high-speed sync with wireless radio trigger?

Jan 27, 2015
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My current Cactus triggers are limited to 1/200th of a second. Is it possible to go all the way to 1/8000 by only changing the radio triggers? At the moment, I don't have budget to change the studio strobe.

I'd like to shoot in my studio at 1/1000 (or faster) with my current (cheap) studio strobe and my 600EX-RT speedlites at 1/2 or full power. Is it possible or am I asking too much?
 
You absolutely can shoot at 1/1000 (or faster) in studio with the 600EX-RT speedlites at ½ or full power; however, don’t expect to get too much life out of such a setup as the power-drain, heat, recycle-time, etc. will all provide diminishing returns using High Speed Sync. You really want to fire those at a much lower power setting (1/8 to maybe ½ max) but one speedlite usually wont’ cut it.

You’d be much better served by ganging up ~ 4 – 8 speedlites and then dropping the power levels on each unit way down . . . Helps to have the ST E3 RT transmitter too.

Cool demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDEoMHRKNeo

However, if you’re wanting to add studio strobes to the speedlite mix, then you’re in for a real headache. The studio strobes cannot fire in High Speed sync. Never have. Never will. If you want to add Studio strobes to the mix, this is “doable” too, just as long as you can live with the following “compromises”:

1. Set up your speedlites (anywhere from 1 – 16 units) to fire wirelessly from the camera-mounted ST E3 Transmitter.

2. The speedlites and the studio strobes will have to be used at / below the camera’s sync speed (I generally use 1/160 in studio)

3. Attach your wireless studio strobe transmitter to the PC port on the camera (I use a PCB CyberSync transmitter along with a FlashZebra Screwlock PC to Right Angle 2.5mm plug (http://flashzebra.com/products/0148/) attached to my Canon 5DIII. All studio strobes have to be configured to fire optically. The only reason to attach the CyberSync is so that I can adjust the power settings up/down on each strobe wirelessly; but they will NOT fire wirelessly with the ST E3 RT transmitter attached to the camera hot-shoe. That’s the major compromise you have to make. You can’t have two separate “wireless” triggers firing different units, but you CAN shoot one system wirelessly and the other optically at the same time. That works great for me; I just shoot, chimp, adjust power, and then shoot again until I’ve got right in camera.

If you’re looking to “freeze” motion in studio, such as with water splashes, etc., then just shoot in a really dark environment and then drop the power settings on the strobes and speedlites way down to (~ 1/128 to 1/256 if you can go that low) to get your t.5 durations way down to ~ 1/8000 or so, and then fire away. A shutter speed setting of ~ 1/160 – 1/200 is much longer than is needed to shoot in such conditions . . . you would not need to use 1/1000.

Hope that helps!
 
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Bam-Bam said:
However, if you’re wanting to add studio strobes to the speedlite mix, then you’re in for a real headache. The studio strobes cannot fire in High Speed sync. Never have. Never will.

Why such wrong information? There's several different strobes that can do HSS. The one I have is RoveLight600, and it goes to 1/8000 when triggering with my YongNuo 622.

2. The speedlites and the studio strobes will have to be used at / below the camera’s sync speed (I generally use 1/160 in studio)

Again, not true. Most strobes cannot go over the sync speed, but some can. If yours cannot, that's too bad.

All studio strobes have to be configured to fire optically.

Again wrong. Maybe true for your setup, but you can set them with wireless triggers for sure.

You can’t have two separate “wireless” triggers firing different units,

And wrong again. I've seen often setup when there's 2 wireless triggers on one camera triggering different lights. Works just fine.
 
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Bam-Bam said:
You absolutely can shoot at 1/1000 (or faster) in studio with the 600EX-RT speedlites at ½ or full power; however, don’t expect to get too much life out of such a setup as the power-drain, heat, recycle-time, etc. will all provide diminishing returns using High Speed Sync. You really want to fire those at a much lower power setting (1/8 to maybe ½ max) but one speedlite usually wont’ cut it.

You’d be much better served by ganging up ~ 4 – 8 speedlites and then dropping the power levels on each unit way down . . . Helps to have the ST E3 RT transmitter too.

