High speed flash

[Jakefreese]

Ok, I have a vivitar 383 hv flash on the canon 40d. 1/250 is no where near fast enough to catch action shots of the horses. I just ned the flash for fill mostly since all the lighting is overhead, it makes for shadows on faces, and the flash really makes the horses hair pop. Do I just need to suck it up and buy a couple of the canon 580 flashes? I mostly use the 50mm or 85 mm now. Waiting to get a 24-70 and the 70-200. Thanks

Sent by smoke signals

 

[Patrice]

As far as I know that Vivitar flash is not capable of high speed (FP) operation. You'll have to buy a dedicated flash that will work in conjunction with your camera.

 

[cgipson1]

I don't use Canon so don't know what they will do. But.... meter for a full flash exposure if possible... flash is faster than any shutter, and will stop any action. Of course, that may not be possible if there is too much ambient light, or the distance is too great (of course this can make for dark backgrounds also.. which may not be what you want. Since I have no idea of the distances you will be shooting at, or the lighting... or even what kind of event you are shooting, that is all I can say. Always a good idea to give more information when you ask a question... it helps to get a better answer.

If the Canon bodies and flashes have a High Speed sync mode, then you probably need the dedicated flashes as Patrice mentioned.

 

[jonathon94]

Vivitar is owned by Sakar International and every product I've bought from them has been crap so I'm curious, how does your vivitar flash perform outside of your issue?

 

[philsphoto]

Jake,

Yeah, you're going to have to get flashes that will work with Canon EOS's high speed sync. I have just started working with high speed sync flash photography on my Canon EOS 7D and am loving it! I put the 580EX II on the camera and trigger a 430EX off camera in high speed sync.

The 7D has the ability to fire slave flashes, but not at high speed sync.

 

[Jakefreese]

Vivitar is owned by Sakar International and every product I've bought from them has been crap so I'm curious, how does your vivitar flash perform outside of your issue?

For a $130 flash, I have no complaints out has done me well.

I have been shooting with the 85 mm, seems like 50 to 75 ft. the lighting has been good enough so I could shoot 1/400 3.5 at iso 1600. I need the flash more for fill to get rid of unwanted shadows. The flash at 1/250 the legs are still blurry. I will try stopping the aperture down our turn the iso down to make it "darker". Or maybe I just need a couple alien bees...

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[jonathon94]

Gosh I feel broke. I spent $80 for my camera and that was all the money I had at the time. I'd love to get a job and save us but here in this small town all the jobs are already taken.