Slow Sync

[BogdanD]

Hey, first post! Great site by the way. I have a Canon 430ex ii and I would like to start actually using it. One thing I can't find anywhere is how to enable slow sync on this flash. How can I do this? Also, how can I enable 1st or 2nd curtain sync?

BogdanD

[cdhakl]

BogdanD,

You didn't mention what make / model camera you are using with your 430EXii. I assume a CANON?

You really don't have anyway to "enable" slow synch on this flash, per se. Slow synch is really just a name for the way you set your shutter speed fairly slow in order to capture more of the ambient light as well as lighting the front main subject. It is also called "dragging the shutter". You just lower your shutter speed / or raise it according to the amount of ambient light you wish to capture and then adjust your aperture for the amount of flash light you are wanting in your exposure. Remember, shutter speed controls the ambient light & aperture controls the amount of captured light from your flash, ( this is a broad general statement and isn't %100 correct, but close enuff for our discussion.) A great site to visit and learn off camera flash / stobe is: http://strobist.blogspot.com/ and when you get to that site/blog, read the "Lighting 101 & 102 Archives" which are located in radio slots off on the right of the web site. If you read and learn from both those archives, you will know more than probably %95 of all the so called "Pro Photographers".........

Perhaps you are meaning 'high speed sync' ? This is controlled by settings on your model of flash. To turn ON HSS ( high speed synch), just push / toggle the button located between the MODE button and the ZOOM button. It has the icon of a lightning bolt next to a letter 'H'. It will turn on that same icon in the LCD screen when you have it toggled 'ON'. Will only show up in the camera view finder when you set your shutter speed ABOVE its normal synch speed. REMEMBER, in HSS, the output of the flash will be less than the 'normal' output so you will have to either bring your flash physically closer to your subject, or open your aperture up some more.

To switch from 1st Curtain synch to 2nd Curtain sych, you toggle the SAME button as the HSS. This one button controls BOTH functions. You will notice another icon after the HSS 'lightning bolt-H' icon and that is of 3 triangles pointing to the right,& with the top one "filled in" instead of just "stroked" like the other bottom two. Just toggle through the 3 settings of this button, ( HSS = ON, 1st /2nd Curtain = ON and the final phase is when both functions are OFF )

There are also "custom functions" accesable on this model and they are accessed by toggling the 1st button on the top left row ( its icon is a 'light bulb' / C.Fn) The C.Fn of course stands for: 'Custom Function(s)'. This button brings up 6 individual custom features in the LCD screen, that you can either turn ON or OFF, but the LCD display only shows the individual "digits" of these 6 features and NOT the actual explanation or label of what they do. The "codes" for the six features are in your manual. If you don't have access to a manual, let me know and I can post the digit / use "codes" for you.

Hope that helps a little, you will like your 430EXii once you get to know how to drive it. Great flash and lots of high end features there if you need / want to learn to use them. Also great off camera using either radio triggers or a full ETTL synch cable. You can extend the ETTL cable to whatever length you want by "splicing in" an ordinary computer LAN cable with the right connectors. Or just use it in manual mode off camera with cheap optical triggers to slave it or the radio triggers.

Lots of other useful info on CANON cameras / strobes at this web site: http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index.html Good luck & love to see your photos..........

Curt H.
'el Condor loco' GRAPHIX
Queensland, Australia

[BogdanD]

thanks a lot, i hope to get a lot out of my flash!

[BillCMartin]

thanks a lot, i hope to get a lot out of my flash!

I'm fairly new to flash photography too. Well, I've actually owned a 430EX flash for several years and the results were so horrible it just stayed in the bag! I decided this year to do something about it and feel that I'm finally on the journey, albeit, with lots of questions and still with a load to learn.

For me, the way to get the most from my flashes (I've now got 2 of them, which probably says something!) the secret has been to take lots of photos, mostly with the camera and flashes in manual as it's so much easier to understand and control what's going on. I set the exposure for the background first. Then I add one flash (usually with some kind of diffusion) and dial in the exposure and take a few shots till it's right. Then I add the second flash, if needed, and adjust and shoot till that's right too.

Working in manual at the camera end too means I can make a note of the camera and 2 flash settings. I have recently taken to photographing the studio set-up to, with everything in place, so I can actually see where everything was positioned. Hope that helps and good luck on your off-camera flash journey!

[digital paradise]

Here is a pretty good video. I like it because of the animations. It is a Pocket Wizard ad but the first 4 minutes are pretty good at explaining your question. It also gets into HSS (high speed sync)


http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirat...roltl_optimiz/

[fanlynne]

I think "slow-sync" often refers to shooting in Av or Tv so you can capture the ambient background light. This often results in a long or "slow" shutter speed, but the flash is still synced to the exposure.

Typically, the camera opens the shutter, fires the flash, leaves the shutter open until the designated time, then closes the shutter. That's "first curtain" sync - it's the default. Second-curtain sync involves opening the shutter, waiting until the exposure is almost finished, firing the flash, and then closing the shutter.