Using alienbees and freezing action

05/30/2007 07:42:53 PM · #1

A question for the experts here...

If I need atleast 1/1000s shutter to freeze some action and I want to use alienbees lights with my 30D, how does that work ? Since the Xsync is only 1/250s I can only use that shutter, but alienbees spec says the flash duration is 1/6400s ( t.5 ), so now my question is if I keep the shutter at 1/250s and rely on the flash to be short, is that gonna work ?

gaurawa

05/30/2007 08:26:37 PM · #2

hmm so far it didn't work :(
now need to get some continuous light

PhilipDyer

05/30/2007 08:39:53 PM · #3

I don't think you can, Gaurawa. I think the sync speed is prohibitively slow for that combination.

I've been wondering lately as well what equipment is erquired to get a faster strobe sync. Is this a limitation of the strobe, the camera, the sync cable, or something else? Hope this contributes to the discussion.

05/30/2007 08:45:25 PM · #4

Totally dark room.

Ubersteiny

Sigma 35mm f1.4 dg hsm for Canon

05/30/2007 08:46:23 PM · #5

well the strobes will help to freeze the action, and you should be able to shoot faster than 1/250

05/30/2007 08:52:31 PM · #6

Originally posted by noisemaker:

well the strobes will help to freeze the action, and you should be able to shoot faster than 1/250

Nope, try to go faster and the shutter will come down in the middle of the exposure and only catch part of the flash. I tried it some last night :( The faster you get, the more the dark frame because the flash doesn't sync fast enough.

The d70 can do something like 1/4000th because it uses an electronic shutter though. No matter what the speed, the shutter still uses 1/3 of a second or so to travel. They took that out with the D80/D200, crackheads.

Ubersteiny

Sigma 35mm f1.4 dg hsm for Canon

05/30/2007 08:55:41 PM · #7

Originally posted by wavelength:

Originally posted by noisemaker:
well the strobes will help to freeze the action, and you should be able to shoot faster than 1/250

Nope, try to go faster and the shutter will come down in the middle of the exposure and only catch part of the flash. I tried it some last night :( The faster you get, the more the dark frame because the flash doesn't sync fast enough.

The d70 can do something like 1/4000th because it uses an electronic shutter though. No matter what the speed, the shutter still uses 1/3 of a second or so to travel. They took that out with the D80/D200, crackheads.

hm i was just confused because w/ my 430EX i canput it in "highspeed flash" and it will shoot up to lke 1/4000

Spork99

Canon EOS R8

Canon RF 16mm F2.8 STM

05/30/2007 08:58:09 PM · #8

Originally posted by noisemaker:

well the strobes will help to freeze the action, and you should be able to shoot faster than 1/250

No.

The sync speed is the fastest shutter speed where the first curtain is totally open before the second curtain starts to close. The flash will be triggered to fire at the point when the sensor is totally exposed. If you set the shutter speed to something faster, say, 1/1000 and try to use the strobe, since one of the shutter curtains is always covering some part of the sensor, a portion of the frame will not receive any exposure from the flash and will be dark.

The way to freeze action with a strobe is to: 1) shoot in a dark room so that the exposure is only from the strobe and 2) use the lowest power setting on the strobes since strobes vary their power not by controlling peak output, but by varying the duration of the flash pulse.

Lower power = shorter duration

Faster shutter speeds giving even exposure are possible with constant illumination because the shutter is in effect, a moving slit.

The high speed sync function on Canon/Nikon shoe-mounted flash units is possible because the flash is putting out a steady stream of low power pulses to expose the whole sensor as the shutter slit travels across the sensor. It works, but the effective power is greatly reduced and it eats batteries much faster.

Message edited by author 2007-05-31 01:02:55.

chimericvisions

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 24-70 2.8L II

05/30/2007 08:58:12 PM · #9

Originally posted by noisemaker:

hm i was just confused because w/ my 430EX i canput it in "highspeed flash" and it will shoot up to lke 1/4000

You can DO it, but the flash isn't illuminating correctly. 20D only supports a 1/250 sync speed. 350D only supports 1/200.

What happens is that you're only catching part of the flash, like wavelength said - for every step you increase the shutter speed, the darker your photo will be.

renefunk

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

05/30/2007 09:23:15 PM · #10

just wondering.. what kind of action do you want to freeze?

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

05/30/2007 09:29:13 PM · #11

Originally posted by gaurawa:

Try keeping your shutter speed at the camera's x-sync speed (1/250), and then control the ambient light. You want to use the short flash duration to stop the motion.

05/30/2007 09:45:16 PM · #12

Originally posted by Mick:

Originally posted by gaurawa:
A question for the experts here...

If I need atleast 1/1000s shutter to freeze some action and I want to use alienbees lights with my 30D, how does that work ? Since the Xsync is only 1/250s I can only use that shutter, but alienbees spec says the flash duration is 1/6400s ( t.5 ), so now my question is if I keep the shutter at 1/250s and rely on the flash to be short, is that gonna work ?

Try keeping your shutter speed at the camera's x-sync speed (1/250), and then control the ambient light. You want to use the short flash duration to stop the motion.

Yup, dark room, bright lights. :)

gaurawa

05/30/2007 09:46:13 PM · #13

Originally posted by renefunk:

just wondering.. what kind of action do you want to freeze?

I was trying the cliche drop shots. Haven't done that before

05/30/2007 09:50:29 PM · #14

Originally posted by gaurawa:

Originally posted by renefunk:
just wondering.. what kind of action do you want to freeze?

I was trying the cliche drop shots. Haven't done that before

I believe Ralph specified the method that I and Mick suggested. A fairly darkened room with a short flash burst. I think (though I'm not sure) that if you stop down the lights to half or 1/4 power, the burst is shorter. Though I possibly have that backwards.

nikuser