I need a flash

skatephoto

TPF Noob!
Joined
Nov 14, 2003
Messages
72
Reaction score
0
well i'm looking for a good powerful flash that i could use to shoot biking and skateboarding and other stuff at night. I have been told to look at the vivitar 285 hv and the sunpak 555 and 544. althought i dont know anything about a handle flash and how it works. If anyone has anysuggestions please let me know. i have a elan 7e with a flash sync of 1/125. and could someone please explain to me the whole flash sync thing. im not too familiar with shooting with flashes. thanks
 
Flash sync is the fastest shutter speed in which you camera's shutter curtain opens 100%. High shutter speeds are created by a slit moving across the frame. If you use a flash at higher shutter speeds then you only flash the part of the image where the slit is when the flash goes off.

You can use any shutter speed equal to or slower than the sync speed with a flash, and the entire image will be flashed.

I highly recommend the Vivitar 285HV; it's my favorite flash. Easy to use, and it will teach you how to use a flash. The only issue with the Viv 285 is that some digital users have reported voltage surges that wack their camera. I've used it on all sorts of film cameras and it works great.
 
My 25+ year old Vivitar 285 is still going strong. A great flash.
 
so with the flash sync thing, ive seen that the most expensive slr cameras have a sync of 1/250th of a second does that mean the highest shutter speed of any camera when using a flash can be 1/250th. but when i see like a snowboard photographer shooting sequences with his camera at like 8fps using a flash he has to be shooting faster than 1/250th of a second doesnt he?? or maybe not. i dont know. I just thought u could shoot faster than 1/250th of a second with a flash but i quess i was wrong.
 
skate, do you plan on using it alot? not to discourage you, but i wouldnt break the bank on one, cause personally i never use the things...

maybe thats just me..

md
 
MD - i'ts just you! :Joker: j/k

I have found that I need a flash for snap shots and not alot else. Unless you shoot alot of weddings. Problem is, when you need it, YOU NEED IT! I shoot nearly everything in available light and if I do need a little extra light, my 10D has an on camera flash (rarely used) or I use a reflector to bounce the light back on to my subject. On the rare occassion I actually need a flash, I do use mine (I have the Vivitar flash for my Bronica) but tend to bounce the flash off of the ceiling or use a strobosock (check out Adorama). If you have the extra bucks, it is a great thing to have. If your $ is limited, there are better things to spend your money on. If I had to pick a flash to buy, I agree that the Vivtar is the better flash.
 
skatephoto said:
when i see like a snowboard photographer shooting sequences with his camera at like 8fps using a flash he has to be shooting faster than 1/250th of a second doesnt he??

If they are shooting at 8 fps and using a flash it's a high power strobe set-up. Much larger and more powerful than anything you can stick on your camera. Anything that uses regular batteries is going to recharge between flashes fairly slowly. You can buy a high power battery set up (like Quantum batteries) for most popular higher end flashes. Even so I don't know if you can get 8 full power flashes per second from any on camera size flash.
 
so with the flash sync thing, ive seen that the most expensive slr cameras have a sync of 1/250th of a second does that mean the highest shutter speed of any camera when using a flash can be 1/250th. but when i see like a snowboard photographer shooting sequences with his camera at like 8fps using a flash he has to be shooting faster than 1/250th of a second doesnt he?? or maybe not. i dont know. I just thought u could shoot faster than 1/250th of a second with a flash but i quess i was wrong.

F.Y.I The pentax *istd has a flash sync of 1/150th, not much faster but a little, just so you know. And also some cameras are capable of high speed syncs, not really sure how that works tho
 
tr0gd0o0r said:
And also some cameras are capable of high speed syncs, not really sure how that works tho

The manufacturers purposely limit the abilities of entry level and mid range cameras so that they use higher sync speed as a sales incentive on higher end gear. The shutters on entry level cameras could all be syncing at 1/250th+ for a price increase of about $0.01, but then why would you spend the extra moola buying the next model up?

Also, we've been taking about focal plane shutters here (typical for 35mm SLRs). A simple focal plane shutter would be a curtain that moves horizontally across the image frame; most are more complicated than that these days, but the same idea. Leaf shutters are like an iris (like the aperture). They always open all the way, so flash sync is very high, although FP shutters have higher max shutter speeds overall.
 

Most reactions

New Topics

Back
Top