Pushing the sync speed - Canon 5d MK II/2 beyond the 1/200 to 1/2000
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
After receiving my new 5D MK II just before christmas I was a bit disappointed with the sync speed. With my old 40d I could happily use 1/250 and if I was prepared to loose a bit of the bottom of the shot I could go beyond this to 1/320, which for outdoor shooting was great. I mostly shoot with Canon 540ezs because they are cheap and the power is pretty good, but I recently invested in some Bowens 500s for a bit more juice and because I have been setting up a bit of indoor space as a studio.
Armed with my Pocket Wizards, the 5d and my Bowens I could only consistently get 1/160 without any banding which is pretty rubbish and is not very practical for the outdoor shoots. So I started to play around with my 430ex set to high speed sync (this shows as a flash symbol with a H sign on it on the flash display) attached to the hotshoe, I also set the camera to operate in high speed sync and this is then pointed at the Bowens which have an inbuilt optical trigger and with my amazement I could go past 1/200 and onward up to 1/2000. I have only tested this indoors (and I won’t be winning any awards for the quality of the composition) but from the shots below you can see that there is no visible banding and that the Bowens is producing all of the light in the picture. I need to try it outdoors once it stops raining but am pretty hopeful that this may be a solution.
All at f/5 and ISO 200
1/200 Ambient Only (not a lot to see)
1/125 430ex on Camera only
1/1000 430ex and Bowens 500
1/2000 430ex and Bowens
Lighting DVDs review - Strobist DVD, Onelight, Zeroplusplus
Posted by admin | Filed under Photography
A quick review of a few DVDs I have been watching over the last few months.
Strobist DVD - www.strobist.com
A 8 DVD box set documenting a days workshop and subsequent example shoots.
+ve
- great for beginners to off camera lighting
- covers all of the basics of multiple light setups
- some good examples of how to creatively light
-ve
- a bit repititive (especially if you watch the gear dvd then the first episode of the workshop back to back)
- the examples though useful are in the most part quite uninspiring
One Light - www.zarias.com
A 2 DVD set showing a quick intro to off single lighting with some digital workflow descriptions
+ve
- quick and to the point
- inspiring examples of how to light
- a good intro to Lightroom from a working pro
-ve
- the intro section on stops was a little OTT for my taste
Fashion & Glamour Lighting - www.zeroplusplus.com
A 750mb 90min download of studio lighting techniques and post processing
+ve
- great intro to a cheap lighting modifier made of ripstop nylon, this will save you a ton of money
- some really good fashion shot examples
- a great insight to what you really need (in terms of equipment) to get pro looking shots
-ve
- not enough time spent on communication between photographer and model
- not enough detail on the post processing
Overall
If I were to spend my money again and only choose one to buy I would go with the Zack Arias Onelight DVDs.
