RE: Flash to freeze action

[jared_b.]

Hey,

I recently posted a question, asking how to "freeze" a water drop

If I allready tried my fastest shutter speed, and that still wasnt

fast enough to tottaly freeze the drop. I got a reply " Use a flash

in a dark room, with a shutter of 1/60, and let the flash 'freeze'

the water drop" If I did this... What apeture size would I need for

this? Any Help is appreciated!

 

Jared

[art_haykin]

The f/stop will depend on the lamp-to-subject distance and the power output of the strobe. The closer and/or more powerful the unit, the smaller the f/stop. Most camera units, when set on manual, will have a flash duration of abut 1/1000th of a second, but an automatic unit, or a unit with fractional power settings will have MUCH briefer flash durations, up to 1/30,000th of a second. You should investigate using one of these. Do your homework.

[art_haykin]

For starters, do a search on the life and works of Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton, the genius who invented the highspeed electronic strobe, and whose stunning pictures grace the walls of museums all over the globe. His famous milk drops were taken at around 1/25,000th of a second, and he took shots of bullets going through lightbulbs and through a playing card edgewise.

[James G. Dainis]

Maybe you had better tell us exactly what you are trying to do. Freeze a rain drop outside, a drop out of a faucet, a drop spattering on a plate? What camera and flash equipment do you have? You could set the camera close to the drop and have the flash unit further back via a PC cord. If the flash has a guide number of 120, the camera could be any distance from the drop depending on the close focus of the lens, but the flash would be at 11 feet and the aperture at f11.

[jeffrey_abelson]

"For starters, do a search on the life and works of Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton"

 

didn't he use multiple shutters triggered electronically?

[manolis1]

http://www.hiviz.com/