getting a strange effect now that we have lights

[coggonobrien]

Getting a black line always oriented with the bottom of the camera no matter what lense we have on when using the studio lights we just got. The lights are Elinchrom D-Lite 4it. the line is not crisp but we get it no matter what. it does follow the rotation of the camera. Any thoughts? Everything above the line is clear and good color.

Thanks!
David

 

[Kerbouchard]

Your shutter speed is too fast. One curtain is closing before the other is fully open therefore the entire frame is never exposed to the flash at the same time. You need your shutter speed to be around 1/200th of a second or slower depending on your camera model.

 

[coggonobrien]

great thanks, the lights are new and it's the first time using the backdrop/floor drops. will post some pictures when done

 

[Kerbouchard]

You might also be having an issue with your flash trigger, but I would start with a slower shutter speed. If that doesn't take care of the problem, we will need some more details, like camera model, flash triggers, camera settings, etc.

 

[KmH]

Getting a black line always oriented with the bottom of the camera no matter what lense we have on when using the studio lights we just got.

For what it's worth, I bet the line is actually oriented with the top of the camera, but at the bottom of the photo.

A camera lens projects the image onto the image sensor upside down, with the bottom of what you see in the viewfinder at the top of the image sensor.

Since the black segment is at the top of the camera (bottom of the photo) that means it's the rear/second shutter curtain that is blocking part of the image frame causing the black band. It also means your camera is set to front/first curtain flash sync. In other words the flash fires at the instant the front/first curtain is fully open. Ambient light will record any movement preceeding the direction of movement.

I recommend you change the flash sync mode to rear/second curtain so the flash fires at the instant before the rear/second shutter curtain starts to close. That way ambient light will record any movement as trailing the direction of movement.

Nikon calls their shutter curtains the front/rear curtains, Canon calls their shutter curtains the first/second curtain.

Doing photography and sussing out technical issues is a lot easier if you know how your tools work.

 

[gsgary]

This is not beyond the basics, it is the basics try reading your camera manual and sinc speed