Standard flash working with Strobe on slave: I am in the process of learning to use lighting for a variety of uses. I have a Paul C. Buff white lightning 1600 within a 36" boombox on...

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

I am in the process of learning to use lighting for a variety of uses. I have a Paul C. Buff white lightning 1600 within a 36" boombox on one side with a Nissin flash in a 26" boombox on the other side. I have a flash controller on the camera that sets off the Nissin flash and the Buff strobe is set to slave and it goes off. The result I am getting is that there is a shadow on the strobe side from the Nissin flash, even though it is not as strong as the strobe. My thinking process is telling me that the shutter is closing before the strobe is at it's peak. I tried changing the strobe strength, and that had no effect on the shadow. I would have posted an image, but I erased them all already. Can this be cured by changing the shutter speed?

spaceylb Loc: Long Beach, N.Y.

Yes.

CO

Your shutter speed needs to be no faster than the sync speed of the camera. Most cameras have a sync speed of 1/200 second. It's best to be just a little below that - about 1/160 or 1/125 second. We use 1/125 second in our studio photo shoots.

The duration of the strobe is much faster than the camera's shutter speed. It's usually about 1/1000 to 1/40,000 second. It hardly matters what the shutter speed of the camera is set at. The flash will fire within the camera's shutter duration.

Since you have the flash and strobe opposite each other, you will get two shadows. I have used the same setup as you with a Paul C. Buff DigiBee strobe on one side and the Nikon SB-700 flash on the other side. I had the Nikon flash up high as a hair light. It didn't really create a second shadow.

BebuLamar

Most camera today can sync at 1/250 or 1/200. Depending on the triggering device there may be some delay that you would need to slow down the shutter speed to achieve correct sync.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Can you physically reduce the Nissin strobe strength? There are several ways to do that:

Move the strobe further away.
Place an aperture in front of the strobe. (Or several pieces of paper).
Bounce the strobe off a grey card, even a black card (pay attention to heating of the bounce surface).

Bouncing the strobe has the advantage that you can make the light come from a VERY large surface, which can diffuse shadows to make them less prominent.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Tryin to solve a lighting issue without an example image and the EXIF data is just a guessing game. Re-shoot the situation and you will receive a logical solution. Post the image with the "store original" box checked off.

I assume you meant "softboxes" not "boom boxes" unless your soft boxes are on boom-equipped light stands.

You could be experiencing a synchronization problem or a light ratio issue or simply the poor position of your lights.

Perhaps u you can draw a quick sketch of yo light position- a rough diagram- shoot it with your cellphone and send it along with your image.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

Tryin to solve a lighting issue without an example... (show quote)

Having a science background, it annoys the heck out of me that I am having trouble duplicating the problem I had the other day. Attached are two photos I just took, one of which I am not sure why it is so much darker than the other. From the photos you can see the setup. I have to assume that some adjustments I did yesterday had an impact upon my experiment today. Nonetheless, any guidance at this point is appreciated.

(Download)

BebuLamar

azted wrote:

Having a science background, it annoys the heck out of me that I am having trouble duplicating the problem I had the other day. Attached are two photos I just took, one of which I am not sure why it is so much darker than the other. From the photos you can see the setup. I have to assume that some adjustments I did yesterday had an impact upon my experiment today. Nonetheless, any guidance at this point is appreciated.

I think in the top photo only the left flash fired the right flash didn't fire.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

BebuLamar wrote:

I think in the top photo only the left flash fired the right flash didn't fire.

Yes, but the model light stayed on. That brings up a whole other issue of why did that happen? So far this "slave" light usage is concerning to me.

BebuLamar

azted wrote:

Yes, but the model light stayed on. That brings up a whole other issue of why did that happen? So far this "slave" light usage is concerning to me.

If the flash doesn't fire of course the modeling light stays on. Somehow the Buff slave didn't get triggered by the Nissin flash.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

You didn’t mention what type of controller you’re using, but assuming it’s an RF (radio) link, how about a 2nd receiver for the Buff strobe rather than using optical slave triggering?

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

TriX wrote:

You didn’t mention what type of controller you’re using, but assuming it’s an RF (radio) link, how about a 2nd receiver for the Buff strobe rather than using optical slave triggering?

Yes, I think I did mention the Nissin controller as the way I set off the flash. I do have a remote (top in attached photo) that I sometimes attach to a Sony flash. The question though is it comparable with a Buff light through a sync cord? I remember reading that there are different voltages required, and it is much more complicated. That is why I decided to use the "slave" option.

(Download)

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

azted wrote:

Having a science background, it annoys the heck out of me that I am having trouble duplicating the problem I had the other day. Attached are two photos I just took, one of which I am not sure why it is so much darker than the other. From the photos, you can see the setup. I have to assume that some adjustments I did yesterday had an impact on my experiment today. Nonetheless, any guidance at this point is appreciated.

Perhaps you did not check off the "SAVE ORIGINAL" box, so I could not access the EXIF exposure data. If however, you look at the shadows on the floor, the ones cast by the legs of the chair, you will see they are identical in both shots so the darker one may simply be underexposed. I also noticed that the shadows did not seem compatible with the light this is about 35 degrees off-camera. The shadow is directly under the chair as if the light was coming from directly above it.

For a more conclusive answer, I would like to see a shot with one light placed directly to behind the camera (0 degrees) and the other at about 35 degrees to the camera/subject axis. The light behind the camera should be 2 f/stop weaker than the off-camera light. This will make it easy to tell if on light is not firing or if there is a and exposure or ratio issue. Don't forget to check the (store original) box- that reveals exposure details.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

From the EXIF data for the second capture...

Sony ILCE-7M3
Lens: 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Art 019
Shot at 25.1 mm
Exposure: Manual exposure, 1/250 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100
Flash: On, Return detected

Have you tried 1/200 sec as CO suggested?

I used Buff Strobes and they can be just a tad flaky sometimes...
Great product but I've learned not to use my highest camera sync speed...
Experience is a brutal techer...

btw... From Sony's specs for the ILCE-7M3 (Sync Speed: "1/250 second (when using a flash manufactured by Sony)

Might try throttling it back a tad, k?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

azted wrote:

Yes, I think I did mention the Nissin controller as the way I set off the flash. I do have a remote (top in attached photo) that I sometimes attach to a Sony flash. The question though is it comparable with a Buff light through a sync cord? I remember reading that there are different voltages required, and it is much more complicated. That is why I decided to use the "slave" option.

Essentially, the receiver just provides a set of electrical contacts to fire the strobe, so unless the trigger voltage of the strobe exceeds the rating of the receiver, there should be no issues. I use a Youngnuo RF bi directional controller to control 2-3 flashes when out doors and a simple <$25 receiver to control my strobes when indoors.