HSS off camera How To ??

[Abel]

Originally Posted by BlueNoteBelzy

thank you all I really appreciate it, I know HSS has been discussed before regarding the ND filters.

well I think the ND filters come into play when you're trying to decrease the amount of light in order to get a shallow depth of field... not applicable in the case of getting faster shutter speeds to freeze sports action.

[rhoffart]

I have just recently got the flex tt5 and I'm using it in hypersync with PW2's as the recievers on the 580exii and the 430exii.

I can get a clean 1/320 and a good 1/400 with the 5D2

With the 7D I can get a clean 1/1000

[Tom]

Also, it should be noted that HSS is NOT necessary to stop action. That's where you get into Flash Duration. If you use enough power to overpower the sunlight at your given exposure, and your flash duration is short enough to freeze the action, you will freeze it and the shutter speed doesn't matter, except in regard to limiting ambient light.

Here is a shot from last night's rockets game. The team photographer, Bill Baptist is a member here, and he uses strobes set in the ceiling. He could tell you better than me, but I know he uses a shutter speed under 1/300th, while I am using one at 1/800th to stop the same action.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets - Photos - February 15, 2012 - ESPN

The thing is, the flash effectively becomes your shutter. And if you pump out enough light to overpower the sun at 1 second and your flash duration is short enough, then you will still freeze the action, even if your shutter speed is 1 second.

BTW, this is one of the things where Paul C Buff's lights fall short. At full power, the AlienBees are only like 1/300th of a second and the Einsteins are only like 1/600th of a second. You need to figure out how much power you will need and what your flash duration will be at each power (know your T.1 and T.5.)

[KenJulio]

Practice with what you have and see what and doesnt work. Keep in mind, you dont have to have a moving object to practice.

An example of not having a person as an object to see what you can do.

SB900's + RadioPopper High Speed Sync = No Problem

[stephenpinn]

Tom always dissing Paul C. :)

Tom brings up an important point regarding HSS vs capturing at high shutter speeds.

As we all know HSS fires the flash multiple times while the opening of the shutter curtain traverses the sensor.
There is another technique which is not HSS but allows you to use faster shutter speed and that is with very slow t1 (I believe) that will burn at constant output for the duration of the shutter travel. Trick is adjusting the shutter delay so that the light output is in the t5 stage for the entire shutter travel time. I have played with this a bit but frankly i didn't have patience.

Another method, as Tom mentioned, is basically overpower the ambient light with a very, very fast duration flash, I think Broncolor Scoro is the flagship at 1/12000 (but it will not come cheap). I can reference a couple of ad images that use this technique if you like. I will go back to my original post, try a ttl sync cord first to see if you are able to get the images you want, then progress on to the more expensive options like PW Flex or Radiopoppers.

So now a question of ignorance, Nikon TTL will support HSS with its own IR based control system (yea, yea I know the limitations), I would imagine that Canon's does as well, would that be an option?

[a2rob]

Originally Posted by Abel

good article on HSS on ranger packs coupled with PW Hypersyncs...

ProPhoto Coalition.com: Thomas Bol | Founder | Field Notes

Just received my new TT5's for this reason, to use with the Quadra's!