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Flash Photography ~ Pocket Wizard Help!

Discussion in 'Photography' started by THXEY, May 2, 2011.

  1. May 2, 2011 at 9:04 AM
    #1
    THXEY

    THXEY [OP] Panda Jerk

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    So i am fairly new to flash....but what would i need along side the Pocket Wizard Plus II to accomodate for an SB-600 and SB-700?

    I would mainly use them for skateboard photography. So, pocket wizards website says i can only use a shutter speed of up to 1/250th sec. Is there any way of getting around that? so i could shoot say 1/500th or 1/1250th sec?
     
  2. May 2, 2011 at 9:28 AM
    #2
    Unknown

    Unknown He who angers you conquers you

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    Once you go faster then recommended you'll get a black cut off cause the aperture is to fast. idk bout the sb700 but you can just put it in the same CH maybe?..
     
  3. May 2, 2011 at 9:31 AM
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    JLee

    JLee The Man! Vendor

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    I know the SB-900 has a high speed sync but it's not that great 1/250th should be plenty fast enough to stop the motion of the skate boarder.
     
  4. May 2, 2011 at 9:34 AM
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    mikesdoublecab

    mikesdoublecab LT Chase Truck

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    sync speeds on most cams is typically up to 1/200th of a second... if you go any faster, you will likely end up with half shots... half the final image will be completely black like a curtain, and the other half will be the image...

    unless the skaters are flying by at 50mph, you should be ok shooting at 1/200

    since you have fast primes though, i would go without the flash...

    i shot some mag ads for Ocean Current and went with a fast prime instead of flash...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  5. May 2, 2011 at 9:36 AM
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    Unknown

    Unknown He who angers you conquers you

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    I want your job! Lol
     
  6. May 2, 2011 at 5:35 PM
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    THXEY

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    Mike, i'm going to have to respectfully disagree....Yeah there are ways of getting around it. But i dont wanna get around it. 9 times out of 10 skating looks better with flash than with out. But you do have experience over me so, to each their own i guess! I tried shooting skating without flash. its hard. and i can get my flash to sync up, up to 1/8000th but but thats on camera. i hear you need the pocket wizard mini to accomodate high shutter speeds. I would rather use a high shutter speed than a low one.

    and i found out that pocket wizard doesnt work with sb 600 and sb 700. so i would need to spend $1000 on two SB 900s lol
     
  7. May 2, 2011 at 5:37 PM
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    THXEY

    THXEY [OP] Panda Jerk

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    weird. iv'e never experienced this with my SB-600 and shooting at 8fps... at 1/1250th sec.... or even higher shutter speeds. My flash keeps up for the most part. I will have shots where the flash skips a shot, but thats only at 1/1 power (full power)
     
  8. May 2, 2011 at 9:18 PM
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    mikesdoublecab

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    ya know, i haven't shot Nikon since the film days... maybe your shutter curtains can accomodate the higher shutter speeds with strobes...
     
  9. May 2, 2011 at 9:26 PM
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    THXEY

    THXEY [OP] Panda Jerk

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    :thumbsup:

    But even my buddy shoots a Canon 7D and he has the 580ex and I dont think its ever happened to him. i should ask though.
     
  10. May 2, 2011 at 9:31 PM
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    rab89

    rab89 Well-Known Member

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    I've got a set of skyports i'd sell you. they are incredible, cheaper than pocketwizards and they work just as well, or better!

    pm me if your interested. i'll dig em out!
     
  11. May 3, 2011 at 8:31 AM
    #11
    THXEY

    THXEY [OP] Panda Jerk

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    pm'd!
     
  12. May 12, 2011 at 4:52 AM
    #12
    ian408

    ian408 Well-Known Member

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    You'll want something that supports high speed sync. Basically, that black "curtain" you see is the shutter. It happens because the flash and shutter are not synchronized.

    Remember too that in flash photography whether you fire the flash first or last does matter. If you shoot skate with second curtain flash, you might end up with a slight OOF streak behind the subject (the flash freezes the action in this case and can look pretty cool). With High Speed Sync, the flash simply fires multiple times lighting the entire frame and avoiding the "black curtain". Firing in HSS, you won't get massive quantity of light because the flash fires multiple times (in other words, you're not going to get multiple 100% flashes) but you can use less power.

    Whether you use flash or not is irrelevant. What matters is your shots are properly exposed. Me personally? I'm not a fan of crazy dark backgrounds and nuclear subjects--it gets boring because that's how everything gets lit (or so it seems).

    Regarding bursts and full power. Be careful. You can damage the flash when you use it continuously--they aren't designed to fire like that.

    Here are a few hints on the subject of HSS.
     

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