Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Pardon my ignorance.

I shoot a lot of action photos.
I have a Canon Mark 2 N and a 580 EX flash unit.

I usually use my shutter priority mode and set my shutter speed to 800 or 1000 and my flash unit to high speed sync.
My photos come out fine and I am very happy with it, except for one thing.
My distance of the flash is limited to ten to fifteen feet because of the high speed sync and amount of power in my 580 EX.

My question is, how can I do the same thing except with my Einstein flash unit ?

When I set my Einstein to action mode the fastest shutter speed I can get my camera to sync at is 400 to be able to get the whole frame to expose.
After 400 I get the black bar because my shutter is closing before it is all lit.

There is not too much explanation of this in my manual and I have tried to search for other posts regarding this but can't seem to find any.
The stuff I did find is very confusing to me. I guess a little over my head.

How can I shoot with my Einstein at 1000 shutter speed and have my photo come out completely exposed. Is this possible?
One more thing, I use my Alien Bee Cybersync as my trigger and my Cybersync CSXCV transmitter as my link between the camera and Einstein flash unit.

Thank you,
Glenn Gardner...G2photosmx.com

In short, no. Read the following links, in order, for an explaination of why.


viewtopic.php?f=8&t=66

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=67

Tech Support,

Thank you for your response.

The fact that your reply was no, at least made me feel a little better that I could not figure out how to do it.

Yes, I understand the two links that you provided.

But, as I said, Canon is able to make it work on their speedlights easy enough, and I was wondering if it was an available option on the Einstein.
It seems as though if this feature was available, my Einstein would be even more of a wonderful piece of equipment.

I am not too bright, but I thought that my speedlight just held the light on a little longer so I was able to get a completely exposed shot at a very high shutter speed?

Well, I guess I will have to wait a little longer for technology to catch up with my needs.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Glenn Gardner...G2photosmx.com

Canon makes the cameras, and Canon makes the flashes. They are designed to talk to each other. A Nikon flash could not do this with a camera body. Even on speedlites that can do this, there is not one setting for all shutter speeds, but there is a different setting for each shutter speed. Multiply each shutter speed above x-sync, by the number of makers, by the number of models, then by power levels, and you can see this would be a serious undertaking. Then we would need a transmitter programmed and pinned for each brand.

TS,

Yes, That makes sense to me.

Do you know if something like the pocket wizards are programmed for each manufacturer ?
I read where you have to make your purchase either Canon or Nikon with them.

And if so, could I use them with my Einstein to get what I am looking to do,(with high speed syncing) ?

I am not 100% clear on the technology, but I think I know what you are saying.

Thank you,
G2
Glenn Gardner...G2photosmx.com :ugeek:

Yes, the PW TT is.
They decoded most of Nikon/Canon's TTL protocol and have the necessary pins.

They do something called Hypersync which is sort of a hack like HSS is, so it'll probably do what you want. You do have to fiddle w/ their stuff a lot to get your shutter into the lighting window, and the Einstein won't work well with it except at full power because of how it works...

While some disagree with me, my opinion is that HSS and Hypersync style hacks are dead end technology. They waste most of the flash power. The real solution is in fast duration flash units like Einstein and electronic shutter cameras such as Nikon D40-D70 and G11 style consumer cameras. Until Canon and Nikon get around to addressing this in their pro cameras there will be huge compromises in achieving fast flash sync with substantial flash power and short recycle times.

Set your camera to fastest sync speed (250?), ISO at 100, then use aperture settings to eliminate ambient light. This method will work, and not rob you of precious light. Now put flash in ETTL mode or manual mode. If in ETTL. crank up the FEC to get the results you want. Using the Einstein makes it even easier!

Yes, the PW TT is.
They decoded most of Nikon/Canon's TTL protocol and have the necessary pins.
[quote]
Not only are they pinned out for each brand, they are programmed for each camera and for each shutter speed (for each camera).