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#1
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
Hi all,
I've been plowing through an online "book" on Canon EOS Flash Photography http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ (OK - it's really just a web page, but ran to 99 pages when I copied and pasted it into Word). In the past I've occasionally come up against the 20D's 1/250th X-Sync "limitation" - I knew that I could go faster if I used High Speed Sync, but for some reason I had it in my mind that High Speed Sync (or FP Mode) was vastly inferior, and was likely to get poorly metered results. How wrong can a mouse be? Having read through the article it appears that the only limitation is that it efectively reduces the output of the unit by around 1/3 - often a non-issue with big monsters like the 580EX (especially several of them). To "prove the point" I setup my 20D on manual and in a room with very subdued lighting I set it for 1/250 (and some at 1/500) - F2.8 - F5.6 - attached my remote transmitter, and let rip with a couple of 580EX's pointed at my victims. The result? EVERY one absolutely spot on - PERFECT exposure. The only limitation I hit was the 580EX not being able to cycle fast enough when I fired a burst of shots. With this in mind, it begs me to ask the question: "Is an X-Sync speed of "this" or "that" simply irrelivant in this day and age? Additionally, can anyone think of a reason why Canon couldn't even give us a custom function that says "Use FP Mode when 1/250 of a Sec"? Would be interested to hear peoples thoughts. |
#2
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
C J Southern wrote:
The only limitation I hit was the 580EX not being able to cycle fast enough when I fired a burst of shots. With this in mind, it begs me to ask the question: "Is an X-Sync speed of "this" or "that" simply irrelivant in this day and age? High-speed sync works differently from normal flash mode in that the flash actually becomes "slower" -- it fires multiple pulses instead of a single flash, and thus is not good for stopping motion -- the exposure time is actually controlled by the shutter speed, whereas the flash duration is much shorter in normal mode. Other disadvantages: the flash may use more battery power and recycle more slowly, and will give you less total exposure; you can't calculate flash exposure using flash power (guide number) and aperture any more; and it will only work with a dedicated electronic flash unit. Apart from that, there's no reason not to use it. As you discovered, it does work as advertised. It's just not a "real" flash sync mode. -- Jeremy | |
#3
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speedsynch on powerful flash units?
C J Southern skrev:
Hi all, I've been plowing through an online "book" on Canon EOS Flash Photography http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ (OK - it's really just a web page, but ran to 99 pages when I copied and pasted it into Word). In the past I've occasionally come up against the 20D's 1/250th X-Sync "limitation" - I knew that I could go faster if I used High Speed Sync, but for some reason I had it in my mind that High Speed Sync (or FP Mode) was vastly inferior, and was likely to get poorly metered results. http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/syncspeed.htm -- Med venlig hilsen, Ole Larsen. New Images And Design 2005-11-17 http://home.tiscali.dk/muggler |
#4
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
"Ole Larsen" wrote in message ... http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/syncspeed.htm Interesting article, but from what I've read previously, his "limitations" don't appear to totally hold true in a Canon EOS Flash environment ... eg. "On every camera I own the FP mode reverts back to totally manual exposure calculation" - I guess he doesn't own a Canon 20D or above, because the metering works just fine in TV, AP, and M modes. "The flash always pops at full power on the flashes I've seen. Thus as above you lose battery life, have long recycle times, no high frame rates and all the other disadvantages above." - It probably does, but that doesn't mean it's on at full power for long - or any longer than it would have been at the X-Sync shutter speed. From what I've read it's pulsed at 50,000 times per second. "Since only a fraction of the light at any time is exposing the film or CCD you lose a lot of light, again getting you back to the problems of limited flash range" - Others have said "you lose about 1/3" (personally, I wouldn't know) - again, with multiple, powerful units like the 580EX I wondr how much of an issue this is? |
#5
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
"Jeremy Nixon" wrote in message ... High-speed sync works differently from normal flash mode in that the flash actually becomes "slower" -- it fires multiple pulses instead of a single flash, and thus is not good for stopping motion -- the exposure time is actually controlled by the shutter speed, whereas the flash duration is much shorter in normal mode. Then again, if you're shooting with a shutter speed of upwards of 1/250th, isn't that going to freeze most motion anyway? Other disadvantages: the flash may use more battery power and recycle more slowly, and will give you less total exposure; you can't calculate flash exposure using flash power (guide number) and aperture any more; and it will only work with a dedicated electronic flash unit. I've only ever tried it in Av and Tv and M modes, but left the camera to sort out the (foreground) exposure - so far it seems to be able to hit the nail on the head everytime. |
#6
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speedsynch on powerful flash units?
