Flash Sync Speed

[Lenny C]

I know the maximum flash Sync speed of my D200 with SB-800 is 1/250. Are there 3rd party strobes that would allow me to increase the sync speed to 1/1000? I'd like to be able to use 1/1000 while shooting skiers and get some fill flash on their faces. I don't know if the maximum flash sync speed is a limitation of the camera or the strobe. (I have used FP High Speed Sync but the power of the flash is extremely compromised when shooting over 1/250).

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

[glhid]

There is a thread going on around here somewhere (which I can't find again at the moment) that discusses ways to do this. Apparently with some cameras (including some DSLRs--don't remember if D200 was addressed or not) it is possible to sync a flash at higher speeds by using a non-TTL sync connection like an ordinary PC cable. The trick is supposedly to not let the camera know you are using a flash, because then it will not allow the shutter speed to be set faster than the normal sync speed. Obviously this requires a certain amount of fiddling with flash output vs shutter speeds, but it has interesting possibilities.

 

[tyoung]

I know the maximum flash Sync speed of my D200 with SB-800 is 1/250.
Are there 3rd party strobes that would allow me to increase the sync
speed to 1/1000? I'd like to be able to use 1/1000 while shooting
skiers and get some fill flash on their faces. I don't know if the
maximum flash sync speed is a limitation of the camera or the strobe.
(I have used FP High Speed Sync but the power of the flash is
extremely compromised when shooting over 1/250).

The limitation is due to the cameras mechanical shutter curtain. Some bodies with digital "shutters" such as the D70 can sync up to 1/500s and taping off some pins at the hotshoe can trick the camera into syncing at even higher speeds in strictly manual mode, but shot to shot consistency becomes an increasing issue as the shutter speed is increased. Still, it would be worth a try if you can get your hands on a D70, etc.

The surefire way to accomplish what you're asking for is to use some much more powerful light. With enough energy, you'll be able to overpower daylight, freezing the subject by flash duration alone. Norman, Lumedyne, etc would be a start. Something with 1200ws or more would be even better. But that route can get costly.

--
'Here, look at the monkey. Look at the silly monkey!'

Tom Young
http://www.pbase.com/tyoung/

 

[dbvand]

You could do it with a D70 because it has an electronic shutter instead of a mechanical one.

With a D200 or any other camera with a mechanical shutter, high speed fp sync is the only option I know of.

The loss of flash power with fp sync is greater the faster the shutter speed. If you could live with 1/500 instead of 1/1000, the loss of flash power wouldn't be as great.

The only other option would be to use multiple flashes in the high speed fp sync mode (with flash sync chords) in order to compensate for the loss of flash power.

The good thing is that as long as the flash is only for fill light, it doesn't neet too much power.

Finally, make sure you're zooming your flash head to focus as much of the light as possible onto your subject. If they're far away from you, you might even consider something to focus the flash beam even more.

Here's a link to a related article.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/05/hacking-your-cameras-sync-speed-pt-1.html

Good luck.
--
Bryan V.
P.S. I've had amnesia for as long as I can remember.

 

[Kent Johnson]

That's the ticket, my friend. Cheap, too!
-Kent

 

[jgarnold]

On my D300, I solved the flash sync speed limitation by purchasing a 4x neutral density filter. The D300 has a base ISO of 200 which really limits your use of fill flash outdoors on a bright sunny day (without resorting to f/11 or smaller). The filter basically turns the D300 into an ISO 50 based camera allowing for larger apertures without violating the flash-sync limit.

However, I assume that the OP wants a 1/1000th second shutter speed to freeze the action of the skiers. In this case, my filter solution won't help.

-Jeff

 

[Mark Woodland]

I know that with the D300/SB800 there is a setting like AA or something that lets you shoot at much higher speeds. I'm sorry I don't have the manuals with me and can't recall how to do it, but check your flash manual and see if it will work on the D200.
--
Mark W.

 

[le_alain]

Flash sync (mécnical) is 1/250

but no problem to shoot up to 1/8000 with compatible FP flash, SB800, or thirs party like the Sigma.

But you lose power with speed, relatively rapidly when increasing speed over sync speed (it's a strobe mode)

 

[gianfini]

My understanding is that flash sync speed depends on the camera body and not the flash unit, as it represent the max speed at wich the curtains move in front of the sensor so the max speed at which the sensor is fully discovered (i.e. for higher speeds the curtain window is smaller than the sensor).

