Flash Shutter speed and syncing speed.

[Andyp]

Hi,

my name is andy and i'm new to this forum and also relatively new to photography.

I'm hoping to get a bit of guidance from here.

I'm having a few issues with my nikon D300 and nikon SB900. Why is it that when using the flash on top of my camera it doesn't use a higher shutter speed than 1/60th?

I've set the flash sync speed to 1/320th FP but when i go into the flash shutter speed, it only goes upto 1/60th?

I have my camera on aperture priority and the flash gun on Aperture also.

Can anybody tell me where im going wrong?

Thanks.

 

[Garbz]

Only goes up to? 1/60th is the lowest setting and also the setting the camera will select when it is low on light. So when in aperture priority or any of the automatic modes, the camera will pick 1/60th if the light is 1/60th or below, then pick a range between 1/60th and 1/250th if that is what the correct normal (non flash) exposure calls for, and in even brighter conditions will either over expose or set the flash higher still using FP sync.

Put the camera into either shutter priority, or more usefully into full manual when doing high speed sync. Remember there are a lot of variables in photography already and now you're adding a flash too; locking some settings using manual can help a lot.

 

[Andyp]

Aha!!

Thanks alot for that. It was really confusing me as i only ever shot in Aperture priority and in low light, hence why it was only go as fast as 1/60th.

Thinking about what you said and having tried it, manual with a flashgun is easier than i'd expected.

Thanks again!!

This is a great forum.

 

[Garbz]

You're welcome. By the way in future these questions belong in the Beyond the Basics subforum, you'd get many more views there.

 

[Montana]

Does Nikon have a setting that you can set you shutter to a certain default speed in aperture priority with flash? My new 5D mkII has this feature. It will not drop below 1/60, or you can set it for 1/200 all the time in Ap. This is all via camera menus.

 

[JerryPH]

Does Nikon have a setting that you can set you shutter to a certain default speed in aperture priority with flash? My new 5D mkII has this feature. It will not drop below 1/60, or you can set it for 1/200 all the time in Ap. This is all via camera menus.

Most all dSLR cameras can... it is called manual mode... lol

Kidding aside, you can set minimum shutter speed with flash in the menus and then control it via the different modes identically like your Canon.

 

[Garbz]

The maximum speed is selectable in menu too, including disabling FP sync.

 

[Andyp]

Thanks again guy's!

the advice has been really helpful!!