Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

High speed sync question; I just purchased an Einstein 640 with a pocket wizard mc2 and I have not been able to achieve sync speeds above 1/250th of a second without banding.I am transmitting with a pocket wizard mini TT1 on a Canon 5D mark 2 body. The project that I'm working on requires me to photograph dogs in motion in a semi bright studio space ( very often on white seamless). I would not be able to get enough power and depth of field using speedlites and PW FlexTT5s so I'm hoping that I'll be able get both enough power and faster sync speed using several Einstein 640 units. I don't have unrealistic expectations and would be happy with 500th of a second for most of the shots. I have tried different settings in the pocket wizard utility with no luck. I called Pocket Wizard support ( mac group) and they suggested that I experiment. I'm anxious to begin the project,but don't want to buy additional Einstein units until I can figure this out. The canon 5 D mark 2 has been around for a long time so I would imagine this is not a new question for technical support or someone in the Buff online community using Einsteins with this model camera. In all other regards the mini is communicating fine with the Einstein. Hoping for some solid recommendations.Thanks

I cant answer the question directly. However, a lot of your solution hinges on what you define as a "semi bright" studio. If you can set your exposure to eliminate ambient using ISO and aperture at your x-sync speed, then using the flash duration will freeze motion better than your shutter speed. Certainly better than 1/500, and depending on several factors, up to 1/13,000. The t.1 flash duration at full is 1/550 on Einstein, so even if you need to use full power, you would be better off than 1/500 shutter speed.

If you determine you will NEED faster then x-sync shutter speed, then LPA (the manufacturers and developers of PocketWizard) will be the best source to contact (better than MAC group, the distributors of PocketWizard). 802-658-0038 x572