RSS FeedThe Tricky Flash Sync
What is the Flash Sync? How do I use it? And how do I achieve a high-speed sync?
These are a few questions you ponder about after getting your first ever external flash. First let’s clarify the meaning of “Sync”. Sync is actually a shortcut of synchronization, and synchronization is the way two objects function, move, execute at the same time in it’s simplest sense.
Now Flash Sync is all to do about the Flash Shutter. The Shutter is like your eyelids. It closes and opens much like your eyelids does. However for the Flash Shutter, the wider it is open and the longer it stays open, the more light is captured by the camera sensor. Basically, the camera sensor only sees light, that is why photography in it’s simplest description is a means of capturing light. If the shutter is blinking fast, which is a fast shutter, the sharper the image and the quicker your camera sensor captures the image while sacrificing the amount of light it captures as well.
Therefore, slow-shutter speeds are good for low-light conditions, making fast moving objects blurred, making running water from streams and waterfalls appear silky-smooth and taking night photographs and especially useful on time-lapse photography.
Fast-shutter speeds is good for fast targets to make them appear like you stopped time, or freeze the moment. Good for pictures of sports, racing, active kids and the like. However, you need ample amounts of light to get proper exposure at fast-shutter speeds. You can hand-hold your camera and take sharper images. For slow-shutters, a tripod is absolutely needed.
This answers your questions about high-speed sync and flash sync. It is the relation of your camera shutter with your your camera flash.
The shutter of your camera has its own rating for maximum speed which you can use the flash. Thus your camera also has a limit as to how fast the shutter curtains (eyelids) can be made to move. At higher speeds, a second shutter curtain which is rarely noticed also move to increase the speed capacity of the camera.
The secondary shutter is released before the first curtain has finished moving. This will appear like your camera sensor is shooting through moving strips.
Thus the higher the shutter speed, the thinner the strip is. This affects your flash reliability to properly expose or light up your subject. If the flash fires while the curtains are about to close, the the proper flash exposure is not taken. Thus the timing between the flash and the shutter, which is your sync speed, is essential. They must thus work in harmony.
Fast Sync, notice how the action and the crowd is captured
Slow Sync, notice that the crowd is now blurred by panning the shot.
The maximum shutter speed where the camera sensor is properly exposed when it is wide open is called the “Flash Sync” or “X-Sync” speed. It usually ranges at about 1/200 - 1/500sec. However this varies depending on the SLR/Camera.
Your external flash needs to cope with this value. That is why your reliable on-camera flash fails at higher sync speeds or your camera won’t allow you to shoot at higher sync speeds at all. Most external flash has a “High-Speed Sync” mode, allowing your camera to use any shutter speed. Notice that without your external flash attached to your camera, the camera shutter speed option is limited. Your external flash does this nifty little trick to synchronize with your camera shutter. Your naked eyes cannot see this, but to achieve high-speed sync flash, your dedicated external flash fires a series of several flashes as opposed to what your eyes can see which is a single fire of your flash. This is timed to match the period where your camera sensor is exposed. This multiple fire at high-speed sync reduces the intensity of your flash considerably, so most high-speed sync shots is done best for fill-flash at close range.
Whats with the Grey?
Getting the right color temperature, white balance and the true feel of a photograph is difficult to achieve even for seasoned photographers. Auto White Balance is a hit and miss affair, any PRO photographer you ask will tell you to set your white balance (WB) manually yourself. There are many ways to do this, and one effective method is to use a Photographic Grey card.
A Grey Card is used as a baseline of the level of White Balance the camera should apply. It balances the color of your photos much better. It is letting your camera choose a better exposure level to match the current lighting situation.
One of the best Grey Card is the “Douglas Card”, I am trying to look for the newer version, but there is none available in my area. The Douglas Card is from Douglas Photographic. The Latest version is called the Douglas Mark II. It offers better color balance in many kinds of lighting conditions. At around 20USD, the Douglas Mark II or Mark 2 contains no artificial brighteners which could distort your dSLR’s’ exposure readings.
