Good flash tutorial?

PentaxShooter wrote in post #18982477
Don't count on it. Faster-than-sync flash requires a feature called HSS. HSS is, in effect, a very fast strobe light. Regular flash gives you one burst of light per frame. HSS uses multiple bursts per frame, which quickly eats into available power, and cuts effective range. I don't recall the exact details, but the 580EX II is capable of HSS up to 1/8000 shutter speed. Even if shooting at ISO 3200, the max effective range is on the order of 10 feet. I'll set it up and report proper details in a minute.

Well, that was quick. Camera 80D. Flash 580EX II.
1/8000, f/5.6, ISO 3200. Max flash range is 12 feet.
1/2000, f/4, ISO 1600. Max flash range is 24 feet.

HSS is a bit more useful than I would have guessed. Be sure to carry a lot of batteries, though. At or near full-power output for every frame will kill them really quickly. And if you shoot quickly, the flash will overheat in about 20 frames.

Thank you!

Some great reading material...

https://strobist.blogs​pot.com/2006/03/lighti​ng-101.html

For learning flash, some of my favorite instructors are Zack Arias and Mark Wallace. Mark has a great flash tutorial series as part of the “Digital Photography 1 on 1” on YouTube and I think it’s on AdoramaTV now.

duckster wrote in post #18982450
And what does the flash need to be able to take shots faster than the normal sync? I shoot some sports events and would like to be able to use shutter speeds faster than 1/250

In order for any flash to light the photo fully when the shutter is not 'fully open curtains', the flash needs to have a 'one long duration virtual continuous output' mode...in essence, one string of mini bursts of light that happen so fast as to present an almost-unwavering source of light. Olympus first did this in the 1980s with their F280 flash, and digital revived the concept with High Speed Sync (HSS). The Canon HSS requires a flash that can take commands from the camera nTTL connections to output HSS continuous light (rather than the usual rapid single burst of light). Some flash manufacturers have mimiced the HSS mode, with a control setting on the flash even when nTTL connection is not used.

And then there also are 'cheats' which allow use of a higher shutter speed even with only a single burst of light from the flash (no 'continuous' light output).

You also run into the issue of light intensity degrading over continuous flash bursts. When it comes to flash in an indoor basketball court, it might be beneficial for instances where your subject is on your side of the bleachers. However, a flash can't cover the whole gym. I think we should count ourselves lucky that current digital cameras have improved high ISO performance, so you can have a workflow with natural indoor light, adequate exposure, and some basic noise reduction. Newer models make it even easier in which they have anti-light flicker features so you don't have to mind about 60/50hz compatible speeds.

Hello, I think that you are referring to HSS (High Speed Sync) which allows a faster shutter speed than the normal sync. While this can be really useful in some instances, it drastically reduces the range of the flash. I shoot a ton of bike race photos mostly with flash and find that the second curtain sync more useful. The reason being that the flash basically becomes the shutter in really dim light and trying to use the camera shutter to control the exposure is a losing proposition (even with high ISO).

The Second Shutter Sync (SSS) fires the flash at the closing of the shutter (rather that the start of the exposure), assuming the flash is providing the main source of light using the fastest normal sync speed will stop all the motion with the flash burst (typically over 1/1000 of a second). If the camera does record any motion from the ambient light the SSS allows the motion leading to the subject rather than away from the subject via the normal sync. This really helps when "panning" the camera on moving subjects, the subject is frozen and lit by the flash and the background blurs giving the motion showing speed. The following is an example:

IMAGE LINK: https://photos.smugmug​.com …dited-9219-L.jpg&lb=1&s=A

This is one (of the) location where you can find A to Z about flash lighting

https://strobist.blogs​pot.com/

Joe Mcnally also mentioned in his book about this blog.....

duckster wrote in post #18981558
I have not done any shooting with flash yet (aside from a little fill flash for backlit subjects)

Is there a good tutorial to learn about flash use? Things like bounce flash and sync speed etc?

Neil van Niekerk's Tangents website.

Bounce flash posts (but start here, here, and here)

HSS tutorial.

van Niekerk is terrific for learning on-camera flash, because he's a pro wedding photographer. He'll teach you about metering and flash, balancing flash and ambient, bouncing your flash, working on the hoof in difficult bounce situations, and how/when to use TTL vs. M. A lot of folks skip that last step, because they get seduced into the Strobist and off-camera flash and are taught there that you should do everything old school in M. Which made sense before we had TTL locking on our flash radio triggering systems. Like we now do. van Niekerk is also one of the few who will teach you how to drag your iso and aperture with TTLand use that knowledge for off-camera shooting like Joe McNally, only probably without the Profoto gear.

