Archive for the ‘Electronic Flash, High Speed Synchronization Photography’ Category

Selecting the Best Nikon Electronic Flash Unit

by Geoff 29 Jul 0 Comments

Fungi, Coombabah Wetlands

When selecting a Nikon flash unit there are quite a few options to choose from, depending on your area of photographic interest. In the following article I will summarise some of the options available. Some of the units have inbuilt diffusers and optional clip on diffuser units. There are also optional third party flash accessories.

Macro Photography

With macro photography the best solution is the Nikon Close up Speedlight Electronic Flash Kit. This kit will almost do everything the macro photographer desires, it comprises two SB-R200 speedlight flash units together with the associated SU-800 commander unit. The two SB-R220 units can be mounted using the ring accessory at the end of a macro lens. If required even more that two SB-R200 remote units can be used if desired.

General Photography

For macro photography you may not want a dedicated macro flash setup. If you purchase a combination of Nikon Speedlight SB-700, SB-600 or SB-400 Electronic Flash, these can be used in combination as a master flash and also with one or more slave unit to form the basis of Nikons creative lighting system. These units will be suitable for macro use or for an excellent portrait lighting setup.

Wedding Photography

For wedding photography a system similar to the above Speedlight SB-700, SB-600 or SB-400 systems together with the addition of a SB-900 will be excellent. The SB-900 is an excellent high powered flash for use in large halls, churches or very large rooms and offers the full Nikon creative lighting functionality.

Off Camera Flash

A great way to improve your flash photography is to use off camera flash. This is easy to accomplish when using the dedicated Nikon SC-29 TTL Off-Camera Shoe Cord, this cord also provides an with AF Assist illumination and has a Coiled 3-9 foot extension cable. There are also optional Pocket Wizard flash interfaces to interface with the camera to remotely fire flash units.

Further details of all the current Nikon flash units are given in the Flash Review section.

Nikons Creative Lighting System Review Using Electronic Flash Speedlights

by Geoff 07 Jul 0 Comments

Grasshopper

Nikons Creative Lighting System

With the introduction of the D2 series of cameras some years ago, Nikon introduced their Creative Lighting System (CLS) to give full control over our lighting, which we previously could never achieve. The technology of the Nikon Creative Lighting System is very sophisticated and there are effectively two separate systems available, one for standard photographic shooting such as portraits and the other for macro or close up shooting.

The standard components of the system consists of either a master flash such as the SB-900, SB-800, SB-700 or SB-600 flash units or alternatively the SU-880 Flash Controller or Commander as the main unit and either one or many other flash units as slave units. The slave units can be any of the SB-900, SB-800, SB-700 or SB-600 and the SB-400 and SB-R200 macro flash units. The number of slave units that can be used is really unlimited.

All the slave flash units can be divided into up to three groups and each group can be independently controlled by adjusting the output levels of all the flashes in each group. So the output of each of the three groups can be controlled in level and also the output of the main flash can be controlled in level if the master flash is a flash such as the SB-900 or SB-800, so effectively there can be up to four groups of controllable light sources. These groups can be controlled with adjustments of -3.0 to +3.0 EV in increments of 1/3 steps.

The SU-800 can be used as the flash controller on the camera when a flash is not required on the camera. All the flash units are controlled by infra red signalling between flash units and also between master slave flash units.

This Creative Lighting System allows us to set up very complex systems for very dramatic effects.

In the remainder of this article I will consider several different options which are available with this creative flash system.

Purchase your Nikon Speedlight flash units here at B&H Photo Video.

The Studio Flash System

In this typical example we can have either a flash or the SU-800 controller from the camera and up to three groups of flashes which can which can be

independantly controlled to give multiple controlled groups. All adjustments can be made from the master flash or the SU-800 controller set in standard commander mode. For example the four groups (master plus three slave groups) can be as follows:

Main lighting
Background illumination
Side lighting
Back lighting

With this type of setup there is even provision for a strobe preview of the scene.

Ths Daylight Flash System

The CLS stystem has excellent capabilities for daylight fill flash.

