Tangents

the advantage of a higher max sync speed

January 17, 2010

maximum flash sync speed

Last week, I had an interesting lunchtime conversation with a photographer acquaintance of mine. We mostly talked about photography business related topics, but at some point I mentioned the origins of this website. How it came to be, and why the geeky domain name, and some of the original pages on here.

One of the first articles I wrote, was this one on the advantages of having a higher maximum flash sync speed. It is an explanation of why the Nikon D70 had an advantage over the Canon 10D. (They were the two most popular D-SLRs at the time). The Nikon D70 has a maximum flash sync speed of 1/500th, but only went down to 200 ISO. The Canon 10D has a maximum flash sync speed of 1/250th, but went down to 100 ISO. There were huge debates on the photography forums whether the D70 had the advantage or not, since many argued that 1/500th @ 200 ISO is the same as 1/250th @ 100 ISO.

That webpage explains why the D70 would have a distinct advantage. In describing the gist of this to my friend, I realized that my explanation on that page could’ve been much simpler.

So here it is – the advantage of having a higher max flash sync speed – but explained in a way that is more concise …

If the Nikon D70 boasts a higher maximum flash sync speed of 1/500th, but only has a minimum of 200 ISO … as opposed to the Canon 10D offering a lower max sync speed of 1/250th, but with 100 ISO as its base ISO … then it might seem that 1/500 @ 200 ISO = 1/250 @ 100 ISO.

It would be that simple if we were only regarding available light. But we’re bringing flash into this equation. So while a change in ISO affects both ambient light and flash exposure, shutter speed only affects available light. And that is where the difference comes in.

Let’s assume a certain combination of settings for ambient exposure:

1/250 @ 100 ISO @ f5.6 (for the 10D), which is the same as:
1/500 @ 200 ISO @ f5.6 (for the D70)

But let’s change the 10D settings to:
1/250th @ 200 ISO @ f8 … which is still the same ambient exposure, compared to:
1/500th @ 200 ISO @ f5.6

But now, when we add flash, we need to add f8 worth of flash to the scene for the 10D, as opposed to only f5.6 worth of flash for the D70. So our flashguns have an easier time with the higher maximum flash sync speed in situations where we are shooting in bright light conditions.

If only I had explained it this succinctly originally.

As a side-note:
Many photographers are disappointed that their 5D bodies have a max flash sync speed of 1/200 and not 1/250 like most other D-SLRs. The reality is that this translates to only 1/3rd stop difference in flash exposure. It might make a difference, but not a huge one. Similarly, the Canon 1D mkIII and mkIV bodies have a max flash sync speed of 1/300 …. weeeell, that’s less than 1/3rd of a stop. Nothing to write home about. But the number 1/300 does does look good on paper.

Still, a higher maximum sync speed is always a bonus.

Also check out the page explaining why something like maximum flash sync speed exists, and why it is often a sweet spot for us when we use flash.

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13 Comments »

“Similarly, the Canon 1D mkIII and mkIV bodies have a max flash sync speed of 1/300″ — for completeness: the Nikon D300 and D700 (and perhaps other pro Nikons) also have a max sync of 1/320.

Comment by Hugo Vincent — January 18, 2010 @ 4:53 pm
Dear Neil,

2nd paragraph:

“One of the first articles I wrote, was this one on the advantages of having a higher maximum flash sync speed. It is an explanation of why the Nikon D700 had an advantage over the Canon 10D.”

I think you meant the D70. Anyway, I would like to thank you for this awesome website and the book you have written, and has greatly improved my understanding of lighting techniques. Keep up the good work!

Comment by william — January 18, 2010 @ 11:54 pm
Thanks! Typo is fixed now. Others also pointed out the mistake.
I take it as good sign that people are actually following what is written. ;)

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — January 19, 2010 @ 3:47 am
Hugo Vincent,
If you set the flash sync speed on the D300 and D700 to 1/320, your usable flash range is diminished by almost half. I talked to Neil about this in an earlier post on D300 settings: http://neilvn.com/tangents/2008/04/04/nikon-d300-custom-settings/#comment-590

The flash sync speed that provides the longest flash range for the two cameras is 1/250, which is currently what most Nikon models support.