After you get frustrated with the limitations of on-camera bounce, then go to David Hobby's Strobist Lighting 101, or his lynda classes on flash photography. Maybe also hit Zack Arias's white seamless tutorial videos.

Thanks for all the links and info so far!

Just wrote this as a primer to understanding flash:

Flash primer
1. To shoot with electronic flash on any camera with focal plane shutter, the shutter speed needs to be no faster than X-synch max speed, which is when both curtains of the shutter are fully open when the light of the flash illuminates the scene.
2. With non-automatic flash unit, the flash outputs a certain fixed amount of light, which is measured by a Guide Number, which can be used to determine the correct camera settings to use.

a. For example, with Canon 580EX set to cover the amount of a scene captured with a 50mm or ‘normal’ lens, it has Guide Number 135 (feet) at ISO 100. So if you shoot with ISO 100 set on your camera, and your subject is 12 feet away, you should choose f/11 (135 / 12 = 11)
b. A flash which allows fractional power (1/2 power, 1/4 power) will have lower Guide Numbers (e.g. GN /1.4 and GN /2, respectively)
c. When you use a higher ISO, the Guide Number is changed...ISO 400 = [2 * ISO 100 GN], ISO 1600 = [4 * ISO 100 GN]

3. With any automatic flash (photosensor, non-xTTL), set your f/stop and the flash will read the scene with its built in photosensor, and then turn off the output of light when it senses ‘enough light’.
4. With an xTTL flash unit, set your f/stop and the camera tells the flash to emit a small amount of light when you press the shutter, it meters the preflash light coming in the camera lens, and then then camera commands the flash to output a predetermined amount of light when the shutter opens.
5. If you change the zoom head setting of the flash, the Guide Number of the flash changes…it gets smaller for wider angle coverage, it gets bigger for telephoto angle coverage. So with non-automatic flash units, you have to recomputed the f/stop to use, while automatic flash and xTTL flash units will be automatically adjusted by the flash metering.
6. If you use HSS, the flash output intensity will be reduced by at least -2EV (if not more), which means the HSS max distance the flash can reach is 1/4 or even 1/8 of the non-HSS maximum distance!

On HSS - one reason portrait shooters use HSS is for sallow depth of field. So for shooting under the sun, instead F11 1/200 under the flash sync speed, we can use F2.0, 1/6400 with HSS. Yes we loose power with HSS, but we gain in wilder aperture.

I just check with 580EX on camera: max distance with F11 1/200 is about 17 ft, with F2.0 1/6400 HSS is 9 ft.

Wilt wrote in post #18984364
6. If you use HSS, the flash output intensity will be reduced by at least -2EV (if not more), which means the HSS max distance the flash can reach is 1/4 or even 1/8 of the non-HSS maximum distance!

From repeated test using my Godox v860ii and AD360, both only loose 1 stop using HSS.

Exposure & histogram at 1/200 f/22 (non hss) is the same at 1/6400 f/2.8 (hss)
(I made sure no ambient light contribution at all for both setting).

In the past, quick test with Canon 580exii only loose 1 1/3 stops.

nixland wrote in post #18985371
From repeated test using my Godox v860ii and AD360, both only loose 1 stop using HSS.

Exposure & histogram at 1/200 f/22 (non hss) is the same at 1/6400 f/2.8 (hss)
(I made sure no ambient light contribution at all for both setting).

In the past, quick test with Canon 580exii only loose 1 1/3 stops.

Great for you! It proves there is usually an exception to any generalization. We know from the past that depending upon the specific unit, SOME Canon 580EX flash units would lose -2EV, and some Canon 580EX units would lose -3EV...one POTN owner had two of each! And yours seems to be the exception to the generalization about Canon 580EX.

Wilt wrote in post #18985596

nixland wrote in post #18985371
From repeated test using my Godox v860ii and AD360, both only loose 1 stop using HSS.

Exposure & histogram at 1/200 f/22 (non hss) is the same at 1/6400 f/2.8 (hss)
(I made sure no ambient light contribution at all for both setting).

In the past, quick test with Canon 580exii only loose 1 1/3 stops.

Great for you! It proves there is usually an exception to any generalization. We know from the past that depending upon the specific unit, SOME Canon 580EX flash units would lose -2EV, and some Canon 580EX units would lose -3EV...one POTN owner had two of each! And yours seems to be the exception to the generalization about Canon 580EX.

Maybe his testing method was different than mine or he had different approach.
By the way I am not hss defender or such.
Because I myself rarely use hss
I did the test just for curiosity.

I posted my test on dpreview.

duckster wrote in post #18984194
Thanks for all the links and info so far!

Have you taken any pics yet? That’s when learning starts. Post them.

Here’s HS & off camera flash.

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