strobist help

hp1000 · Mar 11, 2011

I was able to borrow some lighting equipment for the weekend as an introduction to strobist work. FYI this is my first time, and I don't have a manual. I am using a pocket wizard and SB-900. I am much more familiar with the SB-600 which I have, but I cannot use the pocket wizard with it. Anyways back to my issue, I feel like there is a delay. The light is too slow for my shutter speed....please help.. Take a look at the pictures below

reznap · Mar 11, 2011

Too fast of a shutter speed for syncing with the flash.

Exif says your slowest shutter speed was 1/400.. the others were 1/500 and 1/800.

Try something like 1/160, or 1/200.

Your D300s should be capable of doing high speed sync, but I literally know nothing about that - doesn't really matter to me since I have a cheapo Rebel - so I can't help there.

^ I'm reasonably sure that you can do HSS with a pocketwizard too, maybe depending on which type of pocketwizard.

mwcfarms · Mar 11, 2011

Your shutter is too high or fast so you see a portion of the shutter curtain going through all three frames. Your camera has a max speed sync. Not sure what it is but I'll bet its in your manual. And you can use triggers with an SB600. I do with mine, not sure why pocket wizards wouldn't work if they cheap ones do.

kundalini · Mar 11, 2011

reznap said:
Too fast of a shutter speed for syncing with the flash.

mwcfarms said:
Your shutter is too high or fast so you see a portion of the shutter curtain going through all three frames. .

Ummmm, I believe your shutter speed is too fast.

RockstarPhotography · Mar 11, 2011

Your shooting a stool!!!!!!!....why is your shutter speed so high???????.....keep it in your camera's sync range.

mwcfarms · Mar 11, 2011

Lol I think Kundalini is correct.

gsgary · Mar 12, 2011

Does anyone read their manuals, this is one of the most basic mistakes :grumpy:

cnutco · Mar 12, 2011

The new Flex PW to another Flex PW can do HSS. Most of the time you are OCF you will not go above 200 Anyway. Your 300s should go to 320 Though.

Like it has been said, you can use a PW with your SB600. You just need a hotshoe.

benhasajeep · Mar 12, 2011

Since your using a flash there is no need for such a high shutter speed anyway. Like someone else suggested, slow down to 250 or below on the shutter. Since you have a D300 (from what others have said, can't download exif at work). You can use your SB-600 and SB-900 off camera wirelessly, using Nikons (D300's) system. And it works just fine. I do it all the time (d300, 3-sb-600's, sb-900).

But to use a PW with the SB-600 you need whats called a hot shoe adapter. It's a little cube with a flash shoe mount for the flash to mount to. And a conector to connect the PW wire too. But like I said for normal studio work. Nikons wireless system works just fine.

JimCoventry · Mar 12, 2011

benhasajeep said:
Since your using a flash there is no need for such a high shutter speed anyway. Like someone else suggested, slow down to 250 or below on the shutter. Since you have a D300 (from what others have said, can't download exif at work). You can use your SB-600 and SB-900 off camera wirelessly, using Nikons (D300's) system. And it works just fine. I do it all the time (d300, 3-sb-600's, sb-900).

But to use a PW with the SB-600 you need whats called a hot shoe adapter. It's a little cube with a flash shoe mount for the flash to mount to. And a conector to connect the PW wire too. But like I said for normal studio work. Nikons wireless system works just fine.

The party may be planning on shooting outdoors. If so - maybe in bright light where faster shutter speeds will yield more bokeh behind the subject. It's not uncommon to shot at 1/2000 for such effects - with strobes. -- Different camera of course.

Mike Halsey · Mar 28, 2011

Check out your flash sync speed on the d300 'flash' settings menu. Set it to 250*.

In this mode it is designed to work at v high shutter speeds together with an sb600 or 900 unit. It will sync the flash to avoid shutter lag issues.

You can then delight in the knowledge that all those who said your shutter speed was too high know less than you do about using a d300 with an sb600 flash!

KmH · Mar 29, 2011

You can download the Nikon D300s users manual here: User's Manual - D300S - Guide to Digital Photography

Look at the section heading "Flash" (page 171) and also look for the section that covers "Auto FP High-speed Sync" (pages 281/282).

When using strobed light with the camera in manual mode, the in-camera light meter is useless and is not used to set the exposure triad settings.

Auto and semi-auto mode usage will vary depending what device is used to control which type of strobe light(s).

kundalini · Mar 29, 2011

Mike Halsey said:
You can then delight in the knowledge that all those who said your shutter speed was too high know less than you do about using a d300 with an sb600 flash!

The examples posted were clearly due to exceeding the flash sync speed. Where did you read that the OP wanted to perform high speed sync?

Village Idiot · Mar 29, 2011

hp1000 said:
I was able to borrow some lighting equipment for the weekend as an introduction to strobist work. FYI this is my first time, and I don't have a manual. I am using a pocket wizard and SB-900. I am much more familiar with the SB-600 which I have, but I cannot use the pocket wizard with it. Anyways back to my issue, I feel like there is a delay. The light is too slow for my shutter speed....please help.. Take a look at the pictures below

Why cannot you use the Pocket Wizard with your SB600?

JimCoventry said:
benhasajeep said:

Since your using a flash there is no need for such a high shutter speed anyway. Like someone else suggested, slow down to 250 or below on the shutter. Since you have a D300 (from what others have said, can't download exif at work). You can use your SB-600 and SB-900 off camera wirelessly, using Nikons (D300's) system. And it works just fine. I do it all the time (d300, 3-sb-600's, sb-900).

But to use a PW with the SB-600 you need whats called a hot shoe adapter. It's a little cube with a flash shoe mount for the flash to mount to. And a conector to connect the PW wire too. But like I said for normal studio work. Nikons wireless system works just fine.

Click to expand...

The party may be planning on shooting outdoors. If so - maybe in bright light where faster shutter speeds will yield more bokeh behind the subject. It's not uncommon to shot at 1/2000 for such effects - with strobes. -- Different camera of course.

Faster shutter speeds don't "yield more bokeh". Faster shutter speeds will make the ambient light less exposed so that the person can use a wider aperture, which will actually decrease the DOF and subsequently "yield more bokeh" depending on the quality of the lens aperture.

And ND filter and more powerful strobes will have the same effect if you don't have an option to increase your shutter speed over the camera's actual x-sync.