Sony A100 using wireless trigger studio lights

[danieliew]

I used to have this problem with my old KM 5D and after changing to the Sony A100, I find the problem is still there. I can't seem to shoot with shutter speeds higher than 1/125s using a wireless trigger with studio flashes. At 1/160s, half of the frame is dark, indicating the shutter couldn't manage to sync well with the flash. Anyone face the same issue and is able to find an alternative method? Because of this I'm forced to shoot at small apertures, limiting my "bokeh"...
BTW, I'm using a 3rd party flash shoe adapter with the wireless trigger unit. Does this make a difference? If I'm not mistaken, the adapter is only a connector right?

[ExplorerZ]

could be due to flash sync speed... this is what i got from dpreview about alpha100

Flash X-sync • 1/160 sec
• 1/125 sec (with Super SteadyShot on)

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

seriously, if u use speed above 1/xxx, then no need for steady shot already, cos compensated. somehow, u seldom use focal length more than 200mm in studio...

[tankm]

Not sure about the wireless trigger with studio flash, may be compatibility issue.

Have tried wireless HSS using the on-board flash as the wireless trigger and the 5600 flash set to wireless slave, without problem. To shoot Wireless HSS, I usually used either Shutter Priority or Manual mode. In wireless flash mode, the camera will need to be able to tell the wireless flash when to fire and when to stop, hence it's not just a connector alone.

Originally Posted by danieliew I used to have this problem with my old KM 5D and after changing to the Sony A100, I find the problem is still there. I can't seem to shoot with shutter speeds higher than 1/125s using a wireless trigger with studio flashes. At 1/160s, half of the frame is dark, indicating the shutter couldn't manage to sync well with the flash. Anyone face the same issue and is able to find an alternative method? Because of this I'm forced to shoot at small apertures, limiting my "bokeh"... BTW, I'm using a 3rd party flash shoe adapter with the wireless trigger unit. Does this make a difference? If I'm not mistaken, the adapter is only a connector right?

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by tankm Not sure about the wireless trigger with studio flash, may be compatibility issue. Have tried wireless HSS using the on-board flash as the wireless trigger and the 5600 flash set to wireless slave, without problem. To shoot Wireless HSS, I usually used either Shutter Priority or Manual mode. In wireless flash mode, the camera will need to be able to tell the wireless flash when to fire and when to stop, hence it's not just a connector alone.

from my understanding of HSS, it gives shorter burst of flash over a prolong period, hence counter the problem of banding. for studio strobes, its just 1 flash 1 kill, if for eg, u use your pop up flash to trigger and forget to off the TTL, your pic will be underexpose, cos the strobes will trigger on the 1st preflash, and on the actual flash, the strobe will be recharging or not trigger.

[Agetan]

Originally Posted by danieliew I used to have this problem with my old KM 5D and after changing to the Sony A100, I find the problem is still there. I can't seem to shoot with shutter speeds higher than 1/125s using a wireless trigger with studio flashes. At 1/160s, half of the frame is dark, indicating the shutter couldn't manage to sync well with the flash. Anyone face the same issue and is able to find an alternative method? Because of this I'm forced to shoot at small apertures, limiting my "bokeh"... BTW, I'm using a 3rd party flash shoe adapter with the wireless trigger unit. Does this make a difference? If I'm not mistaken, the adapter is only a connector right?

If you want to limit your depth of field, then reduce the studio flash power... get it as low as you can and move the flash as far as you need to from the subject so you just have enough power.

Good luck.

Hart

[danieliew]

thanx for all the replies guys. I didn't manage to play much with the studio lights as we were busy shooting. If the light level can be adjusted lower, then maybe it's still possible to shoot at larger apertures. But just wanna confirm, so it's true that the shutter speed can never go above 1/125s? Actually it's 1/100s. Even at 1/125s, I still see some dark areas at one side of the frame.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by danieliew thanx for all the replies guys. I didn't manage to play much with the studio lights as we were busy shooting. If the light level can be adjusted lower, then maybe it's still possible to shoot at larger apertures. But just wanna confirm, so it's true that the shutter speed can never go above 1/125s? Actually it's 1/100s. Even at 1/125s, I still see some dark areas at one side of the frame.

off your AS & try again. most likely u got shutter lag.

[Agetan]

Originally Posted by danieliew thanx for all the replies guys. I didn't manage to play much with the studio lights as we were busy shooting. If the light level can be adjusted lower, then maybe it's still possible to shoot at larger apertures. But just wanna confirm, so it's true that the shutter speed can never go above 1/125s? Actually it's 1/100s. Even at 1/125s, I still see some dark areas at one side of the frame.

Not sure about A-100 but 1/160s with 7D with AS off is ok with me...

Hart

[danieliew]

yup, i posted in another forum and also got the same info. With the AS off I should be able to achieve better results. That's quite sad 'coz my friend was shooting happily at speeds above 1/200s on his Nikon D70s....

[AncientMariner]

Originally Posted by danieliew yup, i posted in another forum and also got the same info. With the AS off I should be able to achieve better results. That's quite sad 'coz my friend was shooting happily at speeds above 1/200s on his Nikon D70s....

The Nikon D70 and D70s use electronic shutters without the curtains and therefore should be able to synch theoretically at any speed the camera is capable of. However, somehow in practice, they are still limited to 1/500s.
Your camera will not synch with the light above 1/125 with AS and 1/160 without AS. However, it will synch with the 5600HS(D) and its Sony version all the way to 1/4000sec if you set HSS on. So you can still set the camera to large aperture/fast shutter speed if you use the flash(at minimal power setting) to trigger the strobe.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by AncientMariner The Nikon D70 and D70s use electronic shutters without the curtains and therefore should be able to synch theoretically at any speed the camera is capable of. However, somehow in practice, they are still limited to 1/500s. Your camera will not synch with the light above 1/125 with AS and 1/160 without AS. However, it will synch with the 5600HS(D) and its Sony version all the way to 1/4000sec if you set HSS on. So you can still set the camera to large aperture/fast shutter speed if you use the flash(at minimal power setting) to trigger the strobe.

one thing to note is that 1/500 is the normal flash sync speed for d50/70s... higher speed can be attained if high-speed sync can used as well...
its a very big plus, for those that doesn't wish to use external flash or doesn't own one yet...

[AncientMariner]

Originally Posted by AncientMariner The Nikon D70 and D70s use electronic shutters without the curtains and therefore should be able to synch theoretically at any speed the camera is capable of. However, somehow in practice, they are still limited to 1/500s. Your camera will not synch with the light above 1/125 with AS and 1/160 without AS. However, it will synch with the 5600HS(D) and its Sony version all the way to 1/4000sec if you set HSS on. So you can still set the camera to large aperture/fast shutter speed if you use the flash(at minimal power setting) to trigger the strobe.

Correction: Using the flash as a trigger might not solve the problem but using the flashlight instead of the strobe will.

[UY79]

High shutter speed when using strobes usually cause out of sync exposures due to delay in the triggering of the strobe which was probably what you have encountered. Using slower shutter speed will solve this by allowing more time during exposure for this trigger delay.

There's negligible benefit of shooting with high shutter speed. Smears due to hand-shake which are extremely rare when using strobes or flash at 1/60, 1/80 or 1/100 and can removed by means other than increasing shutter speed.

However, if you encounter out of sync exposures at x-sync speeds with onboard flash, you will need to send your camera in for checks.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

after reading, just remember 1 point when i started out...

if u use those RF trigger, or IR trigger, it will have latency problem compared to direct cable. I tried 1/200 (or something) on D7D with cable direct to flash but cannot get more than 1/125 with RF, same cam same setting.