Douglas grey card
Camera Cleaning Essentials
Whether you are using a point and shoot or a high-end dSLR, these cleaning essentials must not be missed. Conventional Microfiber cloths are not really friendly to your lens and camera surface, because if a debris is trapped within it’s folds, then it would scratch any surface it comes in contact with. However I am not totally putting down any anti-static and micro fiber cloths in general, I just want to let you know of the fact that what I mentioned above could happen. So if you are using one now, be careful when using it.
What I would suggest however you use is the Lenspen, it is a fairly nifty little device. It uses carbon technology to clean glass surface, the way people before use newspapers to clean you windshield or window glass is the same principle. However, it is synthesized and combined to a new pen lookind device. An added bonus is at it tails end (the lenspens’) is a brush that could gently pull out any debris first before cleaning with it’s patented carbon tip. However before using the lenspen, the first thing you should do is blow up the dust and debris off your device, and the Lenspen can’t do that, nor your mouth could. So you need my next tip, The Rocket Air Blower.
Lenspen LP-1
Sounds like it came from NASA right? What I am pertaining to is the Giottos Rocket Air Blower. It’s rubber component and design including the air inlet is specifically engineered for supreme air blowing performance(pardon the pun). Yes it blows the hell out of dust and debris. It has an inlet valve at the bottom (one-way valve) that takes clean, filtered air in from the bottom so you can blow out a clean air at the tip. So no debris being accindentally blown in to your device. Just to be sfe, before use, try to blow it a couple of times before pointing to the surface to be blown. Aren’t you tired with all the blowing already?
So keep in mind, in your arsenal, you need a lenspen and a blower. No go clean your stuff!
Giottos Rocket Air Blower
.
Gary Fong Lightsphere 2
If you don’t know what it is, it is generally called a lighting modifier in photography. It is often called though as a Flash Diffuser.
The Gary Fong Lightsphere 2 is the newest version of Gary Fong’s Lightsphere series. It comes either in Clear and Cloud versions. The clear one for slight softness of light and the Cloud one which I recommend adds moderate softness to your flash light, making photos appear like it was taken using natural lighting not the harsh one a regular flash produces. It has a top attachment if you want to use those, it is actually a lid to close the dome to be able to point the Lightsphere directly on your subject . Imagine it looking like a Tupperware attached to your Flash. Most version fits the Nikon and Canon Flashes, so to make it fit a third-party flash like the Nissin Di622 reviewed before, slight modification and cutting required to fit.
When you buy one, it comes with the Cloud White dome lid, but other lids can be bought separately like the Amber Lid and the Reflective Silver Lid. The Generic version of the Gary Fong Lightsphere2 if you want to save some cash is called a Lambency Flash Diffuser. Some are named even crazier, but the best replicas are the Lambency ones.
Gary Fong Lightsphere 2 Clear
Gary Fong Lightsphere 2 Cloud
One downside when attaching it to a Nissin Di622 is that the weight added to the flash head makes it bow down to 90 degrees, so you either just point it up instead or rest it at 90 degrees, anywhere in between will drop down the head, unless you put in some fitter to the head to lock it tight.On Nikon and Canon Flash systems, it works pretty well as it is designed for those, the locking mechanism of those flash units are better. However, there is a Universal Lightsphere now available for all types of external Flashes.
The Gary Fong Lightsphere2 is really good to use on portrait photography, you need to practice a lot thought to get a hang of the proper settings to use when using an external flash and the Lightsphere 2. First thing I learned is to make sure you set a custom White Balance when bouncing the flash using the Lightshpere to achieve optimum results.
Gary Fong Lightsphere 2 Universal
Here are a couple of my observations:
- When there is insufficient light, the best distance would be around 6ft. from the subject bounced upward with the Lid at f11 and iso400 1/125. Flash power set at TTL. Bouncing at low light, it is best to set your White Balance to Tungsten.
- Pointing the Flash with the lid, you just need minor adjustments. For good all around flash strength, set at TTL and add +1 to the flash assist power.
I tried it on my SB-600 and it works like a charm, on the Nissin Di622 after slight modification, it works even better, I think it is because of the flash rating of the Nissin Di622 being higher than SB 600. Sample shots Below.
Regular Flash Left with Lightsphere 2 on the Right
Using the Amber Dome
If you have other observations on the Gary Fong Lighstphere 2, please suggest it by commenting and I will gladly test it and add the notes if confirmed.
