Shooting with auto-Flash, why not sync 1/500th?

Field

Field

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I am too new to flashes to understand all their affects since I have just not owned one... (well except my P&S)

I am not sure how to convince the camera to do quicker shutter speed except maybe when it senses the flash it will close? If not turn the ASA speed as high as possible?

What I am thinking is there should be a way to default it, like when the battery is removed. One problem is that if the battery is removed the flash will not fire.

Anyone got any insight on this? I am very excited about doing flash for my first time; instead of just shooting when lighting allows!
 
you don't say what camera.

for leaf shutters sync should be at any speed your shutter will fire at.
For focal plane shutters fastest speed is between about 1/60 to 1/250. Depends on camera. At faster speeds the second curtain starts to close before the first curtain is fully open so there is never a point when the shutter is fully open. That is what determines fastest sync speed on focal plane sutters. i.e. the fastest speed at which first curtain is fully open before second curtain starts to close. Slow moving curtains have slower sync speeds.
 
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GSN, specifically.

I already know everything you said. The problem with most Yashica RF's is they are automatic shutter speed, but you control the aperture. They sync at any speed.
 
I didn't get problem, but what do you mean by auto-flash? Automated flash or setting GSN in Flash mode? Then you know latter sets speed to 1/30.
 
Auto-flash as in a noun. I have a Vivitar 283 that auto-detects exposure and turns off when it senses the correct amount for the aperture setting you have it set at.

What I do not know is if the camera reads the flash and ups the speed of the shutter, or if I need to make a by-pass switch, or if I am overlooking something.

I see 1/500th as a way to get extremely quick shots, stop motion.
 
flash duration is very short. Much shorter than your shutter time. Maybe 1/1000th to 1/20000th of a second. That will stop the motion unless you have too much ambient lighting. Use medium to wide aperture if you can. i.e. if you widen the aperture you will shorten the flash duration. But also the ambient lighting will have more effect so if there is a lot of ambient light don't open aperture too wide. The flash duration should still be short enough to stop motion.
 
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Soo I need a bypass switch is what you are saying? If the shutter is fast enough then I should get extremely sharp shots, at any motion.

There will always be some ambient lighting or I will not be able to focus!
 
I don't know your camera but assuming btgc is correct and I have no reason to doubt him, then shutter operates at 1/30th second. So the smaller the aperture the less effect ambient light will have. But at the same time the longer the flash duration will be. BUT it will still be 1/1000th or less of a second, especially for close subjects. So your effective shutter speed will nearly always be 1/1000th or shorter which will stop most all motion.

Just try it out and see how well it works.
 
The flash setting makes it 1/30th of a second. If you leave it on "auto" it syncs at all speeds, so you can lower the flash setting to below ambient exposure and get fill flash, basically.
 
thats an old camera. I suspect it will calculate the shutter speed at the point of pressing the shutter release. It won't have otf flash metering and I don't think it has TTL. So I don't think it will adjust exposure for the flash if its in auto.

But again, try it out.
 
I have read reports that 1/500 for the leaf shutter on the Fujifilm X-100 is fine for Nikon SB strobes. Some strobes may not work well with 1/500. Shorter shutter times can't' take full advantage of the strobe light as the strobe emits light for longer than 1/500 sec.

Google "X-100 Sync time" to read more.
 
I will experiment. I could always tape a LED light to it, turned on, so it thinks it is a sunny day.
 
One of the reasons for the slow synch speed s that back when the Electros were being made, many people were still using flash bulbs rather than strobes, and bulbs are quite a bit slower. I haven't tried using a flash on an Electro yet, so I haven't figured out any settings or routines for doing so, but the GSN is the best of the big Electros for using a flash.
 
Yes I like the hotshoe. Also the GSN was designed with cheap people in mind so the did not intend on having anything more than those cheap things they sold like the YS-14 or whatever it is. I guess they never gave themselves enough credit for making lens worth of any body, on a fixed lens amateur camera.

It might seem like I am adventurous in ways to waste time with a GSN but until I get a Leica with a set of lenses at a [non-existent] thrift store I got to use what I have.
 
Field, I'm not sure what you are asking. You know that leaving the GSN on "auto" will sync the flash at any and all shutter speeds. If you choose "flash" then you get 1/30th, even if this is too much ambient light exposure.

If it's stop action you want, pick an f-stop that will give you 1/500th or 1/250. It sounds like you know how to do that. The GSN is great with a 283 for fill flash.

If you want the camera to use 1/500th even though ambient light is not bright enough, you already have the "bypass" switch you envision... Just take the battery out and the camera will run at 1/500th no matter what, and the flash will still sync.

These are great cameras, but you don't have all the control options of a modern electronic camera.
 
Unfortunately without battery you get zero flash. The one thing I do not know is if you connect the circuit but with a dead battery (or piece of wire), would it flash? I am going to try this at home. If that is the deal then I will shoot flash without battery and have an adapter with me.
 
Well, I think I understand your pain. You want 1/500 for fast action shots, right? With rather static scenes even 1/30+flash will work just as tlitody states. So now we are at main question - what is your ambient lightning? If it's sunny daylight then it is easy to get 1/500, using film of ISO100-200-400 (aperture varies). Then your 283 will work as fill flash. If ambient light isn't brilliant, Electro will decide on longer times. Yes, Electro meters dynamically and adjusts exposure as light changes - but I have learned this with exposures as long as seconds. I don't know if circuit is fast enough to react in fractions of seconds, like to step up to 1/500 if initial exposure were calculated, say, 1/8 or like that.
 
Very simple: if the flash duration is too short, the distance is too far (for the flash), maybe, just maybe (that's an adverb, not a noun), that's why it "refuses" (that's a conjugated verb) to do flash sync at 1/500? That's if the flash is designed to do such a thing, of course.
 
Field said:
... without battery you get zero flash. ...
Click to expand...

Hmm... Very interesting...

I just checked my GT: with no battery, it runs the shutter at 1/500th and triggers the flash, no problem.

For my GSN and GX, on the contrary, without battery I get zero flash.

(All three tested with a Vivitar 200, a little auto-flash with high trigger voltage of about 240v.)

This is a surprise. I've never seen mention before that the battery was involved in the flash circuit for an Electro. Perhaps older Electros run the flash without a battery, for GSN and newer, no battery, no flash.
 
Well clearly the answer is to just buy a GS...

Are you running a link cord on the GS to the flash? Maybe if I used my link socket it would fire?
 
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