C J Southern wrote:
Would be interested to hear peoples thoughts. I found this article: http://www.photozone.de/3Technology/flashtec5.htm B. |
#7
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
"C J Southern" wrote in message
... Hi all, I've been plowing through an online "book" on Canon EOS Flash Photography http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ (OK - it's really just a web page, but ran to 99 pages when I copied and pasted it into Word). In the past I've occasionally come up against the 20D's 1/250th X-Sync "limitation" - I knew that I could go faster if I used High Speed Sync, but for some reason I had it in my mind that High Speed Sync (or FP Mode) was vastly inferior, and was likely to get poorly metered results. How wrong can a mouse be? Having read through the article it appears that the only limitation is that it efectively reduces the output of the unit by around 1/3 - often a non-issue with big monsters like the 580EX (especially several of them). To "prove the point" I setup my 20D on manual and in a room with very subdued lighting I set it for 1/250 (and some at 1/500) - F2.8 - F5.6 - attached my remote transmitter, and let rip with a couple of 580EX's pointed at my victims. The result? EVERY one absolutely spot on - PERFECT exposure. The only limitation I hit was the 580EX not being able to cycle fast enough when I fired a burst of shots. With this in mind, it begs me to ask the question: "Is an X-Sync speed of "this" or "that" simply irrelivant in this day and age? Additionally, can anyone think of a reason why Canon couldn't even give us a custom function that says "Use FP Mode when 1/250 of a Sec"? Would be interested to hear peoples thoughts. The relevance come in when you are working in the studio with strobes, and a faster shutter speed would allow you to lessen your depth of field. -- Skip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com |
#8
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
"Skip M" wrote in message news:Mlcrf.264$sA3.242@fed1read02... The relevance come in when you are working in the studio with strobes, and a faster shutter speed would allow you to lessen your depth of field. I take it that this is because studio strobes put out a pre-set amount of light, whereas in an E-TTL (2) system the camera can just shut off the light source when it's had enough light? |
#9
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
"C J Southern" wrote in message
... "Skip M" wrote in message news:Mlcrf.264$sA3.242@fed1read02... The relevance come in when you are working in the studio with strobes, and a faster shutter speed would allow you to lessen your depth of field. I take it that this is because studio strobes put out a pre-set amount of light, whereas in an E-TTL (2) system the camera can just shut off the light source when it's had enough light? Not necessarily preset, but limited. Some sets of strobes, like my cheap ones, have only a couple of stops of latitude in their settings others have considerably more, but a max synch speed of 1/250, or in my 5Ds case, 1/200, can lead you to shooting at f8 more than one would like. -- Skip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com |
#10
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Is X-Sync speed a "big deal" anymore - now that we have High-speed synch on powerful flash units?
"Skip M" wrote in message news:Usirf.311$sA3.227@fed1read02... Not necessarily preset, but limited. Some sets of strobes, like my cheap ones, have only a couple of stops of latitude in their settings others have considerably more, but a max synch speed of 1/250, or in my 5Ds case, 1/200, can lead you to shooting at f8 more than one would like. So in that situation you can't shoot at, say F4 @ 1/125 because it won't freeze any motion, and you can't shoot at F4 @ 1/200 because the strobes don't have enough grunt (or if they do they wash out skin tones etc)? |
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