steve_c.5

<p>It might say that in the manual, but whether I have SS enabled or disabled, 1/200 is as high as the sync goes on mine without HSS enabled.</p>

<p>Uh, Parv, the maximum sync speed on an A700 is 1/200 without HSS, and is 1/8000 with HSS.</p>

<p>If everything is working right, you should see the HSS indicator on the camera display and the flash display any time you raise the shutter speed above 1/200. Do you see that on yours Mike?</p>

<p>So, the flash is firing, and it's making good connection to the camera, right? Be sure that the 4 pins in the bottom of the flash are all springing out properly. Dust can get into them and make them get lodged inside, and they won't make good connection to the camera shoe.</p>

<p>Is this a new or used flash / camera?</p>

<p>With HSS, it should sync at any shutter speed. What is the shutter sync in the camera's menu set on? Is it rear curtain or what?</p>

<p>Are you seeing any effect of the flash at ALL in your photos? Usually, with a sync problem, you will see part of the upper frame illuminated and the lower part not illuminated.</p>

<p>To troubleshoot further, take the camera/flash into a Best Buy or similar store that sells Sony cameras/flashes, and try each out with another new store demo model (if they'll let you). That would be a good way to find out for sure which is the problem.</p>

<p>HSS will only come on if the flash head is straight ahead. If you turn it upward, it won't come on. That may not be the problem, but it's worth mentioning.</p>

<p>When you go into your camera menu and go to the flash selections, what is it set to? That can affect HSS too. Try different settings and check the results.</p>

<p>Try switching to manual mode, or S for shutter priority. Set the shutter speed for under 1/200 sec and see if your flash fires and syncs properly.</p>

<p>Another thing I do on the A700 is set the "C" custom button on the back of the camera to actuate the Flash Compensation adjustment. That way, you can easily jack the flash output up or down, which you will often have to do to get things to look right.</p>

<p>Mike, you'll have to give us some information first. What is the shutter speed of the camera set to? What mode are you in?</p>

<p>If your shutter speed is above 1/200, which is the maximum sync speed of the camera, the flash will fire, but the higher the shutter speed, the less and less flash sync you will have. Unless, you are properly set for High Speed Sync, which I'll go into in a moment.</p>

<p>When you're not in HSS mode, and set, say a 1/1000 shutter speed, you'll see no flash effect at all. The flash is totally out of sync with the camera. However, set the flash for HSS, using the mode button, and select Fill Flash in the camera menu, the HSS indicator should appear on the LCD of the flash. Bear in mind that the effect of the flash as the shutter speed goes up will be less and less, and is only to illuminate subjects close to you.</p>

<p>Also, the aperture setting will affect how much flash you see. Setting a wide aperture will let in more light, therefore, the flash will appear brighter. Smaller apertures will show less flash.</p>

<p>Well, I had a feeling that I'd see some of the usual negativity from Pnet posters when I put this up. Everyone is so pessimistic and doubting, and unwilling to give anything new a chance. The concept of 1.6 volt cells in a rechargable is a great idea, and I think it at least deserves a look. Which I am planning to do for myself.</p>

<p>I guess thinking anyone here would say, "thanks for sharing this with us" or "thanks for posting something that might improve our work" is just asking too much.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/09/powergenix-nizn-rechargeable-aa-batteries-finally-some-cells-w/">These</a> look interesting to me. Thought I'd pass them on.</p><div></div>

<p>Gerry, I do think Sigma has at some point made a 15 or 16mm prime that's not a fisheye. I know I've seen one and wanted it myself. I don't know what Sony has in the pipeline, but they are probably focusing (pun) on the full frame end of their line right now.</p>

<p>The new Tamron 10-24 is a great choice too, though not a prime. <a href="00UqGL">This thread </a>has my experiences with it recently. Might be the best of both worlds for you in the meantime.</p>

<p>Thanks, Sam! I thought it was the weakest of the bunch, because I just threw it together at the end of the wedding. But, much appreciated!</p>

<p>This was a night shot of the venue operators and their newly restored Rolls. A couple of south Georgia gentlemen with a British luxury saloon.<br>

A700, at 1/6 sec. handheld using Steadyshot, ISO 2000 @f9. Two Sony 56 strobes triggered wirelessly.</p><div></div>

<p>And all the blokes for goodness sake...<br>

Note the normal distortion on the outer bloke's heads. You can't have everything!</p><div></div>

<p>And another group shot...</p><div></div>

<p>And, a 100% crop of the same photo...</p><div></div>

<p>I haven't had any experiences so far with flare or with spotlights aimed at the lens. I haven't been in that exact situation yet. I know the Sigma did have a cool effect when a spotlight was aimed right at it while shooting people dancing. It had a cool radial streaking effect all around the spotlight, and I would surmise the Tamron would have something similar. I'll post some downsized pics from a recent wedding here as well as a 100% crop.</p><div></div>

<p>Glad you asked about the AF performance, Rich. It's FAR more usable in low lighting than my old Sigma. That was always a big problem with the Sig; I would be shooting people indoors at receptions, dancing, etc. with the lens, and it would not be able to figure out the proper focus and the camera would just throw the focus to the infinity setting, resulting in blurry people. With this lens, it's far more accurate in low lighting and other situations. Now, I realize not everyone uses these lenses the way I as a wedding shooter do, but that's a pretty demanding situation, so I figure it says a lot about how well the lens is engineered. And, the AF speed isn't bad, no worse than others that use the Sony internal motor drive.</p>

