High speed sync... worth it?

Hi,

I have a YN-468 and its a little temperamental, so started looking about - and saw that the EX430 II etc have high speed sync, then I saw many of the cheaper lenses such as the soon to come out YongNuo YN-565EX don't, but do seem to do pretty much everything else!

So I came to thinking, do I really need one, and if not would sticking with YongNuo mean I can use mine as a slave?

Anyway what are your thoughts?

Ta,

John

I've never used it on my 430EX, so I would have to say no.

I suppose it could be used for fill on a sunny day, but I prefer a reflector anyway.

when you say its temperamental, what do you mean? mines turns off sometime after it has flashed, i thought maybe it was just dying batteries

HSS is a mixed bag. Its invaluable for fill flash on camera, and somewhat useful off camera with a capable triggering method. But you lose a lot of power using HSS, and often at times when you cant afford the power loss. I cant quite tell from your post how you want to use the flash, but unless you have a triggering method capable of using HSS (ST-e2, Long ETTL cord, radio popper or PW Control TL) , then dont bother.

John_N wrote in post #12404054
Hi,

I have a YN-468 and its a little temperamental, so started looking about - and saw that the EX430 II etc have high speed sync, then I saw many of the cheaper lenses such as the soon to come out YongNuo YN-565EX don't, but do seem to do pretty much everything else!

So I came to thinking, do I really need one, and if not would sticking with YongNuo mean I can use mine as a slave?

Anyway what are your thoughts?

Ta,

John

Sometimes it is.

If you put your flash in HSS mode, and move the shutter speed 1EV above the X-synch speed, we have seen variable results about loss of power (the variability seems to be dependent upon specific flash unit, not a model-dependent issue!)...about -3EV loss in power. For example, if you have GN130 as your 'normal' lens coverage angle, the effective GN gets cut down to about GN48...f/4 only gets you to 12' rather than 32'. Each full EV faster shutter speed nets additional -1EV loss of flash power.

wilky87 wrote in post #12404084
when you say its temperamental, what do you mean? mines turns off sometime after it has flashed, i thought maybe it was just dying batteries

Usually it fires, sometimes so bright it washes everything out, sometimes it flashes but not quite at the same time as my picture - that sort of thing, it doesn't really support the 7D, just someone on a forum said it had no issues... go figure

Thanks all for you comments.

John_N wrote in post #12404318
Usually it fires, sometimes so bright it washes everything out, sometimes it flashes but not quite at the same time as my picture - that sort of thing, it doesn't really support the 7D, just someone on a forum said it had no issues... go figure

Thanks all for you comments.

Even Canon flashes exhibit similar crankiness...it is due to poor contact between the flash hotfoot contacts and the camera hotshoe contacts. Some of us even experience good contact with the flash on the camera hotshoe, but poor contact if the same flash is mounted on the Canon off-camera extension cord!

Cheers Wilt, just re-read your posts and it does seem a little like you;d not use it much as generally if I want to capture something at speed I'm not that close to it...

Hmn, opens up a whole world of potential alternatives now - thank you.

John_N wrote in post #12405226
Cheers Wilt, just re-read your posts and it does seem a little like you;d not use it much as generally if I want to capture something at speed I'm not that close to it...

Hmn, opens up a whole world of potential alternatives now - thank you.

Correction...I have never bothered to use HSS. You have to understand that my roots in photography date back to the days when SLRs where flash 'challenged' with the limitation of 1/60 X-sync speed limitation, and even shooting with medium format SLRs with leaf shutter lenses, I was still limited to 1/500. So you learn to cope with relatively slow x-synch speeds.

Olympus came out with a flash called the F-280, which effectively was the precursor of HSS over 25 years ago. The press was not impressed, simply because of the power drop and distance loss. For some odd reason, 25 years later the world is somehow sufficiently impressed with HSS to not pan it!

If I ever find a situation for HSS mode to be an advantage that cannot be ignored, I know it is there. But I have not yet found a need for it.

I've found it handy at times.
For my tests it's an immediate loss of 3 stops of power, as Wilt says.
ND filters work also.

Wilt wrote in post #12405323
If I ever find a situation for HSS mode to be an advantage that cannot be ignored, I know it is there. But I have not yet found a need for it.

Here's a situation:

Outdoor portraits with ambient @ sunny 16ths, and you want shallow DoF (say f/2.8) AND you want to kill ambient by two stops.

The only ways I can think of that are going to allow you to achieve this are either to use a fairly hefty ND filter (which may or may not compromise the image coming through the viewfinder) or to use HSS (possibly using more than one Speedlite).

Obviously, if you're ok with a large DoF, and have the power to get f/22 on your subject, then HSS is not required.

But I agree with you in principle; HSS is seldom the best choice, unless you're Syl Arena and you're shooting with 12 Speedlites at a time.

Yes, that is a situation, but I also would not try to shoot a portrait in bright sunlight, when I need shallow DOF. I would find, or create, a shady spot in which to shoot the portrait and reflect light in for the highlights on the face(s).

Bright sunlight is simply not the best for a portrait shot.

I will use fill flash for most of my outdoor shots when people are fairly close to the camera not just for portraits so, I will often shoot in direct sunlight when the subject I want to photograph is in that light.

I usually shoot my fill flash at -1 or -2 EV so the loss of power when using HSS is not critical.

I will use HSS whenever I want to keep my shutter speed over 1/250 second.

Wilt wrote in post #12405424
Yes, that is a situation, but I also would not try to shoot a portrait in bright sunlight, when I need shallow DOF. I would find, or create, a shady spot in which to shoot the portrait and reflect light in for the highlights on the face(s).

Bright sunlight is simply not the best for a portrait shot.

Bright sunshine is not ideal, of course, for portraits. But if you can kill the bright sunshine, then there's no issue. It's all a matter of "do I have enough power to give me the exposure I need, within the confines of my other equipment?"

Obviously, this is not a situation that's likely to come up very often. But HSS is one of the tools you have in your arsenal to help you through difficult situations like this.