normanhall Loc: Leslie Missouri

I have just bought a off camera flash bracket and bower flash.

I am needing some help understanding the operation. When i am in manual mode can i use any speed other than the sync speed of 1/60th-1/200th.

It is my understanding that the flash is supposed to compensate for speed is this correct?

the flash is a Bower SFD 356

normanhall Loc: Leslie Missouri

i typed the wrong model number SFD35N

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I am not entirely sure of the question you are asking. You do not tell us what camera you are using. You do not tell us how you are going to trigger the flash on the bracket.

Are you expecting just manual use or also TTL? Not manual as in the PSAM selection, but manual flash operation.

Answer all of these an we'll go from there.

My first response is don't waste money on third-party stuff as it will not utilize all the marvelous stuff your camera can do, but we'll see.

normanhall Loc: Leslie Missouri

Sorry Captianc i am using the nikon 5100 and i am using a hotshoe cord. the manual that came with it say most folks use auto or program. But i was interested to know if in manual am i stuck with 1/60-1/200 of a second.

It seems like i read somewhere that in manual i could change my settings and the flash would act based on my input in manual mode.

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

I don't know about this flash so it is hard to answer intelligently, but if it supposed to do TTL, then you can set any aperture and any shutter speed up to 1/250.

I went to the description of the unit and it says it will do iTTL, so it looks like you can set your 5100 as described above and shoot.

Remember - as far as flash exposure is concerned, ONLY aperture matters. Shutter speed is meaningless for the flash exposure.
Shutter speed controls ambient light,so if you want to kill most of the ambient, set the shutter to 1/250. If you want to balance flash with ambient, use a shutter speed that allows as much ambient as you want - you have to experiment with this - there is no answer to "what should my shutter speed be."

Greg Loc: Maryland

Generally, yes, I agree. However if used outdoors for fill, this is not always the case. I don't know if your camera/flash combo supports high speed sync or not. If not, they yes, you need to limit your shutter speed. Indoors or at night (or any darker environment, this is rarely an issue.

normanhall Loc: Leslie Missouri

Sunrisepano Loc: West Sub of Chicago

If I understand the original question correctly, you CAN set the camera to manual exposure and use a shutter speed of 1/2 second or longer.

I don't know about your camera, but, I have a couple of cameras that will let me set front and rear curtain flash.

The synch speed of a camera is the fastest shutter speed at which the entire sensor (film) is open for exposure at once. The camera has two curtains. The first opens across the sensor to expose it and the second moves across to close or end the exposure. Then they both reset themselves to the starting position together so there is no gap to re-expose the sensor.

At flash synch speed, let's say 1/125 of a second, it takes 1/125 of second for the first curtain to travel the entire distance to completely expose the sensor. When it reaches the end, the second curtain closes, taking 1/125 of a second to complete its travel.

For faster shutter speeds, the second curtain starts moving across the sensor before the first curtain has completely opened. This effectively makes a slit traveling across the sensor that varies from 1/2 the width to a tiny gap.

When taking a picture with a flash, the entire sensor must be exposed at the instance the flash fires.

Now, let's have fun with a slower shutter speed. To take a picture of a person in dim light, let's say we need a 1 second exposure. If the subject or the camera move during that exposure, we get blur.

Let's set up a black background behind the subject and ask the subject to walk from our left to our right (our camera is on a tripod) and we start the picture once the subject is entirely in the left side of the frame and in on second the shutter closed before leaving our field of view. Our picture is a blur, a streak across the frame.

Now we will add a flash that will give us proper exposure and repeat the above picture. The person enters the framed area, we release the shutter and the first curtain opens, flash, one second later, the curtain closes. We now have a picture with a properly exposed person on the left side and a blur in front of the person.

If your camera has second curtain synch, set it to that and repeat the above picture once again. The subject moves into frame, release the shutter and the first curtain opens. One second later, the subject has moved across the frame and FLASH, then the second curtain closes. This picture now has a properly exposed subject on the right with a blur BEHIND. Looks more realtistic this way.

Give it a try and have fum.