Joe McNally- The moment it clicks- Rear Curtain sync

On page 90 of Joe Mcnallys book he mentions he leaves his camera on rear curtain sync all the time to freeze subject during action.

would there be any disadvantage/negative impact to leaving it rear curtain sync?

With rear curtain sync you end up with the movement blur leading up to the frozen person rather than away from them... assuming in that example that you're shooting a moving person with a long shutter speed.

I changed my camera to rear curtain sync ages ago for just that effect and haven't changed it since... If you're not using shutter speeds where you'll get movement blur I don't think you could notice the difference.

A few times when I did night group shot (longer shutter speed), some one would start to move out of poses after they see the preflash, had to explaim to them over and over again

Lotto wrote in post #5575868
A few times when I did night group shot (longer shutter speed), some one would start to move out of poses after they see the preflash, had to explaim to them over and over again

Just tell 'em it's like that red-eye reduction preflash you get with some of the little P&S cams

Lotto wrote in post #5575868
A few times when I did night group shot (longer shutter speed), some one would start to move out of poses after they see the preflash, had to explaim to them over and over again

I can believe that preflashes might be a problem with P&S camera where the interval between the preflash and the main flash may last ages, but is that really true with a DSLR, assuming one is using a shutter speed of 1/60 or faster. Of course, if a slower shutter speed is use, it may be an issue but then it would be an issue whether the flash occurred at 1st sync or 2nd sync.

Now, if you have a blinker in the group, then I can understand using 1st sync instead of 2nd. I used to have my camera set to 2nd sync during my film days but switched to 1st sync with digital when I found too many people with their eyes closed in flash pictures.

Leo gave better example with the blinkers. I was thinking more like "kids are out of the frame in a blink"

One problem with leaving flash on 2nd curtain is that on the 580, it will preclude high speed flash....which I use all (well, have it set on) of the time.

Is this book any good? I see that Scott Kelby has recommended it in one of his books.

Seconc curtain sync really screws up your timing with long shutterspeeds. I only use it if I have a light trail where the direction of the light trail is imortant. I never use it in a club setting....

Crossfire wrote in post #5578094
Is this book any good? I see that Scott Kelby has recommended it in one of his books.

The search tool is a wonderful thing. Here's what I found:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=451423

Curtis N wrote in post #5580211
The search tool is a wonderful thing. Here's what I found:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=451423

Thanks Curtis.

In rear-curtain, do you lose power? I'd set it to that and leave it, if I wasn't concerned about the effect on FEC.

I have a copy, It really explains different situations and how the shot was set up. When i received it (birthday present) I thought Hmmmm, Ill give it a looksee, After the first couple of pages I couldnt put it down. Finished it in a day or so. For newbies and pros...its a good book to reference.
I recommend it.

Crossfire wrote in post #5578094
Is this book any good? I see that Scott Kelby has recommended it in one of his books.

I can double this, same thing happened to me, when I first looked at it it was like, well, OK, this is just a photo book of this guys photographs but later it was like I can't let it go...

The four books that helped me a great deal are:
1. the digital photography book by scot kelby VOL. 1.
2. National Geo. Photography and travel
3. the digital photography book by scot kelby VOL. 2
4. Understanding Exposure by xxx (can't remember)

And this one is a no briner... on sale at amazon.com now.

stargazer77517 wrote in post #5582759
I have a copy, It really explains different situations and how the shot was set up. When i received it (birthday present) I thought Hmmmm, Ill give it a looksee, After the first couple of pages I couldnt put it down. Finished it in a day or so. For newbies and pros...its a good book to reference.
I recommend it.

emomophantom wrote in post #5582684
In rear-curtain, do you lose power? I'd set it to that and leave it, if I wasn't concerned about the effect on FEC.

The only difference between 1st curtain sync and 2nd curtain sync is when the flash goes off. All other properties of the flash, i.e. power, duration, FEC, etc., remain unaltered.