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Flash sync speed
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Jan 14, 2017 10:28:28   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
Not a newbie, and definitely not an expert. Have mainly focused on sports photography up until now and getting more into events. Trying to incorporate flash shooting. I know the terms are universal regardless of the system but I'm using a Sony a99m1 and Sony HVL- F58AM flash gun. And yes I do use a flash bracket, diffuser and use bounce flash with necessary. What I'm having a problem with is understanding flash sync speed, which I believe is 250 with this setup. Does this mean I will need to set my shutter speed to 250 or stay higher or lower then that?
I've avoided flash up until this point but it is obvious that even with a full frame sensor at some point you lose too much detail/sharpness when you crank up the ISO.

Taken with flash
Taken with flash...

Taken without (handsome just like dad)
Taken without (handsome just like dad)...
(Download)

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Jan 14, 2017 10:36:14   #
oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA
 
1/250 or longer/slower, (1/150)

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Jan 14, 2017 10:43:46   #
gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast
 
From what I just Googled, your camera's actual max shutter speed would be 1/250, even if you tried to set a higher speed. Older cameras would show black bars on the pic if a speed above the max sync was used.

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Jan 14, 2017 10:51:26   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
oldtigger wrote:
1/250 or longer/slower, (1/150)


Wow! that simple? "thanks" for the quick reply oldtigger. I recognize your screen name from either posts or replies.

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Jan 14, 2017 10:54:48   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
gvarner wrote:
From what I just Googled, your camera's actual max shutter speed would be 1/250, even if you tried to set a higher speed. Older cameras would show black bars on the pic if a speed above the max sync was used.


"thanks" gvarner. I appreciate you taking the time to research that.

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Jan 14, 2017 11:24:56   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
1/250th your normal maximum setting.
I rarely go that high inside, preferring to let some of the ambient light to help give the viewer a sence of the surrounding environment. At one dark event venue is shoot regularly, I'm as low as 1/15th sec. As long as the subjects are fairly still, the flash freezes the movement and it doesn't look like it was shot in a cave.

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Jan 14, 2017 12:00:36   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
GoofyNewfie wrote:
1/250th your normal maximum setting.
I rarely go that high inside, preferring to let some of the ambient light to help give the viewer a sence of the surrounding environment. At one dark event venue is shoot regularly, I'm as low as 1/15th sec. As long as the subjects are fairly still, the flash freezes the movement and it doesn't look like it was shot in a cave.


"thanks" GoofyNewfie. I just viewed some of the pics that were taken at the same time as the first pic. I used a shutter speed of 250. In the future I will experiment by setting the shutter speed faster/slower to see the difference of more/less ambient light.

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Jan 14, 2017 12:30:55   #
oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA
 
bugguy wrote:
... In the future I will experiment by setting the shutter speed faster/slower to see the difference of more/less ambient light.

Now that you know the fastest shutter you can use, you can address "how much slower should i use"
How much subject isolation do you want?
What color light source balance is involved?
How much will the flash alter the mood.
Is the flash for illumination or freezing of motion?
How will the flash effect the appearance of the background?
Will the flash help you recover the true colors?
Are you using the flash to match the light coming in through a window?
Will your flash irritate the snot out of people trying to watch the show? etc...etc...
Have fun experimenting.

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Jan 14, 2017 12:46:18   #
jim quist Loc: Missouri
 
This is a website that has a lot of good information on using a flash
http://strobist.blogspot.com

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Jan 14, 2017 12:46:22   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
bugguy wrote:
Not a newbie, and definitely not an expert. Have mainly focused on sports photography up until now and getting more into events. Trying to incorporate flash shooting. I know the terms are universal regardless of the system but I'm using a Sony a99m1 and Sony HVL- F58AM flash gun. And yes I do use a flash bracket, diffuser and use bounce flash with necessary. What I'm having a problem with is understanding flash sync speed, which I believe is 250 with this setup. Does this mean I will need to set my shutter speed to 250 or stay higher or lower then that?
I've avoided flash up until this point but it is obvious that even with a full frame sensor at some point you lose too much detail/sharpness when you crank up the ISO.
Not a newbie, and definitely not an expert. Have m... (show quote)


The shortest shutter speed your camera will fire the flash at and still illuminate the entire scene. If your camera says it's 1/250 of a second, then you can't go shorter under normal circumstances see the end of this post for when that rule doesn't necessarily apply.

This is what happens. Your shutter has two moving parts that create the image - a front curtain and a rear curtain. When you use a shutter speed that is longer than 1/250, the first curtain opens then the second curtain closes. The cumulative time that the entire surface of the sensor is exposed to light is then 1/250 second or longer. When you use a shorter shutter speed, as the first curtain opens the second curtain is following it, creating a "slit" that moves across the image, with the end result being a shorter exposure. The slit gets narrower as the shutter speed gets shorter. Because it is a slit, and the duration of the flash at full power is probably around 1/900 second, going down to 1/4000 or less when you use a lower power mode on the flash - there is no point in time when the entire sensor is open to receive the light from the flash pop.