Do you need to know more? Comment below and I’ll try to answer all your questions.
You can actually make a DIY (Do It Yourself) version of the Lightsphere.
Get one, I highly recommend it, tell Mr. Fong you read it here.
DS: Burn Baby Burn
Read a Notice somewhere regarding cheap device chargers sold on ebay. Most of them for mp3 players your portable media devices, consoles and handhelds, even your mobile phone. Usually these products come from China with fake CE safety marks and haven’t passed through actual quality control. If you live in the UK and you happen to have a charger for your Nintendo DS with the item number DE62347066, stop using it immediately. You can also visit Nintendo’s website and look for their notice regarding these chargers. Other devices may also be affected and most mobile phones too.
You May Have Started This
They may cause you to lose your device warranty or burn your whole house. They have plugs that don’t fit nicely to your outlet and quickly heats up and eventually burn out or worst explode. This item number is the known one, but other types may have got in too. If you bought one which is almost half the price of the original, then that would be a sign you have the cheapo product. This is where “You Get What You Pay For” quote applies.
iPhone 3G Battery Tips
The New iPhone 3G
Just read in Yahoo Tech News some tips in making the iPhone less of a battery power hog. I decided to try it out on a test unit I luckily had with me today. My Conditions is that I turn back everything to default before trying the next tip and never actually using it after full charge.
Turn off push e-mail
(Tip Rank: 10 out of 10)
Push e-mail is one of the new features of the latest iPhone firmware and one of the worst battery consuming application as well. Turning it off really does save you power on the iPhone, not to mention it’s becoming one of the best Tips on iPhone 3G Care. Switch from push to “fetch” e-mail on your settings and choose 30minutes fetching. Try it your self and thank Yahoo for your new lease on battery life…
Dim the screen (Tip Rank: 6 out of 10)
Yeah, without testing I can surely attest to this, because all device which has a self-powered screen ot any screen with illumination or back light consumes power, so it will save you power if you dim them, you can even do this on your notebook computers and it will save you some juice too. Look under Settings then Brightness and set it to approximately half and Read more
GP Gold Achievers
GIZMODO- The Void Between Protons and Electrons Makes Us All Phantoms [Science] March 12, 2010
- Take the Consumer Broadband Test, Help the FCC Keep ISPs In Check [Broadband] March 12, 2010
- Mosspuppet Discovers Chatroulette And We All Throw Up a Little [Mosspuppet] March 12, 2010
- PlayStation Move Requires a Scant 1-2MB of RAM [PS3] March 12, 2010
- Insert the PlayStation Move Wand Into the Situations It'll Let You Simulate [PhotoshopContest] March 12, 2010
- The Litany of iPad Submission [Apple] March 12, 2010
- The Litany of iPad Resistance [Apple] March 12, 2010
- What Is This? [Image Cache] March 12, 2010
- How iPad 3G Service Works (Or: Why You Should Buy the 3G iPad) [Ipad] March 12, 2010
- Plastic Logic QUE proReader Delayed Until Summer [Delays] March 12, 2010
Recent Comments
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: Hi Worried. Yes, most Nissin Di866 depending on where you bought it from has some...
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: Hi Ricky, Not unless your Metz Manual flash is set to trigger at TTL, then it...
- worried: i just bought mine last saturday, to shot for my brother’s wedding… it was very noisy...
- Ricky: Hi, firstly, good job on this informative review. I’m looking for a 2nd slave flash for my Pentax...
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: Hi Sorry for the long wait, as you can see we haven’t updated the site yet,...
- Migs: Sir! I have two questions. 1) I have a Canon 430EX II, planning to buy Di622 which will serve as my slave....
- Jack: Hi, I just bought a Nissin Di622. When I try yesterday the unit with my Canon 7d as slave the di622 work but...
- Chris Administrator Gee, Please...: @Michael: It will work off-camera via ttl triggering. @Long: The red glass...
- benting: hello newbie here. which do you think is a best buy? two nissin di622 or 1 nikon sb-600? and i really...
- long: my red glass have broken and scattered to pieces…do i need to buy a new flashlight or can change the red...