Cool demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDEoMHRKNeo

However, if you’re wanting to add studio strobes to the speedlite mix, then you’re in for a real headache. The studio strobes cannot fire in High Speed sync. Never have. Never will. If you want to add Studio strobes to the mix, this is “doable” too, just as long as you can live with the following “compromises”:

1. Set up your speedlites (anywhere from 1 – 16 units) to fire wirelessly from the camera-mounted ST E3 Transmitter.

2. The speedlites and the studio strobes will have to be used at / below the camera’s sync speed (I generally use 1/160 in studio)

3. Attach your wireless studio strobe transmitter to the PC port on the camera (I use a PCB CyberSync transmitter along with a FlashZebra Screwlock PC to Right Angle 2.5mm plug (http://flashzebra.com/products/0148/) attached to my Canon 5DIII. All studio strobes have to be configured to fire optically. The only reason to attach the CyberSync is so that I can adjust the power settings up/down on each strobe wirelessly; but they will NOT fire wirelessly with the ST E3 RT transmitter attached to the camera hot-shoe. That’s the major compromise you have to make. You can’t have two separate “wireless” triggers firing different units, but you CAN shoot one system wirelessly and the other optically at the same time. That works great for me; I just shoot, chimp, adjust power, and then shoot again until I’ve got right in camera.

If you’re looking to “freeze” motion in studio, such as with water splashes, etc., then just shoot in a really dark environment and then drop the power settings on the strobes and speedlites way down to (~ 1/128 to 1/256 if you can go that low) to get your t.5 durations way down to ~ 1/8000 or so, and then fire away. A shutter speed setting of ~ 1/160 – 1/200 is much longer than is needed to shoot in such conditions . . . you would not need to use 1/1000.

Hope that helps!

Absolutely wrong information here... on many fronts.

As for HSS...maybe 5 years ago it was this way but my Profoto's B1's do this, and both of my Elinchrom Rangers's also do this. There are a few Chinese knock off that now offer HSS also.
 
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As for your first question in your second sentence, yes.with my phottix Odin I can use the canon HSS feature with my canon wireless flashes and camera. No big deal these days but I still think it's great. No longer am I restricted by line of site, and wasting a 580ex's light output as a communication trigger device.
. As for the strobes, and I guess you mean either monolights or powerpack arrangement, that can be tricky. Tricky due to the recent rapid advances that have been made in regards to lighting tech. Lets just be clear about the differences between using a flash of some sort at a fast shutter speed and HSS. You are heading into the area of diminished returns and flash duration and it's related effects. i'm not sure we need to go there. Out of curiosity how is it that you need something on the order of 1/1000th in a studio environment?
 
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Lots of dated info from Bam-Bam regarding the state of studio lights and triggers. Bam-Bam does make very valid points with freezing motion with light - where a very fast light doesn't give a crap what your shutter speed is. Things like TriggerTrap and Promote both make stuff to help with triggering when humans are the slow part. So what you're shooting makes a big difference.

What is your current studio strobe? To do HSS you'll most likely need to replace it. If you want to use your EX600's as part of the lighting setup, invest in the Phottix Odin system - you'll get full TTL and HSS from both the Photix Indra500 lights, plus your speedlights when used with their receiver.

The Profoto B1/B2 systems are great and will do HSS/TTL together, but don't allow for additional TTL/HSS components to be added.

Priolite does HotSync all the way to 1/8000th, where it's a single burst, but again, it's within their system only.
 
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Halfrack said:
Lots of dated info from Bam-Bam regarding the state of studio lights and triggers. Bam-Bam does make very valid points with freezing motion with light - where a very fast light doesn't give a crap what your shutter speed is. Things like TriggerTrap and Promote both make stuff to help with triggering when humans are the slow part. So what you're shooting makes a big difference.

What is your current studio strobe? To do HSS you'll most likely need to replace it. If you want to use your EX600's as part of the lighting setup, invest in the Phottix Odin system - you'll get full TTL and HSS from both the Photix Indra500 lights, plus your speedlights when used with their receiver.

The Profoto B1/B2 systems are great and will do HSS/TTL together, but don't allow for additional TTL/HSS components to be added.

Priolite does HotSync all the way to 1/8000th, where it's a single burst, but again, it's within their system only.

Currently I have 2x 600EX-RT and one monolight, which is a Menik CM-600.

I don't desperately need 1/1000th and currently I don't have the budget to purchase new speedlites or new monolites. However, it would be nice if I could freeze action (e.g. with jumping models and water) with my currentl lights and without investing a lot of money.

In the future, I will most likely sell the Menik monolight and purchase two high-quality monolights that support HSS, but currently it is out of my budget.
 
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To give you CORRECT information... almost ANY STROBE can fire in High Speed Sync. It is all about the triggers.

I have shot my old Photogenic Powerlights like the PL1250DR and the PL2500DR at above 1/2000 of a second, and it it easy to fire my current Dynalites at above 1/4000 of a second.