Comment by Stephen — January 19, 2010 @ 4:01 pm
Hi, Can you explain why with my pop up flash the flash sync speed is 1/320, but when I use my sb800 it becomes irrelevent. I found this out the other day when I was exposing for the background and got a shutter speed of 1/1000. I then popped the pop up flash up and it dropped to 1/320. I was in manual mode. Consequently the background was over exposed.
Thanks,
Nick

Comment by Nick — January 20, 2010 @ 3:46 pm
Nick, what you’re seeing there is that you can go into high-speed-sync mode with your SB-800.

However, the max flash sync speed on your camera still remains 1/320 (or 1/250)

Go through this article on maximum flash sync speed for more on this.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — January 20, 2010 @ 4:38 pm
Hi Neil, Yes I see what you mean now. As I would be using the flash for fill-in, the loss in flash power would not be that bad as I would only need a blip of flash to light the subject. Thanks
Nick

Comment by Nick — January 20, 2010 @ 5:21 pm
Hello Neil

iam a Nikon Shooter and got a Question Iam out on a Sunny day and want to use the Wide open Aperture (2.8 or 4) to Get a Shallow Depth of field without blowing out the Background. Shuld i keep my flash outpower to -1.5 to -1.7 TTL BL and switch to Auto FP(1/250 or 1/300) Hope you can help me.
Thanks
Anoop

Comment by Anoop Nair — January 21, 2010 @ 3:13 am
Anoop, however you decide to balance your settings, the combination of settings (shutter speed / ISO / aperture) has to be such that you don’t over-expose the ambient light for your subject.

In other words, you can’t both have a wide aperture AND a medium shutter speed (such as 1/250) on a sunny day. (Unless you use an ND filter.)

So to use a wide aperture, you have to go to a higher shutter speed. Simple.

But your flash does become less efficient. Whether this important though, will depend on what you’re actually trying to achieve with flash … and the specifics of the scenario you are photographing.

I also can’t give you specific advice about the flash exposure compensation, since this too will depend on what you’re trying to achieve, or the specific scenario you are photographing.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — January 21, 2010 @ 11:45 am
The 5D Mark II has a rated max flash sync speed of 1/200. In actuality there is a faint black line. If you want a full-sensor crisp picture, you need to drop it to 1/160. This happens on my camera, and on several other people’s who have 5DII cameras. Others have reported no problems.

Comment by Bill Millios — January 22, 2010 @ 10:44 pm
Many photographers have found out the hard way not to shoot at ma sync speed in the studio because of exactly that problem. You can see the edge of the one curtain.

The problem arises because of propagation delay.

By the time your camera fires the radio trigger which fires another radio trigger which trips the lighting .. there is a small delay. This can become significant.

It varies from setup to setup.

I have the same problem with the Nikon D3 under certain situations, where I can’t use 1/250 because of that. I have to shoot at 1/200 or lower.

Neil vN

Comment by Neil — January 22, 2010 @ 11:29 pm
Yes indeed, I have been one of those photographers that found out the hard way, that shooting max sync speed in the studio leaves me with a dark edge on the image. It took me a while to have the “Eureka moment” with this as I didn’t really know what the problem was at first – after all, I was doing everything right! But when I did figure it out, I was kicking myself – the solution was so simple – just use a lower shutter speed!

No doubt most readers know this already but what they may not realise (and hence the reason for my response here) is that this problem does not occur if one fires the studio flash using a speedlite (dialled down to min. power) instead of a radio trigger, then shooting at max sync speed works fine. Personally, I prefer to use a radio trigger and live with the lower shutter speed as it makes for easier handling on account of the lighter weight on the hotshoe. But it’s nice to know there’s a way to get max sync speed while still triggering remotely.

- Thorsten.

Comment by Thorsten — January 23, 2010 @ 8:31 am
That bright glow you see coming from the East Coast is the light bulb going off over my head. You’ve mentioned more than a few times your preference for shooting on-camera flash @ your cameras max sync speed and I now I finally get the concept after reading the above article.

Perhaps I’m on a roll and the intricacies of General Relativity will come into sharp focus next (Check out Lawrence’s Karauss’s A Universe from Nothing)

Here’s hoping!

Rob

Comment by Robert MacAusland — July 3, 2012 @ 7:55 pm