I understand I have not been so clear. See this article

http://www.thewonderoflight.com/tutorial_flash_technical.htm

g

 

[BillyGoat]

Yours was not the first post and will probably not be the last to suggest that the D70 has an electronic shutter only. Fact is it does have a mechanical shutter. The fastest mechanical shutter speed is 1/500s which is also the sync speed, meaning the shutter is fully open at the time of the flash firing. For speeds faster than this, the electronic shutter adjusts something, whether it is the time the sensor is on or adjust sensor sensitivity; probably akin to changing the ISO electronically (I am not sure which). The D70 has a CCD sensor and so does the D200. I don't know if the trick will work for the D200 will work or not. I would like to try it.

 

[TOF guy]

Yours was not the first post and will probably not be the last to suggest that the D70 has an electronic shutter only.

The post is correct. The D70 uses a form of electronic shutter to do its 1/500 sec feat.

Fact is it does have a mechanical shutter.

Note that the person you reply to never stated that the D70 does not have a mechanical shutter : the D70 has both.

The fastest mechanical shutter speed is 1/500s

No.

 

[Robert Cohen]

And the posts in this thread were ten years old.

 

[David Lal]

Not that I am often given to contributing to 10 year old threads but ...

The fastest x-sync on the D70 is much higher than 1/500s. In fact it is 1/8000s - but one must be using a non-dedicated flashgun. The D40 (but not the D40x) could sync at up to 1/4000s.

I've been told this was achieved by momentarily turning the sensor off.

 

[Richard B99]

Not that I am often given to contributing to 10 year old threads but ...

The fastest x-sync on the D70 is much higher than 1/500s. In fact it is 1/8000s - but one must be using a non-dedicated flashgun. The D40 (but not the D40x) could sync at up to 1/4000s.

I've been told this was achieved by momentarily turning the sensor off.

OK, I just have to pick up on this 10 year old thread as I’d not been aware of this (though I had seen some comments about the D70).

So, 10 years plus ago in the earlyish era of mass digital photography, we had DSLRs that could x-sync at up to 1/8000s? What happened? Why are we back at the pre-digital era sync speeds of 1/200 - 1/320s sync speeds? Was it something about CCD sensors that allowed it and CMOS cannot or was it just a feature no-one valued? How does that work with a moving slit focal plane shutter?

Intrigued!

 

[TOF guy]

Not that I am often given to contributing to 10 year old threads but ...

The fastest x-sync on the D70 is much higher than 1/500s.

Not without some cheating

In fact it is 1/8000s - but one must be using a non-dedicated flashgun. The D40 (but not the D40x) could sync at up to 1/4000s.

You need to mask some pins ... forgot which ones ...

I've been told this was achieved by momentarily turning the sensor off.

I don’t think that’s it. The sensor has dedicated circuitry to reset the charges quickly taking advantage of the ccd architecture

The feature took precious space away from the pixels themselves at the expense of high iso performance and dr. Nikon gave up likely for this reason.

 

[David Lal]

Not that I am often given to contributing to 10 year old threads but ...

The fastest x-sync on the D70 is much higher than 1/500s.

Not without some cheating

In fact it is 1/8000s - but one must be using a non-dedicated flashgun. The D40 (but not the D40x) could sync at up to 1/4000s.

You need to mask some pins ... forgot which ones ...

No Thierry, no masking of pins was needed with non-Nikon dedicated flashguns (and in fact they only have a centre pin and an edge contact). The masking was needed if one wanted to 'undedicate' something like a SB800 flashgun.

@Richard: I still have and still occasionally use my D70 for this very reason. Pukkah very high x-sync, no FP mode kludge.

 

[n057]

Not that I am often given to contributing to 10 year old threads but ...

The fastest x-sync on the D70 is much higher than 1/500s.

Not without some cheating

In fact it is 1/8000s - but one must be using a non-dedicated flashgun. The D40 (but not the D40x) could sync at up to 1/4000s.

You need to mask some pins ... forgot which ones ...

No Thierry, no masking of pins was needed with non-Nikon dedicated flashguns (and in fact they only have a centre pin and an edge contact). The masking was needed if one wanted to 'undedicate' something like a SB800 flashgun.

@Richard: I still have and still occasionally use my D70 for this very reason. Pukkah very high x-sync, no FP mode kludge.

I don't think all that information is (still) useful to the OP, who was asking at the time about the D200 ...


JC
Some cameras, some lenses, some computers