D300 - X320 Vs. 320

[scooter0071]

I just upgraded from my trusty D50 to a D300, and love it. I have a question

that I could not find in the manual. I notice when I go through the shutter

speeds I notice that after bulb there is a X320. Now from what I have found on

my own this X320 is for when using a flash so you don't get the black at the top

of the image from the shutter. My question is what is the difference between

using the X320 setting or just setting the shutter speed to normal 320?

 

Thank You.

 

Bill

[photo5]

I think the normal sync is 1/250th, but certain flash units can sync as high as 1/320

(probably Nikon SB-600 and 800).

[bgelfand]

See pages 108, 174, and 288-290 in the D300 manual for a full explanation.

[tom_luongo1]

It's the same as selecting a shutter speed of 1/320. But if you change menu setting e1 (flash sync speed), the x320 will automatically change to the corresponding speed.

 

It doesn't matter whether you are using a Nikon SB series speedlight or third party flash. The camera and a strobe flash, triggered either via the shoe mount or the pc socket, still sync at all speeds up to 1/320.

 

I saw somewhere that the X stands for Xenon, the bulb type used in strobe flashes. Putting this after the bulb shutting in shutter priority mode might be a throwback to film cameras that sometimes had an X setting next to the B setting on the shutter speed dial.

[scooter0071]

Thank you all for your responses.