To do this, I have been using the PocketWizard FlexTT5 and Mini1 as the triggers, and you have to set them to be High Speed Sync and VOILA! All of the sudden you can shoot High Speed Sync.

The other neat trick with the pocket wizard is they can act as repeaters so you can actually configure it so you can not only fire your strobes in High Speed Sync, but also fire a 2nd camera remotely that is also in sync with the strobes. This took a little more playing around with and is more about labeling your transmitters since they will have different channels, and you have to turn off autofocus on the second camera Lens MOST of the time. I have been able to shoot with Both lenses pre-focusing but sometimes you will miss the 2nd camera going if you don't.

Lastly, some of these ANTIQUE packs are actually built to fire quickly. While the Profotos are some of the best out there, especially with having short duration which can help with freezing motion, the Einsteins and packs like the Dynalite M2000ER (now AP1600) have extremely short durations and this can further be enhanced when used with their Bi-Tube heads.

I picked up my Dynalite M2000ER and a 4080 head for less than the cost of a single 600EX-RT. So I may not have TTL, but hey 2000Watts of power and fast recycling time for playing around in the studio... Really hard to beat bang for buck.

I also have a pair of 600EX-RTs and know some photographers that is all they going to, but monolights and pack and head systems do offer a lot of power and can be cheap these days.

You will start seeing battery powered or capable monolights with TTL appearing more. The Dynalite Baja is cheaply made, but functional and I have one of these when I need punch, especially shooting night fashion, but have seen some even stronger ones coming down the line in the next year.
 
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niels123 said:
Halfrack said:
Lots of dated info from Bam-Bam regarding the state of studio lights and triggers. Bam-Bam does make very valid points with freezing motion with light - where a very fast light doesn't give a crap what your shutter speed is. Things like TriggerTrap and Promote both make stuff to help with triggering when humans are the slow part. So what you're shooting makes a big difference.

What is your current studio strobe? To do HSS you'll most likely need to replace it. If you want to use your EX600's as part of the lighting setup, invest in the Phottix Odin system - you'll get full TTL and HSS from both the Photix Indra500 lights, plus your speedlights when used with their receiver.

The Profoto B1/B2 systems are great and will do HSS/TTL together, but don't allow for additional TTL/HSS components to be added.

Priolite does HotSync all the way to 1/8000th, where it's a single burst, but again, it's within their system only.

Currently I have 2x 600EX-RT and one monolight, which is a Menik CM-600.

I don't desperately need 1/1000th and currently I don't have the budget to purchase new speedlites or new monolites. However, it would be nice if I could freeze action (e.g. with jumping models and water) with my currentl lights and without investing a lot of money.

In the future, I will most likely sell the Menik monolight and purchase two high-quality monolights that support HSS, but currently it is out of my budget.

Hi Niels,
the easiest and cheapest way to stop motion in studio is: wait until night, dimm down / switch of the lights, so that you have black exposures (without firing the strobe) -should be the case with 1/200s f10 iso100
So motion is stopped by flash (1/1000 or much shorter), no further exposure while the shutter is open
 
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Boromir883 said:
niels123 said:
Halfrack said:
Lots of dated info from Bam-Bam regarding the state of studio lights and triggers. Bam-Bam does make very valid points with freezing motion with light - where a very fast light doesn't give a crap what your shutter speed is. Things like TriggerTrap and Promote both make stuff to help with triggering when humans are the slow part. So what you're shooting makes a big difference.

What is your current studio strobe? To do HSS you'll most likely need to replace it. If you want to use your EX600's as part of the lighting setup, invest in the Phottix Odin system - you'll get full TTL and HSS from both the Photix Indra500 lights, plus your speedlights when used with their receiver.

The Profoto B1/B2 systems are great and will do HSS/TTL together, but don't allow for additional TTL/HSS components to be added.

Priolite does HotSync all the way to 1/8000th, where it's a single burst, but again, it's within their system only.

Currently I have 2x 600EX-RT and one monolight, which is a Menik CM-600.

I don't desperately need 1/1000th and currently I don't have the budget to purchase new speedlites or new monolites. However, it would be nice if I could freeze action (e.g. with jumping models and water) with my currentl lights and without investing a lot of money.

In the future, I will most likely sell the Menik monolight and purchase two high-quality monolights that support HSS, but currently it is out of my budget.

