What's the max Pocket Wizard Plus sync speed w/ a D70?

[hoffmanvision]

Hi everyone. I have a Nikon D70, one of the only cameras made that can flash

sync at any speed due to it's true electronic shutter release/sensor activation.

I've shot 1/8000 sec with a lumedyne attached via hotshoe to PC cord with

perfect sync.

 

I'm thinking of getting into a Pocket Wizard setup and I want to know how fast

the message is sent. I've read somewhere that the MultiMax has a "high speed"

mode that can sync @ 1/1000 but what about the old school PW Plus models? If

anyone has tried this setup, let me know what happens- how far can you push it?

 

I do alot of outdoor sports and I like my 1/1000 sync!!! Just another reason to

stay satisfied with the status quo and skip over the D200.

 

Thanks

[dave_hoffmann]

Not sure of the answer, but why would you want to shoot at such high shutter speeds with flash?

[hoffmanvision]

Dave- I shoot a lot of high speed sports that often don't allow me to get the lights close enough to my subject to over power the sunlight. High shutter speeds help tremendously in allowing me to open up the aperture for greater flash sensitivity and still keep down the ambient. What's cheaper: 2400 w/s portable pack and head units shot at 1/250 or 200 w/s shoemounts/lumedynes shot at 1/1000th?

 

The picture below had to be shot with a flash on the shoe because I didn't have light stands or long sync cords back then. Now its all about getting some Wizards!<div></div>

[dave_trayers]

You can download the PocketWizard manuals <a href="http://www.pocketwizard.com/HTML/manuals.asp">HERE</a>.

[Ed_Ingold]

Even the old, unimproved PWs should be fast enough (1/500) for the D70 at any speed. This is because the mechanical shutter of the D70 tops out at 1/200 or 1/250 second (the nominal maximum sync speed)and never closes down into a slot like a standard focal plane shutter. At shorter exposures, the electronic shutter (gate) controls the exposure. Consequently, the entire surface of the sensor is open to exposure for no less than 1/250 second.

 

Other Nikon cameras which exhibit this behavior are the D1, D1h and D1x.

 

A Nikon flash in the shoe automatically limits the shutter speed to the maximum sync speed. However, the PW transmitter is a simple contact, and does not do this.

[mark u]

I'm not sure that Edward's answer is sufficient to guarantee the situation. If indeed the fastest shutter speed for mechanical shutter operation is 1/250th then part of that time will be accounted for by the opening and closing of the shutter curtains, leaving the actual time for which the shutter is wholly open as rather shorter - perhaps of the order of 1/500th. X sync will be triggered shortly after the shutter curtain is fully open, and with a direct hotshoe contact the flash will fire within a few microseconds.

 

If you now consider what happens with a shorter shutter speed, where the exposure duration is controlled by electronics, then the X sync will trigger the pocketwizard transmitter within a few microseconds of the start of the actual exposure but there will be a propagation delay to encode, transmit, receive and decode before the receiver will actually trigger the flash. With an exposure as short as 1/1000th, the delay could mean that the flash fires too late to be fully effective, depending in part on the actual flash duration. The Pocketwizard Plus II is specified as being capable of sync at 1/500th with a leaf shutter, but only 1/250th with a focal plane shutter - although it does not mention the flash duration at which sync is effective. You would be safer to rely on an actual test rather than a theoretical answer, I think.

[frank_skomial]

"I've shot 1/8000 sec with a lumedyne attached via hotshoe to PC cord with perfect sync" - That is correct.

 

With radio transmitters you will get considerable delay, and your practical fastest sync will be reduced to about 1/800 sec, as reported by some people. This mostly depends on the model and quality of your radio trigger, and speed of the remote flash.

 

Perhaps safe bet would be 1/500 sec. You need to experiment what is the max radio sync speed with D70 and whatever strobe and transceiver you may have.

[Ed_Ingold]

I've tested this extensively using a D1x, albeit with a sync cord rather than my PW. The exposure remains constant until the shutter speed is faster than the flash duration. The longest duration of an SB-800 is about 1/1500 second. The maximum published sync speed of the D1x is 1/500 second, and I have never had a problem with PWs at that speed with any flash.

[Ed_Ingold]

I should add that the shortest duration of the SB800 is about 1/85000 second. That works up to 1/8000 second shutter speed in the D1x.

[hoffmanvision]

Hey everyone, thanks for the input. I still haven't gotten any Pocket Wizards but I did some tests with the cheapo eBay 16 channel radio slaves. There are some interesting results. 1/800th seems to be the upper speed limit- but not because of sync timing. I can sync with full exposure up to 1/1250th but some strange articacts, or ... I don't even know what to call them, start to appear.

 

Check out the bottom edge of my soft box and you'll notice (esp. on the 1/1000th shot) the bizzarness. Any body have a clue what would cause this?

 

I'm shooting from about 8-10ft away. The results are very repeatable with the anomolies occuring in the same proximity to the softbox over and over, regardless of zoom or distance.

 

What is up my friends?<div></div>

[hoffmanvision]

A larger version of the pic above:<div></div>