In this type of setup an SB-900 or SB-800 can be used as the master and several other flashes in groups for suplementary fill lighting and the flash levels being adjusted accordingly.

The Macro Flash System

An ideal set up for macro shooting is the R1C1 kit. An important part of the Nikon Creative Flash System is the macro kit, R1C1 which comprises a pair of R-200 flash units, together with a selection of adaptor rings available to fit most Nikon lenses. There is also available a set of color filters for the flash plus other available accessories.The SB-R200 units are controlled by either an SB-900, SB-800, SB700 or the SU-800 infa red control unit. Each flash of the macro set up can be independently adjusted in a group to achieve the desired lighting ratio.

When used with the SU-800 commander in macro mode together with SB-R200 units either two mounted on each side of the lens or one mounted on the lens and one used for back lighting.

The Micro Nikkor 105mm VR lens is an ideal lens for use with the macro flash system. With the Nikon Creative Lighting System it is so easy

High Speed Electronic Flash Synchronization (Flash At Any Shutter Speed)

by Geoff 23 May 0 Comments

Bee on Flower

The above image of the bee has been captured with the following camera settings.

Shutter speed: 1/1000 second
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO200
Lens: Nikon, 200mm, Micro
Electronic flash using high speed synchronization

One of the major disadvantages of older cameras is the limitation of using flash at high shutter speeds, many cameras will limit the maximum shutter speed with flash to a shutter speedd range of 1/60 to 1/500 of a second. With more recent cameras and flash units this limitation has now been overcome. This option can be very important when you wish to balance the level of light from the flash and the natural daylight.

The Focal Plane Shutter

In order to understand how high speed flash synchronization works, we need some understanding as to how the camera’s focal plane shutter works.The shutter allows the light to reach the film or sensor and it will generally comprise two curtains travelling across the shutter area. At slower shutter speeds the first curtain will open and then after the shutter time delay the second curtain will close, the shutter opening remaining completely open for the exposure time. At higher shutter speeds (shutter speeds above the high speed flash synchronization speed) the second shutter curtain starts to open before the first shutter curtain has completely closed and this results in a slit travelling across the shutter opening which exposes light to the sensor or film.

When flash is used with a focal plane shutter at slower shutter speeds a single flash of light is all that is required to expose the sensor when the shutter is completely open. However when the shutter opening is a single slit travelling across the shutter opening, to get an even exposure the flash needs to fire continuously many thousands of time per second while the shutter slit is passing across the shutter opening.

High Speed Flash Synchronization

Limitation – There is a limitatation in using high speed flash synchronisation in that around one stop of flash power is lost compared to the normal flash power. However the benefits to be gained are great.

Rear Curtain Synchronization – Also high speed flash synchronization can not be used when rear curtain synchronization is set. This is when the flash is required to illuminate the subject just before the shutter closes, to create a blurred image aqnd then a frozen image at bthe end of the exposure time.

When to use High Speed Flash Synchronization

This setting can be used nearly all the time when the camera and flash is set to high speed flash synchronization, as the camera and flash will operate normally at shutter speeds below the flash synchronization speed and the high speed synchronization will kick in at shutter speeds above the normal synchronisation speed. as stated above the only time it can not operate is when you require to use rear curtain synchronization.

Benefits of High Speed Flash Synchronization

Balanced Lighting – In sunlight, high speed flash synchronization can be used to balance the lighting between the flash and natural light at high shutter speeds.

Freezing Action – High speed flash synchronization can be used at high shutter speeds 1/500 to 1/8000 of a second to freeze action.

Long Lenses – Long lenses generally require high shutter speeds and high speed flash synchronization can be used to acheive this.

Using Electronic Flash, Speedlight

by Geoff 18 May 0 Comments

Green Tree Frog

The above image, in line with the title of this Blog, has been captured using electronic flash, together with a Nikon, D700 camera and 105mm Nikon Micro lens.

In general there are several ways to use electronic flash and we I will attempt to cover all aspects below.