Hi Niels,
the easiest and cheapest way to stop motion in studio is: wait until night, dimm down / switch of the lights, so that you have black exposures (without firing the strobe) -should be the case with 1/200s f10 iso100
So motion is stopped by flash (1/1000 or much shorter), no further exposure while the shutter is open

If I ask a model to jump and then fire my camera 1/160th of a second is not enough to freeze the motion. If I chooose faster shutter speeds (e.g. 1/250) I get to see my shutter as a black band in the photo. I think it's because the limit is the sync speed of my Cactus V5 radio triggers, but also my current monolight (Menik CM600) doesn't give a short flash burst. At least the flash burst is not short enough to freeze action.
 
Upvote 0
niels123 said:
Boromir883 said:
niels123 said:
Halfrack said:
Lots of dated info from Bam-Bam regarding the state of studio lights and triggers. Bam-Bam does make very valid points with freezing motion with light - where a very fast light doesn't give a crap what your shutter speed is. Things like TriggerTrap and Promote both make stuff to help with triggering when humans are the slow part. So what you're shooting makes a big difference.

What is your current studio strobe? To do HSS you'll most likely need to replace it. If you want to use your EX600's as part of the lighting setup, invest in the Phottix Odin system - you'll get full TTL and HSS from both the Photix Indra500 lights, plus your speedlights when used with their receiver.

The Profoto B1/B2 systems are great and will do HSS/TTL together, but don't allow for additional TTL/HSS components to be added.

Priolite does HotSync all the way to 1/8000th, where it's a single burst, but again, it's within their system only.

Currently I have 2x 600EX-RT and one monolight, which is a Menik CM-600.

I don't desperately need 1/1000th and currently I don't have the budget to purchase new speedlites or new monolites. However, it would be nice if I could freeze action (e.g. with jumping models and water) with my currentl lights and without investing a lot of money.

In the future, I will most likely sell the Menik monolight and purchase two high-quality monolights that support HSS, but currently it is out of my budget.

Hi Niels,
the easiest and cheapest way to stop motion in studio is: wait until night, dimm down / switch of the lights, so that you have black exposures (without firing the strobe) -should be the case with 1/200s f10 iso100
So motion is stopped by flash (1/1000 or much shorter), no further exposure while the shutter is open

If I ask a model to jump and then fire my camera 1/160th of a second is not enough to freeze the motion. If I chooose faster shutter speeds (e.g. 1/250) I get to see my shutter as a black band in the photo. I think it's because the limit is the sync speed of my Cactus V5 radio triggers, but also my current monolight (Menik CM600) doesn't give a short flash burst. At least the flash burst is not short enough to freeze action.
wenn its really dark, you may open the shutter for 1 minute and you wont see your jumping model at the pic. in ideal case, the only light at the sensor is from flash - and flash duration is less than 1/1000s
 
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Boromir883 said:
niels123 said:
If I ask a model to jump and then fire my camera 1/160th of a second is not enough to freeze the motion. If I chooose faster shutter speeds (e.g. 1/250) I get to see my shutter as a black band in the photo. I think it's because the limit is the sync speed of my Cactus V5 radio triggers, but also my current monolight (Menik CM600) doesn't give a short flash burst. At least the flash burst is not short enough to freeze action.
wenn its really dark, you may open the shutter for 1 minute and you wont see your jumping model at the pic. in ideal case, the only light at the sensor is from flash - and flash duration is less than 1/1000s

The CM#00 range of lights have a flash duration of between 1/600 and 1/1,500 sec depending on the model, this figure is usually at full power and depending on if it is IGBT or traditional circuitry that figure will go up or down as the power goes down. It is easy to test.

In a dimly lite studio take a picture of something that is revolving, a fan or a bicycle wheel for example, then with your shutter speed set to 1/160 adjust the flash power and aperture to get consistent exposures, look at the blur in the images, the less blur the shorter the flash duration.
 
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To really get technical here guys, you need a flash with the shortest t.1 times. No matter what your shutter speed is set at or darkest setting motion will only be truly frozen with a flash duration as short as possible. The quicker the pulse dies to 90% dictates how well you'll be able to "freeze" the moment. If it's a slower moving subject it may not matter as much but with subjects moving quickly (water drops) it will make all the difference in the world.

The only cheap heads I know that are close to doing this are Elinchrom Quadra A heads (action) and Buff's that have a very short t.1 time specifically for these types of situations. There may be others I am unaware of. The only real problem this presents is you can't get HSS with the A heads versions... only the slower S (standard) heads with more normal t.1 times.

Typical speedlites, IGBT, are also capable of this but are very power limited when trying to reduce the t.1 times.

