flash sync speed

Dermit wrote in post #5936431
No, actually I totally understand about it. About 75% of my paid shoots are outdoor on location and I ALWAYS use flash. And if you note where I shoot (Arizona) the sun is always extreme. So I absolutely know about and constantly use HSS. My flashes are set to HSS most of the time. My shutter speeds are almost always faster than the sync.

The point I was making was more about using the BB than it was about using HSS at faster shutters. And that is where I do not have any experience, but I am guessing that shooting through a BB vs not shooting through one at HSS is not going to be a night and day difference when it comes to how much light gets to the subject. I guess it would depend a lot on the circumstance, but i am guessing that the effect would be slight. The OP was more or less asking if he could double his shutter speed from 1/200 to 1/400 if he used a BB. I doubt that would be the case in HSS mode, but then again, I have not used a BB so i don't know for sure. Just seems like not. But it definitely will not work if not in HSS mode at 1/400. And since shutter does not really effect flash it's kind of a silly argument anyway. So the BB on or not is not going to make or brake the use of HSS and a faster or slower shutter. It's just going to get more light to the subject, maybe, from the flash.

OK, now I see where you're coming from.

But I read the OP's question a little differently than you did. I did not read it as him asking if using a BB would allow him to double his shutter speed. I read it as him asking if he would be able to use the BB at a shutter speed faster than 1/200.

mrbass111 wrote in post #5936520
heres what i found on my flash that i think is the same as hss.

FP flash, which is capable of synchronizing the flash illumination with high shutter speeds; and the rear curtain synchro flash mechanism, which makes delayed synchro photography possible. A wireless slave function is also available for use with compatible cameras.

its sounds greek to me but this flashes FP flash. does this sound like the HSS function?

Yes. FP is synonymous to HSS on the Canon flashes.

PacAce wrote in post #5936666
OK, now I see where you're coming from.

But I read the OP's question a little differently than you did. I did not read it as him asking if using a BB would allow him to double his shutter speed. I read it as him asking if he would be able to use the BB at a shutter speed faster than 1/200.

Yes, we're on the same page now.

I think the OP thought that the reason the max sync speed is 1/200 is because of flash power and that if he boosted the power with BB that he could get more shutter speed. I see a lot of people not understanding about max sync and what controls it so this is a common misconception about it having to do with flash power.

So, for those who do not know what determines the max sync here ya go...

The max flash sync has to do with the mechanical capabilities of the specific camera/model and how it was built as far as what it is capable of.

The shutter is made up of two 'curtains', or sheets of metal. At slower speeds to expose the sensor the first curtain opens up all the way exposing the sensor. Then when the determined time has past the second curtain closes blocking light from reaching the sensor once again.

In order to get faster shutter speeds what camera manufacturers do is at higher speeds the second curatin shutter starts to close before the first curtain has opened all the way. So in effect you get these two curtains, or sheets that travel across and expose the sensor where just a slit of light is hitting the sensor.

If you fire off a flash at these higher speed shutters then all that gets exposed is the slit, or portion of the sensor that is not covered for the duration of the flash... which is extremely short.

So to help out many flashes have a high speed sync mode. What this does is actuall fire a bunch of less powerful flashes one right after the other (it still looks like one flash to the human eye). So these multi-flashes insure that light hits the sensor at one point during the traversing of the two shutter curtains.

So it has nothing to do with the power of the flash, it has to do with the curtains that make up the shutter and at what point does one start to close while the other is still opening.

Of course it's harder to build a shutter that is fast enough to be totally open before the second curatin starts to close at high speed. So faster max sync speeds tend to be on the more expensive cameras.