Strobe sync @ 1/400: Pushing the limits.

Here you can see some examples:
http://www.flickr.com …/21251944@N00/2​149449187/
http://robertbenson.co​m/blog/archives/201

That guy in the stands looks weird with a gray head. What's up with that?

Hat? I'll have to check the original when I get back.

I finally took a look at the original & it's in there, so I didn't gray out his face. It's probably one of those stupid looking hats with the ear flaps that Sarah Palin likes so much?

jbergdoll wrote in post #6690556
You don't need a high shutter speed to freeze motion when using flash... Just make sure that your flash is putting out more light than the ambient, at a higher duration. I can shoot at 1/4 and still get the same amount of motion frozen as if I shot at 1/1000 with a Sunpak 544 on half power.

That just sounds cool enough, I'm gonna have to try it! I'm gonna try some batters swinging at a softball once the weather warms up.

GCGuy wrote in post #7523075
That just sounds cool enough, I'm gonna have to try it! I'm gonna try some batters swinging at a softball once the weather warms up.

Do they allow flash in softball?

"They" covers a lot of territory. You really should ask, but I doubt that anyone will notice it. You may need a focusing head, or a filter to get the most out of it. There are some in post #1 of Simple "every-day-emergency" location lighting

PhotosGuy wrote in post #7527132
"They" covers a lot of territory. You really should ask, but I doubt that anyone will notice it. You may need a focusing head, or a filter to get the most out of it. There are some in post #1 of Simple "every-day-emergency" location lighting

Reason I asked was coz flash is big no for baseball. It is ok for high shcool football etc. Don't know what you mean by focussing head unless you talking about somehing like better beamer. I shoot some sports with flash so I know what the basics are.

Dermit wrote in post #6678696
It's very difficult to get the shutter down to 1/200 in the Arizona sun.. even in shade during the day.

This statement made me chuckle. The sun is 93 million miles away from each and every one of us.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #6678665
No, to eliminate ghosting from movement at 1/250 sec, which just isn't fast enough to freeze a spikers hand and a volleyball which can move at 100mph.

This shot is at 1/250 sec:

Hosted photo: posted by PhotosGuy in
./showthread.php?p=667​8665&i=i11535528
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

And this one, is at 1/500 without flash fill.

Hosted photo: posted by PhotosGuy in
./showthread.php?p=667​8665&i=i97769326
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

I am not 100% sure exactly what you are after but I wanted to say what I though about the pictures you posted, the first picture on your second post IMHO is great, I love the blur that shows the action being performed, great light and just makes me feel like they are moving and working hard in the photo. The first picture had wayyyy to much hard light and just looked amateur -ish. So I personally do not see why you want to shop all the action and in it's place insert hard light..

I want to start shooting my sons sports, baseball, basketball, and football, so any tips for shooting basketball indoors will help. I see why you want to stop an individual at times but an action shot like in this post, to me, looks wonderful with the action blur. Just my opinion.

In the first post? It was a test shot during warm up. It's to show that even at 1/500 sec, the difference between the top & bottom of the frame isn't that bad & if you are aware of it, & needed 1/500, you might be able to cheat the light & action to the top of the frame.

I love some blurs, at the right time & in the right place! My main concern was to get the girls faces sharp, as nobody worth a **** had ever taken tight shots of them. It's just a small school in a city of 5,000, but they were regional champs this year, & 4 seniors are graduating.

Good info from Alan (amfoto1) among others, + a few links are in: Need Info on Sports Photography

So what determines how much shutter is shown in the frame, the response speed of the RF trigger and flash?

I've got a 40D and I'm playing around with a cheap RF trigger and flash I got from DealExtreme. My 1/250 shots look like your 1/640 shot! Most of them...some are fine. Hmm.

Matt

The shutter sync of each individual camera when it's hard wired. In your case, probably the response speed of the RF trigger and flash. That's why I said in the first post, "I suggest that you run a test with your camera like the first image to see just where your shutter cuts off, too."

One thing I often try to insert in these discussions.

Just because the cameras shutter speed is indicated at 1/400 second, that does not mean it is the actual speed of the shutter.

Even on very high quality cameras, as used here, the actual shutter speeds are often off by 1/3 of a stop.

The 1/400 second shutter speed of interest here, may or may not actually be 1/400 second.

It might be 1/320 second indicated as 1/400 second.

Enjoy! Lon

Older mechanical shutters had the "feature" of gradually slowing the speed down over time, starting with the faster speeds. Then they would need cleaning & recalibrating.
Do you know if that 1/320 second indicated as 1/400 second will remain constant over time now?