A good description of the t.1 and t.5 times can be found on Buff's site...

http://www.paulcbuff.com/sfe-flashduration.php
 
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Pookie said:
To really get technical here guys, you need a flash with the shortest t.1 times. No matter what your shutter speed is set at or darkest setting motion will only be truly frozen with a flash duration as short as possible. The quicker the pulse dies to 90% dictates how well you'll be able to "freeze" the moment. If it's a slower moving subject it may not matter as much but with subjects moving quickly (water drops) it will make all the difference in the world.

The only cheap heads I know that are close to doing this are Elinchrom Quadra A heads (action) and Buff's that have a very short t.1 time specifically for these types of situations. There may be others I am unaware of. The only real problem this presents is you can't get HSS with the A heads versions... only the slower S (standard) heads with more normal t.1 times.

Typical speedlites, IGBT, are also capable of this but are very power limited when trying to reduce the t.1 times.

A good description of the t.1 and t.5 times can be found on Buff's site...

http://www.paulcbuff.com/sfe-flashduration.php

There is a very important and fundamental difference between Hypersync and High Speed Sync (HSS). Elinchrome do not do HSS on any model (http://www.elinchrom.com/learn/hss-hs.html), they do a proprietary Hypersync technique based on the work by PocketWizard called Hi-Sync.

HSS works very differently than the delayed start and slow t1 times of Hypersync/Hi-Sync, it works by very fast pulses of light timed to cover the entire move of both shutter curtains. The Profoto B1 and B2's use true HSS (very high frequency multiple pulses per exposure), as do all Canon Speedlites, for perfectly even lighting across the image plane and more power control.
 
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privatebydesign said:
Pookie said:
To really get technical here guys, you need a flash with the shortest t.1 times. No matter what your shutter speed is set at or darkest setting motion will only be truly frozen with a flash duration as short as possible. The quicker the pulse dies to 90% dictates how well you'll be able to "freeze" the moment. If it's a slower moving subject it may not matter as much but with subjects moving quickly (water drops) it will make all the difference in the world.

The only cheap heads I know that are close to doing this are Elinchrom Quadra A heads (action) and Buff's that have a very short t.1 time specifically for these types of situations. There may be others I am unaware of. The only real problem this presents is you can't get HSS with the A heads versions... only the slower S (standard) heads with more normal t.1 times.

Typical speedlites, IGBT, are also capable of this but are very power limited when trying to reduce the t.1 times.

A good description of the t.1 and t.5 times can be found on Buff's site...

http://www.paulcbuff.com/sfe-flashduration.php

There is a very important and fundamental difference between Hypersync and High Speed Sync (HSS). Elinchrome do not do HSS on any model (http://www.elinchrom.com/learn/hss-hs.html), they do a proprietary Hypersync technique based on the work by PocketWizard called Hi-Sync.

HSS works very differently than the delayed start and slow t1 times of Hypersync/Hi-Sync, it works by very fast pulses of light timed to cover the entire move of both shutter curtains. The Profoto B1 and B2's use true HSS (very high frequency multiple pulses per exposure), as do all Canon Speedlites, for perfectly even lighting across the image plane and more power control.

The new Elinchrom do do HSS now, I was just at a trade show and saw their newest version... and yes, I do use PW to trigger my older Quadras in this pseudo HSS fashion before I moved to the Profotos. In truth though I never use HSS and only go above 1/200 with the X100S. Even with the B1's I never use HSS.
 
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Pookie said:
privatebydesign said:
Pookie said:
To really get technical here guys, you need a flash with the shortest t.1 times. No matter what your shutter speed is set at or darkest setting motion will only be truly frozen with a flash duration as short as possible. The quicker the pulse dies to 90% dictates how well you'll be able to "freeze" the moment. If it's a slower moving subject it may not matter as much but with subjects moving quickly (water drops) it will make all the difference in the world.

The only cheap heads I know that are close to doing this are Elinchrom Quadra A heads (action) and Buff's that have a very short t.1 time specifically for these types of situations. There may be others I am unaware of. The only real problem this presents is you can't get HSS with the A heads versions... only the slower S (standard) heads with more normal t.1 times.

Typical speedlites, IGBT, are also capable of this but are very power limited when trying to reduce the t.1 times.

A good description of the t.1 and t.5 times can be found on Buff's site...

http://www.paulcbuff.com/sfe-flashduration.php

There is a very important and fundamental difference between Hypersync and High Speed Sync (HSS). Elinchrome do not do HSS on any model (http://www.elinchrom.com/learn/hss-hs.html), they do a proprietary Hypersync technique based on the work by PocketWizard called Hi-Sync.