Built-in Camera Flash Versus External Flash

In general the flash built in to most cameras is of limited power and will only be satisfactory to illuminate a subject quite close to the camera. Also an in-built flash will only give direct lighting and is mainly useful for fill in flash to supplement normal daylight.

An external flash can either be used on the camera or with a seperate cable can be used off the camera. Also external flashes can be used in a multiple flash configuration, with one flash on camera as the master and other flashes configured as slaves off camera.

Built-in Flash Settings

Most built-in flashes will have some of the options as shown below.

TTL Setting – This setting will enable automatic operation by the camera, measuring the reflected light back through the camera lens.
Manual Settings – Manual settings may be available, ranging from full power down to 1/128 of full power.
Commander Mode – In this case the flash can be set so that external slave flashes can be used, triggered by the camera flash.

Camera Settings for Flash

Flash Synch Speed – When using flash with cameras having a focal plane shutter (most digital SLR cameras) the flash may need to be synchronised to a certain range of shutter speeds. With most cameras the highest shutter speed may vary between 1/125 to 1/500 of a second.

Auto FP (focal plane) High Speed Synchronization – Also another option may be provided making it possible for the flash to be used at the highest shutter speed supported by the camera. This is a very important feature in some of the latest flash units whereby electronic flash can be used at all shutter speeds. There is some limitation in this feature however, as at higher shutter speeds the flash power available will be reduced, however it is still an important feature to utilise.

Flash Modes

Several flash modes as follows may generally be available.

Red Eye Reduction – This mode gives a flash slightly before the main flash causing the subject’s eyes to contract before the main flash, thus stopping red eye occuring in the image.

Front Curtain Synchronization – This mode is used in most situations with the camera in Programmed Mode and Aperture Priority Mode and the shutter will be set to the highest shutter speed allowable for the shutter, or even higher if the camera is set to “Auto FP High Speed Synchronization” as discussed above.

Slow Synchronization – The shutter light and flash light is combined for shutter speeds down to 30 seconds. In this mode the flash operates just after the shutter opens. Used in Programmed and Aperture Priority modes. This mode is to capture the foreground and background at night and in dull lighting.

Rear curtain Synchronization – In this mode the flash fires just before the shutter closes. Used as a creative effect to give a stream of light behind moving objects at night. Used in Shutter Priority and Manual modes.

Slow Rear Curtain Synchronization – Used to capture both foreground and background at night and in dull light. Used in Programmed and Aperture Priority modes.

Flash Settings

In general the following flash setting may be available on an external flash.

ISO Sensitivity – Sometimes this may be set from the camera information.

Zoom Head – Some flash units may have a capability to zoom the head to allow for telephoto or wide angle lenses.

Auto TTL Mode – This is to set the flash to operate automatically, with the camera measuring to light through the lens.

Auto Non TTL Mode – In this mode the flash measures the light reflected back to the flash unit and not the camera.

Balanced Mode – This mode will allow a balanced amount of flash, compared to the amount of daylight. This can be very effective to provide daylight fill in flash.

Manual Mode – In this mode the flash is set manually and not controlled by the amount of light reflected back. Further details are given below.

Manual Operation of Flash

Every flash has a Guide Number specified for it, to enable the lens aperture to be calculated from the flash to subject distance.

The guide number is specified either in feet or metres at a particular ISO, generally ISO100.

The Guide Number is defined as:

G = f x D

Where G = Guide number,

f = the lens Aperture,

D = flash to subject distance.

A typical in-camera flash may have a Guide Number of 10 metres (33 feet) at ISO100.

A typical external flash will generally have a Guide Number of 20 metres (66 feet) to 60 metres (197 feet).

Fill in Flash

by Geoff 26 Apr 0 Comments

Rose

Many images can be improved significantly by using a small amount of fill in flash to eliminate harsh shadows. The use of fill in flash will give a more diffuse and even lighting.

The image of the rose above was created using supplementary fill in electronic flash to give the image more even lighting by filling in the darker areas and reducing the contrast.