ELINCHROM sync speed

Hey everyone,

 

I just purchased an elinchrom system ,skyport trigger and recievers. However, Im trying to take some shots of a

model in the air, but the flash sync speed is maxing out at 1/320! once i go over 1/320 I start getting the half

black shots. Am I stuck with the D300's synch speed? since the flash and wireless system support up to 1/1000?

 

(the d300's synch speed is set to 320 auto fp)

 

I hope that its not a weak question, its just that its my first lighting system! thank you!

See your other post, and read the camera's manual.

Studio strobe sync speed is limited to the max sync speed of your camera, which as you stated is 1/320.

 

Fact of life, you can't get around it except to use a hotshoe flash such as SB-800.

 

<Chas>

get a d70. or a d50. they supposedly sync, period. at all speeds. well, i never wired mine to a flash, but i

managed to sync it at 1/800th with a skyport.

<br><br>

 

but seriously, even though it's quite a lesser camera than what you got, in this respect it could get you shots

you simply can't get with your current one.

when using flash in this situation, the camera's shutter speed doesn't matter that much... for what you are doing, you should set your flash to a setting that provides the shortest FLASH duration (usually highest or lowest power) and make sure that your aperture, shutter and ISO combination create a basically black image if the flash doesnt fire. Once there, leaving the shutter open too long, within reason, doesnt matter because there is little or no ambient light contributing to the exposure.

 

btw, a D70 will sync at 1/4000 in my experience... =o)

D-70's are the answer here ...my partner shoots the local Ballet Co ...and he has

very hi res cameras, but uses his D-70 for this kind of work.

I have to take exception to a couple of "wrong" statements here. Sorry Charles and Thorir ;-)

 

"Studio strobe sync speed is limited to the max sync speed of your camera, which as you stated is 1/320. "

 

Nope,

 

First studio sync speed is actually limited by three things, the camera's sync speed, the flash duration at a

given power level and any relay delay introduced by the use of low end radio triggers or similar triggering devices.

 

and...

 

"get a d70. or a d50. they supposedly sync, period. at all speeds. well, i never wired mine to a flash, but i

managed to sync it at 1/800th with a skyport."

 

Nope,

 

They sync with some dedicated flashes at higher shutter speeds in HSS High Speed Sync mode only. This is a

technology that fires the flash repeatedly at lower power over and over again, until the shutter cycle is done.

This is useful for using wide apertures for shallow DOF in high light. But it drains the batteries faster, and

it is not a feature that is available on most if not all studio strobes.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

With older camera's there can be a delay in the actual firing of the shutter weather or not the shutter speed is

still calibrated correctly which often it is not in older camera's.

 

Example, If I use my AB and WL strobes with my relatively new Canon digital bodies I can sync at 1/250th no worries.

 

But if I use the same strobes with my older Canon 1, or 7ne or even MF bronica or RB67 then I have to set shutter

way down to 1/80th or so.

 

If you are getting half black frames, try starting at 1/60th and work your way up until you get the problem

again. This will determine your sweet spot for that camera.

 

Keep ambient light low via ISO settings or Aperture or both, not to mention lighting control on the set. You

should not have blur problems. Let the flash duration which could be anywhere from 1/300th to 1/10,000 sec

freeze the motion.

<i>""get a d70. or a d50. they supposedly sync, period. at all speeds. well, i never wired mine to a flash, but i

managed to sync it at 1/800th with a skyport."

<br><br>

 

Nope,

<br><br>

 

They sync with some dedicated flashes at higher shutter speeds in HSS High Speed Sync mode only. This is a

technology that fires the flash repeatedly at lower power over and over again, until the shutter cycle is done.

This is useful for using wide apertures for shallow DOF in high light. But it drains the batteries faster, and it

is not a feature that is available on most if not all studio strobes. "</i>

<br><br><br>

 

 

well... like i said, i never wired (meaning a pc cord) a flash to my d70 to get to the max possible sync speed,

but i've read about people syncing d70 at <b>hiiiigh</b> shutter speeds. can't remember how high, but it was way

higher than its native "sync speed" at 1/500th (which is actually rather impressive in today's breed of focal

plane shutters - but that's another story). but i did sync mine to an old nikon strobe, with an elinchrom skyport

radio trigger, at 1/800th, above that was not a success (the skyports are supposed to have max sync speed at

1/1000th if i remember correctly, but like you pointed out there are a lot of things to take into consideration).

from what i read about it, the trick was to have the camera think that it was NOT connected to a strobe, cause if

it did, it set the shutter speed to its native 1/500th. hence wiring it to a strobe with a simple pc cord. <s>this

seems to mean that the shutter actually opens fully and then closes, instead of a moving slit, .... </s>[and before

going on about this misunderstanding of mine, i googled]....

<br><br>

 

ok, while i had one, and never bothered to understand the d70 shutter, it seems i had the whole thing wrong. but

google gave me <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/05/hacking-your-cameras-sync-speed-pt-1.html">this</a>

came up... if anyone is interested.

<br><br>

 

in any case, a lot of people would love to see a shutter like this in a more modern camera, namely because of the

syncing possibilities..

<br><br>

 

but too bad i don't have the thing anymore... i suddenly feel like fighting daylight... which is something i really

can't with a d300.... not on a bright day at least ,-)

<br><br>

so in my experience - and not to drift too far off topic - with my cameras the max sync speed i got with a skyport was 1/800th (with a d70). with the d300 it's 1/250 (as the skyports have no means of supporting fp syncing). to get there (from 250 to 320) with nikon strobes, a ttl cable should do.

to clarify, I shot a D70 with alien bees up to 1/4000... the reason it works id not high speed sync or anything like that... it uses an electronic rear curtain, NOT the shutter, to close the shutter, so the closing motion isnt across the frame over time, its instant off everywhere.

 

This does clip the power of the flash by turning the camera off before the flash is fully fired, but it does work. I didnt try it wirelessly, though, which would almost definitely make it work less well.