work fine together. I can shoot any shutter speed I want, but the shutter then may beat the flash. As soon as I run it with the MIOPS, you can hear the two not in sync.

MIOPS: No, everyone who has 5D Mark III use MIOPS without any problem. For high speed events like popping balloons (which duration is 10-15 miliseconds and shorter than the shutter lag of your camera) etc, your camera cannot catch these moments because of its shutter lag. This is why we suggest to trigger a flash in dark room while your camera is set to long exposure to freeze the moment. For the other high speed events which takes longer times (which duration is longer than the shutter lag of your camera)such as Lightning Strikes, you can trigger your camera and capture it.

You can check the following article to learn more about High Speed Photography.

https://www.miops.com/high-speed-photography-nitty-gritty/

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

RWR wrote:

Main Photography Discussion is NOT the appropriate section in which to post pictures!

So posting a pictorial or image of a solution to a question here is verboten?

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Longshadow wrote:

So posting a pictorial or image of a solution to a question here is verboten?

If someone said the advice they received worked, I’d take their word for it rather than insinuate that I didn’t believe them.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

When I do get a picture or two, I'll post them in the appropriate section and maybe give reference here to what section they are in.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

RWR wrote:

Main Photography Discussion is NOT the appropriate section in which to post pictures!

It would be if they’re in conjunction with solving a trigger problem.
But inappropriate for straight show and tell!
SS

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

manofhg wrote:

I recently bought a trigger for lightning, sound, ... (show quote)

Man, you haven’t mentioned sync speed? Are you at sync speed?
Will your flash do High Speed Sync? HSS could possibly solve your problem.
Lag should be taken into acct by the sync speed, I think.
And you might want to experiment with First or Second curtain modes. Good luck
SS

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

SharpShooter wrote:

It would be if they’re in conjunction with solving a trigger problem.
But inappropriate for straight show and tell!
SS

That's what I would believe. Not an initial post, but a follow-up.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

SharpShooter wrote:

Man, you haven’t mentioned sync speed? Are you at sync speed?
Will your flash do High Speed Sync? HSS could possibly solve your problem.
Lag should be taken into acct by the sync speed, I think.
And you might want to experiment with First or Second curtain modes. Good luck
SS

Sync speed isn't a problem. I've connected my flash directly to the camera, no MIOPS in the loop, and they work as expected together. The triggering with the MIOPS has the camera shoot just a little after the flash though. Here is the link to info on the lag for my camera. https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/canon-5d-mkiii/canon-5d-mkiiiA6.HTM

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I think the reason no shutter lag is noticed when just shooting with the flash is the flash is activated by the camera.