Noob Nikon speed/flash question

Gougoodthing · Post by **Gougoodthing** » Sun May 08, 2011 7:48 pm

OK, is there a way i can force the speed to be faster when i turn the flash on in a Nikon (d7000 or the old d60)

If you have it on manual settings, when you pop the flash up it drops back to a maximum of about 1/300 (iirc, may even be slower)

"thanks before" of

Iwishihadquirkyendstomypostslikeswain

kwijibo · Post by **kwijibo** » Sun May 08, 2011 7:50 pm

Depends on the camera. My D90 can do a maximum of 1/200, but my D40 can do 1/500

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Sun May 08, 2011 8:11 pm

I'm a bit confused... you guys mean flash sync?? or actual flash duration? flash sync is in regards to the fastest shutter speed you can use with a flash.. that may or may not help you.... what are you trying to achieve?

Gougoodthing · Post by **Gougoodthing** » Sun May 08, 2011 10:12 pm

I want to use a fast shutter speed (say 1/800 th) and have the flash fire

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Sun May 08, 2011 10:44 pm

Any particular reason you'd want to do that?

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Sun May 08, 2011 11:01 pm

Seems a bit odd since the flash duration is a lot lower than the shutter time and should easily freeze any action. Shutter speed 1/250, flash duration 1/10,000 or something like that. Dex will know.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Sun May 08, 2011 11:02 pm

Depends on the power setting of the flash, but yeah, much faster than a shutter.

Gougoodthing · Post by **Gougoodthing** » Sun May 08, 2011 11:35 pm

Trying to do those arty farty photos of flowers etc.

Very underlit so would be all black, apart from the flash. The flash doesnt reach the background and as its so underexposed it looks black.

It worked on this one the background was about 3 metres away

(this was taken in the middle of the afternoon on a bright sunny day)

White Rose by Gougoodthing, on Flickr

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Sun May 08, 2011 11:49 pm

If you get your flash off axis it will do that... And also not flatten out the image like on camera flash will do. On camera flash should only ever be used for a fill light (unless axial illumination is needed).

If you can't get your flash off axis then get whatever is in the background further from the flower

shutter speed generally will not effect your result that heavily. In this case It's an issue of trying to extend your contrast range. A slower shutter speed will brighten background, but you're talking about 1/250th vs 1/4 for a noticeable difference. Not 1/250th and 1/800th... Specially when the flash is illuminating the background as well as the subject at similar levels.

Gougoodthing · Post by **Gougoodthing** » Mon May 09, 2011 12:14 am

Cheers again guys, will have a fiddle!
Much appreciated as allways.

(PS LOVING the Camera Dex, highly recommended!)

Speed · Post by **Speed** » Mon May 09, 2011 12:25 am

It's called high speed sync but I don't know anything about Nikons, you'd have to check your manual.

Off camera flash is always best but high speed sync allows you to use bigger apertures to get a shallower depth of field in bright conditions. If your camera supports it you can use "pocket wizards" or equivalent, though they are expensive, or off camera shoe cords.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Mon May 09, 2011 7:37 am

Generally as a rule of thumb for flash, aperture controls your flash exposure (as well as shifting flash power settings of course), and shutter controls your background... Areas in shot that the flash doesn't illuminate.

Nikons are generally awesome for flash... He shouldn't need pocket wizards and stuff... They usually have onboard IR for talking to off camera flash, and quite often the on camera flash can be used as a fill flash in a master/slave setup.

Edit: oh, he could also try an ND filter if wide open apertures are a must.

Speed · Post by **Speed** » Mon May 09, 2011 9:24 am

I agree with what you are saying.

ND filters are great but you can get totally different effects using a wide aperture & high speed sync or ND if that's what you're looking for.
HIgh speed sync is great for shallow DOF while under exposing the background.
Pocket Wizards allow off camera sync speeds up to 1/8000th as far as I know....so long as the camera supports it of course.

DexterPunk · Post by **DexterPunk** » Mon May 09, 2011 6:55 pm

The issue as I see it, is the shutter speed may be set to 1/800th for example... But each area is exposed for 1/800, the shutter itself will mover across the sensor... so it's actually there for a longer duration than that... which is why you can get black bars along the frame if you use a faster shutter speed than the camera can sync at.

A.R.S.E.