High Speed Sync is a mode that will let you shoot at shutter speeds shorter than 1/250 and still give you fully lit scenes. It does this by commanding the flash to do very fast multiple pops, so that there will be light at all points in time that the slit is moving. The downside of this is that your batteries get eaten up quickly, and your flash to subject distance is diminished.

https://alphauniverse.com/stories/the-power-of-high-speed-sync/

A flash bracket is a good idea if it is not too obtrusive, but you are wasting time on a diffuser - most don't do much if your subject distance is greater than 3-5 ft. If you are using a Fong thing, then you'd better have a small room with low ceilings, otherwise it behaves like a point source of light, and you will have harsh shadows and contrasty light. Bouncing, whenever possible, will give you the best quality of light.

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Jan 14, 2017 13:26:57   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
oldtigger wrote:
Now that you know the fastest shutter you can use, you can address "how much slower should i use"
How much subject isolation do you want?
What color light source balance is involved?
How much will the flash alter the mood.
Is the flash for illumination or freezing of motion?
How will the flash effect the appearance of the background?
Will the flash help you recover the true colors?
Are you using the flash to match the light coming in through a window?
Will your flash irritate the snot out of people trying to watch the show? etc...etc...
Have fun experimenting.
Now that you know the fastest shutter you can use,... (show quote)


oltigger I was feeling good and thought I, with yawl's help had this figured out. And then you post this


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Jan 14, 2017 13:28:13   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
jim quist wrote:
This is a website that has a lot of good information on using a flash
http://strobist.blogspot.com


"thanks" jim quist. I'm going to take a look at it now.

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Jan 14, 2017 13:37:19   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
Gene51 wrote:
The shortest shutter speed your camera will fire the flash at and still illuminate the entire scene. If your camera says it's 1/250 of a second, then you can't go shorter under normal circumstances see the end of this post for when that rule doesn't necessarily apply.

This is what happens. Your shutter has two moving parts that create the image - a front curtain and a rear curtain. When you use a shutter speed that is longer than 1/250, the first curtain opens then the second curtain closes. The cumulative time that the entire surface of the sensor is exposed to light is then 1/250 second or longer. When you use a shorter shutter speed, as the first curtain opens the second curtain is following it, creating a "slit" that moves across the image, with the end result being a shorter exposure. The slit gets narrower as the shutter speed gets shorter. Because it is a slit, and the duration of the flash at full power is probably around 1/900 second, going down to 1/4000 or less when you use a lower power mode on the flash - there is no point in time when the entire sensor is open to receive the light from the flash pop.

High Speed Sync is a mode that will let you shoot at shutter speeds shorter than 1/250 and still give you fully lit scenes. It does this by commanding the flash to do very fast multiple pops, so that there will be light at all points in time that the slit is moving. The downside of this is that your batteries get eaten up quickly, and your flash to subject distance is diminished.

https://alphauniverse.com/stories/the-power-of-high-speed-sync/

A flash bracket is a good idea if it is not too obtrusive, but you are wasting time on a diffuser - most don't do much if your subject distance is greater than 3-5 ft. If you are using a Fong thing, then you'd better have a small room with low ceilings, otherwise it behaves like a point source of light, and you will have harsh shadows and contrasty light. Bouncing, whenever possible, will give you the best quality of light.
The shortest shutter speed your camera will fire t... (show quote)


"Thank you" Gene51. very informative. I'm going to look at the link you provided, which I do appreciate. Now I'm thinking slow speed sync vs high speed sync. Every reply to this post has been helpful/informative. I do appreciate all of them! Oh and regarding your tip on the diffuser, I've also been using the lite scoop.

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Jan 14, 2017 14:05:01   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
Re: High Speed Sync (HSS)...
One thing it allows you to do is use flash outside with a wide aperture to help keep that background pleasantly out of focus with portraits.
Let's say you're shooting a portrait and your ambient exposure at iso 100 is 1/1000 @ f/4.
You determine you need to add a flash for fill to help.
With a normal sync setting of 1/250th, you'd have to use f/8, bringing that background focus to a distracting level.
HSS (or Auto FP in Nikon-speak) lets you keep the original f/4 exposure.
Yes, it takes more flash power because the flash pulses instead just of one pop, but...using a wider aperture requires less power anyway.
If you need more light, you can add another flash ( there are special brackets HERE and HERE that hold more than one) or move it closer if possible.

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Jan 14, 2017 14:12:10   #
bugguy Loc: midwest
 
GoofyNewfie wrote:
Re: High Speed Sync (HSS)...
One thing it allows you to do is use flash outside with a wide aperture to help keep that background pleasantly out of focus with portraits.
Let's say you're shooting a portrait and your ambient exposure at iso 100 is 1/1000 @ f/4.
You need to add a flash for fill though.
With a normal sync setting of 1/250th, you'd have to use f/8, bringing that background to a distracting level.
HSS (or Auto FP in Nikon-speak) lets you keep the original f/4 exposure.
Yes, it takes more flash power because the flash pulses instead just of one pop, but...using a wider aperture requires less power anyway.
If you need more light, you can add another flash ( there are special brackets HERE and HERE that hold more than one) or move it closer if possible.
Re: url=http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-74372-1.htm... (show quote)


"thanks" for the breakdown of your example. What if I were to just slow my shutter speed down though? Would that preserve my narrow depth of view (bokah)?

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