speedlights

[silver163]

i have been in search of finding some speedlights that would be light and portable and powerful enough to get good shots in but the problem that i am running into with my alienbees is that my camera is faster than the lights themselves and there is some problem with that. what happens is that half of the photo is black, so essentially there is a black bar until i reduce the speed of the shutter. so i am looking for speedlights that would cause this problem, any recommendations?

[TPF Sponsor]

[k10387]

Depends on what camera your using. If it's Nikon and you want something relatively inexpensive, you could get a few of the older SB-26 units. They have a guide number of 118 Ithink plus they have the built in slave. The newer models like the SB-800 etc I think have this feature with a higher guide number but are about 2-3 times the price. I'm sure there are some Canon flashes with the same features.
Are you using the A-B's connected with a sync or as slaves ? If your using them as slaves, is it possible the main flash has a pre-flash that is setting off the A-B's prematurly ?

[davisphotos]

That's not a problem with your lights, you are running in to your camera's sync speed. Google sync speed to learn more about this. I know Canon has what is called high speed sync, which allows your flash to work at highter than the sync speed with the Canon brand flashes-Nikon may have the same with the SB800, as k10387 mentions.

[silver163]

yeah i got the Nikon D90 I forgot to mention but i still need more portable lights that's why i need the speedlights. but i rather get a new model, any recommendations?

[Ub3rdoRK]

grab a couple of B800's and a mini vagabond. Its gonna cost you less as if you buy some sb900s.

[kundalini]

The black bar is a result of exceeding your camer's sync speed as davisphoto mentioned. check your manual, but it's probably 1/250s. If your shutter speed is greater than that, the exposure is being made while the second curtain is closing. Drop shutter speed at or below 1/250s and try again.

There is no way the camera is faster than the flash.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOayN2U1xZg[/ame]

[Big Mike]

Firstly, do you need to shoot with flash/strobe at shutter speeds above 1/200 (or 1/250)? If not, then don't....and you won't have problems with the shutter blocking half of your photo when the flash is fired. If you do, then yes, getting a Nikon Speedlight and using the Auto FP mode will allow you to use faster shutter speed (at the expense of working distance though).

Another option would be to get a camera with an electronic shutter, like the D70, which will allow you to sync the flash with any shutter speed.

[KmH]

Unless you are shooting with strobed light outside in the daytime you don't need a shutter speed faster than the 1/200 x-sync speed of your D90.

However, if you do, your D90 also FP-sync so you can use a faster shutter speed. Whatever speedlight you use also has to be FP-sync capable.

However, using FP-sync mode is brutal on speedlight batteries because the speedlight has to fire repeatedly during the short time the shutter curtain slit moves across the image sensor so each portion of the sensor receives that same exposure.

Kundalini's video may cover the same thing, but...

The x-sync speed is the fastest shutter speed that has both shutter curtains fully open. At faster shutter speeds one or both curtains block some part of the image sensor during the exposure.

Watch closely and see how narrow the slit is at 1/4000 shutter speed:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG5QedhroYQ"]YouTube - Nikon D3 slow motion - Continuous 11fps[/ame]

[silver163]

i guess i could reduce the speed of the shutter to 1/125 but have to play around with the lights nonetheless. is there any speedlight alternatives to the nikon? i need more portability than anything since I probably can work with at 1/125.

[ghache]

vivitar285hv, powerfull and cheap.

[KmH]

i guess i could reduce the speed of the shutter to 1/125 but have to play around with the lights nonetheless. is there any speedlight alternatives to the nikon? i need more portability than anything since I probably can work with at 1/125.

For what it is worth to you.

Clients tend to assess the credibility and business expertise of photographers based on their attention to the details displayed in their written and oral communications, in addition to their people skills. Clients then relate to the photographer "on that level".
That is called making an impressiom. Making a poor impression ultimately costs a professional photographer money.
A client is less inclined to try and take advantage of a photographer who projects in their written and oral communications that they are sharp, literate, and professional. Photographers who demonstrate a sloppy attitude to communicating accurately always seem to have client horror stories and wonder why they have so many client problems.
Of course this is the day of the Internet and texting, but I sincerely doubt that anyone routinely using poor spelling and grammar on the Internet, subsequently demonstrates excellent literacy skills when dealing directly with people, clients or not.
In online forums, a posters credibility is also part and parcel to making an impression, and not using the appropriate capital letters in a post dims ones credibility considerably by making a poor impression.
Excellent spelling and grammar skills certainly will not hinder one's progress in any job, business or profession.

[Infidel]

For what it is worth to you.

Fragment...consider revising.

Clients tend to assess the credibility and business expertise of photographers based on their attention to the details displayed in their written and oral communications, in addition to their people skills. Clients then relate to the photographer "on that level".
That is called making an impressiom. Making a poor impression ultimately costs a professional photographer money.
A client is less inclined to try and take advantage of a photographer who projects in their written and oral communications that they are sharp, literate, and professional. Photographers who demonstrate a sloppy attitude to communicating accurately always seem to have client horror stories and wonder why they have so many client problems.
Of course this is the day of the Internet and texting, but I sincerely doubt that anyone routinely using poor spelling and grammar on the Internet, subsequently demonstrates excellent literacy skills when dealing directly with people, clients or not.
In online forums, a posters credibility is also part and parcel to making an impression, and not using the appropriate capital letters in a post dims ones credibility considerably by making a poor impression.
Excellent spelling and grammar skills certainly will not hinder one's progress in any job, business or profession.

i dont normily do this kinda thing callin pipl out and all but considering teh content of the post it seemd kinda funny lolz omgwtfbbq!!!!11!!!!!!1!!!



...seriously, all in good fun.

[aleshaabbot]

Speedlight is the brand name used by Nikon plenty for their photographic flash units, used since the company's introduction of strobe flashes in the 1960s. Nikon's standalone Speedlights have the SB- prefix as part of their model description.

[schoster]

I am lucky to have a Nikon SP Limited Edition camera but I need to know what flash units are OK to use with this system. The manual makes statements about not accepting recent Speedlight units. It also says not to directly attach speedlight units with coupling contacts and to make sure to insulate the contacts with tape before attaching.
I have an old Metz 30BCT4 flash and I wondered if I could use this flash with this camera and not cause any harm to the camera or flash.

Thanks so much!
Best,

Jimmy

[benhasajeep]

SB-600's are just fine for normal lighting situations. They are half the price of SB-900's and still have a decent range. I have 1-SB-900, 3-SB-600's and a whole gaggle of earlier SB's from 80DX's down to 25's. I say the SB-600's get most of the work now. I will take the 900 if I am only going to carry 1 flash.

If you go wireless with the flashes, you can use just about any flash made that has the same hot shoe as Nikons. When needed I still use my old flashes wirelessly. The camera doesn't know the difference.

The new SB-700's have added some features from the SB-900 like the DX/FX lens auto zoom correction. They are a good 1/3 to 1/2 more than 600's though.

So basically if you have AB's for your high power needs. Just grab a SB-600 or two.

Ah, dag nabit - old post at least by the OP. Oh well.