<p>When I shoot people dancing indoors, I switch from spot AF to wide AF, and let the AF pick one of the zones it can read to choose the focus. When you are shooting people moving around in low light, this tends to work best. However, when the action gets fast and furious, I will switch to manual focus, and then adjust the lens using the distance marks. This lets you shoot rapid action without missing a moment and keeps you from waiting around while the AF finds the subject distance, potentially missing a moment (like a bouquet toss).</p>

<p>I've just secured one of these, and am happy to report that it has surpassed the quality of my Sigma 10-20mm, to the point that I have Ebayed the Sig and am happily using the Tamron now with my A700's.</p>

<p>Those who know me here are familiar with my use of superwide zooms on the A700 with the APS-C sensor to shoot very wide scenics, group shots, etc. I must say that the Tamron is WAY better in the sharpness department (although not as sharp as a prime, or even the CZ 16-80mm), but the sharpness and image quality is certainly better than the Sigma 10-20. It has a bit more reach, going out to 24mm, which is quite handy. And, with the 7 blades and wider aperture, it performs better in lower lighting conditions. Chromatic abberation is well controlled, though present in a minute way if you pixel-peep, but all in all, the lens is just a cracking performer.</p>

<p>The only downside I can see is a) I do prefer the Sigma's matte finish to the black polycarbonate and gold trim of the Tamron and b) the lens hood on the Tamron is somewhat larger than the Sigma, making it a bit harder to grasp and wield. However, it's found a welcome place in my kit, and I do recommend it.</p>

<p>I just picked up a used on on Ebay and it does not have this problem (thankfully!).</p>

<p>That's what I'm saying here. The Radio Poppers will fire the Sony Flashes with TTL and HSS now. The only downside is that to mount them, you have to rig up a bracket, tape them on with gaffer's tape, or rig some way to mount the Radio Popper receiver onto the front of the flash, so the infra-red emitter can hit the Sony's IR receiver eye. But, they do work with the right settings on the flashes/camera/radio poppers.</p>

<p>Those who have followed my exploits with using Sony gear to shoot weddings and such may recall that I've wanted to have a wireless method of using Sony flash units in high speed sync mode for shooting scenic shots of people in bright sunlight. Sure, the Sony flashes have an infra-red method for doing this, but it's unreliable if you don't have line of sight and near perfect conditions. I've been using regular RF flash triggers (the Alienbees Cybersyncs) to trigger my flashes remotely, and posted my method for rigging this up long ago. However, regular RF flash triggers don't provide any method of using HSS mode.</p>

<p>Fortunately, the folks at Radio Poppers have created a setup that will work, but it requires some fettling and fanagling to attach the units to the Sony flashes and camera. The Radio Poppers are primarily designed for use with Nikon and Canon gear, but I've been communicating with their staff to get the point across that Sony should be next on their list for creating a mounting system. They have heard from many Sony shooters like me, and I'm sure eventually they will pour some development into our platform. The good news is that the P1 and newer PX models will work reliably with Sony gear. Apparently, the Sony method of infra-red digital transmission uses different pulse timings from Nikon or Canon gear, so certain settings must be used to get them to talk to each other and send the right signals.</p>

<p>If anyone here is interested in knowing more about my experiences with this, let me know. I'd be happy to share with the group.</p>

<p>I've got an A700 that has a chipped flash shoe mount. I have the replacement part ($20), but to replace it will require an almost complete teardown of the camera to get to it. If I send it to Sony, I'm almost sure they'll hit me with a $450 flat fee repair charge. No way...</p>

<p>Anyone know of another US repair facility that can handle this for a reasonable price? I've used Precision Camera before, but their communication and response time was not great (2 years ago).</p>

<p>The 85mm f1.4 would be perfect if money is no object. If it is, then the Sigma 70mm portrait macro has won awards and is a great value for the money.</p>

<p>The d80 is simply not the weapon of choice for wedding photographers. It has a CCD sensor which generates higher noise levels than CMOS sensors found in better cameras. So, you're kind of dealing with that limitation in these shooting situations because they clearly require not only a wider aperture lens, but cleaner performance at higher ISOs than 800. Upgrading your camera to a CMOS sensor like the D300 or the full frame D700 would allow you to push your ISO higher and keep a respectable shutter speed with minimal noise at higher ISO levels like 1600 or 2000 (assuming you're serious about shooting these wedding events). This, in conjunction with judicious and proper use of flash will help greatly.</p>

<p>Remember, flash will only do you some good if the subjects are near you, within 20 or 30 feet. Beyond that, you're shooting in available light, unless you augment the setting with more light. Not always possible in churches. Image stabilization will also help greatly with the longer shutter speeds.</p>

<p>Apparently, they are very popular. They're out of stock even at $14.95.</p>

<p>I explain that they can do the session any way they like, but that for the best results they should dress like they were on a nice date with each other. We want them to look their best. They have the rest of their lives to see each other in jeans and flip flops, this is something special. We recommend that they present themselves at their personal best. They should avoid strong colors, logos, stripes, and patterns, and bring 2 or 3 changes so we can try different outfits. If one works better than another, they can see this for themselves in the photos. I remind them that the goal of the shoot is to capture them looking their best, and capturing the romance that brought them together.</p>

<p>And yes, we sometimes have to beg.</p>

<p>Well, as I said, the cheap triggers are certainly cheap enough to play around with, and they do work, and who knows? You might get a set that are more consistent than mine were. No harm in giving them a go.</p>