HSS works very differently than the delayed start and slow t1 times of Hypersync/Hi-Sync, it works by very fast pulses of light timed to cover the entire move of both shutter curtains. The Profoto B1 and B2's use true HSS (very high frequency multiple pulses per exposure), as do all Canon Speedlites, for perfectly even lighting across the image plane and more power control.

The new Elinchrom do do HSS now, I was just at a trade show and saw their newest version... and yes, I do use PW to trigger my older Quadras in this pseudo HSS fashion before I moved to the Profotos. In truth though I never use HSS and only go above 1/200 with the X100. Even with the B1's I never use HSS.

Which Elichrome model does HSS? If it is triggered by the Skyport Plus HS it is not HSS, it is Hypersync/Hi-Sync.
 
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privatebydesign said:
Boromir883 said:
niels123 said:
If I ask a model to jump and then fire my camera 1/160th of a second is not enough to freeze the motion. If I chooose faster shutter speeds (e.g. 1/250) I get to see my shutter as a black band in the photo. I think it's because the limit is the sync speed of my Cactus V5 radio triggers, but also my current monolight (Menik CM600) doesn't give a short flash burst. At least the flash burst is not short enough to freeze action.
wenn its really dark, you may open the shutter for 1 minute and you wont see your jumping model at the pic. in ideal case, the only light at the sensor is from flash - and flash duration is less than 1/1000s

The CM#00 range of lights have a flash duration of between 1/600 and 1/1,500 sec depending on the model, this figure is usually at full power and depending on if it is IGBT or traditional circuitry that figure will go up or down as the power goes down. It is easy to test.

In a dimly lite studio take a picture of something that is revolving, a fan or a bicycle wheel for example, then with your shutter speed set to 1/160 adjust the flash power and aperture to get consistent exposures, look at the blur in the images, the less blur the shorter the flash duration.

I did the fan-test and it's completely hopeless. At iso100, f/1.2 and 1/4th the picture is severy underexposed in my studio. I decided to mount an ND filter because I didn't want to stop too much down so I started with flash at f/1.2 ;D All shutter speeds are 1/160th. The first photo is without flash, the others are at power settings 1.0 (min) - 6.0 (max) with full-stop increments:

1_4th.jpg


power1.jpg


power2.jpg


power3.jpg


power4.jpg


power5.jpg


power6.jpg
 
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niels123 said:
privatebydesign said:
Boromir883 said:
niels123 said:
If I ask a model to jump and then fire my camera 1/160th of a second is not enough to freeze the motion. If I chooose faster shutter speeds (e.g. 1/250) I get to see my shutter as a black band in the photo. I think it's because the limit is the sync speed of my Cactus V5 radio triggers, but also my current monolight (Menik CM600) doesn't give a short flash burst. At least the flash burst is not short enough to freeze action.
wenn its really dark, you may open the shutter for 1 minute and you wont see your jumping model at the pic. in ideal case, the only light at the sensor is from flash - and flash duration is less than 1/1000s

The CM#00 range of lights have a flash duration of between 1/600 and 1/1,500 sec depending on the model, this figure is usually at full power and depending on if it is IGBT or traditional circuitry that figure will go up or down as the power goes down. It is easy to test.

In a dimly lite studio take a picture of something that is revolving, a fan or a bicycle wheel for example, then with your shutter speed set to 1/160 adjust the flash power and aperture to get consistent exposures, look at the blur in the images, the less blur the shorter the flash duration.

I did the fan-test and it's completely hopeless. At iso100, f/1.2 and 1/4th the picture is severy underexposed in my studio. I decided to mount an ND filter because I didn't want to stop too much down so I started with flash at f/1.2 ;D All shutter speeds are 1/160th. The first photo is without flash, the others are at power settings 1.0 (min) - 6.0 (max) with full-stop increments:

1_4th.jpg


power1.jpg


power2.jpg


power3.jpg


power4.jpg


power5.jpg


power6.jpg

Good work, what speed did you have the fan at? It might well be going much faster than you think, if you had it on speed three turn it down to speed one and try again. If you can figure out a way to work out the revs and the diameter you can work out the speed of the ends of the blades.

Though it does look like your flash is the older style of variable voltage style discharge, that is the t1 time is the same but the voltage, and so the output, is lower, rather than the IGBT style t1 time getting shorter as the power goes down because the light is extinguished early.
 
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