Lighting Tip: Neuter Your SC-17

Nikon's SC-17 off-camera TTL flash cord is a great little addition to your kit, and you do not even have to be a Nikon shooter to use it. They are so cheap, I have several. And I recently put one under the knife.

Keep reading for he how and the why.

The SC-17 is basically an extension cord for your hot shoe that carries all of the various TTL connections. A flash, connected to your TTL-enabled Nikon via an SC-17 cord, may as well be connected to your hot shoe as far as the signals are concerned.

But the fact that it is off camera allows you to get better light, of course. I have written about this earlier, when talking about the strobe on a rope technique.

No longer manufactured, the SC-17 cords have since been replaced by the new (longer) SC-28, and the more expensive SC-29, which includes an AF-assist light. I like the SC-17 because you can find them on eBay pretty cheaply now.

You can link up to three SC-17s and still retain all of the TTL functions. Or if you are handy, you can splice a CAT-5 wire in there and run it about 50 feet, still keeping TTL.

But TTL is usually not what I use it for. In fact, I am trying to kill the TTL stuff for a specific reason. When shooting both with my Canon G9 and with the Nikon D70s, the trick to getting high sync speeds is to fool the camera into thinking there is no TTL flash connected.

If the camera senses a TTL flash, it will lock the sync at a max of 1/500th of a sec. Which is not what we want. So, we want a dumb, hot-shot-based sync cord to fool the camera into thinking there is not a fancy, TTL flash attached.

To do this, we will unscrew the little screws at the camera mount end of the cord and snip a few wires. It's easy, really, so don't worry about having to be a surgeon or an electronics wiz.

When you open the case at the camera and, you'll see five wires. The two wires you want to SAVE are:

1. The wire that connects to the big center post in the bottom, and
2. The wire that connects to the fail on the side.

These two wires constitute a "dumb" sync circuit. These are the two you DO NOT want to snip. The other three wires carry TTL info. Snip them and the TTL connection goes away. This also makes the SC-17 into a very good little hot-shoe-based sync cord for any brand of a camera with a hot shoe. No proprietary Nikon circuitry to worry about, either.

And for ultra-high sync stuff, this is better than using a Pocket WIzard. Because the electronics in the PW actually self-limit your sync to about 1/1000th of a sec. Not so a dumbed-down SC-17 (or a straight PC cord, for that matter.)

Some have correctly pointed out that an un-neutered SC-17 will work just fine as a dumb sync cord on a Canon. Bu I prefer to knock out those TTL circuits all the same, just in case there is some weird crosstalk going on that might harm the camera. Also, I use the cord for the Nikon D70s for the same reason. So it needs to be snipped for that reason, too.

If you do not want to ship your cord, you can always tape off the contacts at either the camera or flash connection point. But the cords are so cheap I prefer to just keep a snipped one along with my straight ones.

For multi-light setups, I will cord one hi-speed-sync flash and slave the others for multiple light setups in hi-sync situations.

Another thing: If you keep several SC-17s in your bag, you can chain the TTL ones together for a full TTL cord. But if you introduce one neutered cord into the chain, the whole chain goes non-TTL.

So, I keep three SC-17s in my kit -- two smart and the other one neutered. This gets me the best of both worlds when I am cording an off-camera flash.

Related posts:

:: How-To: Strobe on a Rope ::
:: Search SC-17 on Strobist ::

Bits and Pieces: Sept 8th, 2006

Thanks for your patience over the last couple of days on the Room Assignment post, folks. It's been one of those weeks where the shooting - and everything else - forces me to step back a little bit.

I was getting my gear together for a trip when I got a frantic cell phone call from my wife, telling me that my five-year-old had fallen off a set of monkey bars and broken his ribs. I got down to the hospital to find out that I had misheard her, and was relieved to find out he had actually broken his wrist.

He's doing fine, and fully prepared to be the "celebrity kid with a cast" for six weeks in kindergarten.

I am flying to Florida to cover the Ravens' season opener against Tampa Bay for the weekend. So, ironically, I will have much more time for some longer-form writing for Strobist.

Till then, some bits and pieces to hold you as I try to grab some time to work down the hopper of some very cool stuff I cannot wait to toss up on the site.


Strobe on a Rope-Rope-Rope

This was mentioned on the Flickr discussion group, and I had a 'D'Oh!' moment realizing I had not mentioned this one before.

Nikon shooters with no PC jack on their camera and/or flash may want to consider grabbing a couple of SC-17's to use as an extended synch cord. They stretch to well over 5 feet each. And you can daisy chain up to three of them together for a nice, long, durable synch cord. The flash end of the cord has a 1/4x20 screw socket, serving double duty as a light stand (or tripod) connector.

They go for about $30 each on eBay, but you sometimes get lucky. Especially keep an eye out for someone selling a vintage Nikon SB unit that includes an SC-17. The deal is usually much better.

And these things are so useful to have around. I keep a second one in my trunk, just in case. You can mod them to use CAT-5 wire as an extension cord, but IMO it is easier to just grab a couple of used ones and chain them up.


January workshop Sold Out

In case you did not notice on the sidebar, the January workshop is sold out. The first hurdle (discovering the interest level) having been overcome, future workshops will hinge on the feedback of the guinea pigs attendees of the first workshop.

If it works as well as I think it will, we'll keep the idea rolling.


In the On Deck Circle

There are just not enough hours in a day. But I do feel much better working and posting at a sustainable pace, and I appreciate your patience and support.

That said, I have been chomping at the bit to post several ideas I have waiting in the wings. And I am going to use them as incentive to make me find the time to get the Room Assignment after-action done and posted ASAP. (Those things take more time than you'd think.)

As mentioned the other day, we have the super-portable, super-powerful, "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" flashes to explore. After that, a killer photo (and the full how-to) from a long-time mentor of mine on how to light a comet.

And this one is pure Home Depot DIY Bootstrapping Goodness, too.

The photo is so cool, it been my favorite framed photo (that does not contain my kids) on my wall since he did it about 10 years ago.

And of course, the final (whew!) Lighting Boot Camp assignment, which will really make you think.

On Assignment: Par For the Course

Last week I went to Severn, Maryland to photograph a young female golfer who is sixteen year-old sophomore in high school.

She competes on the men's team and drives form the mens' tees. Before you start feeling sorry for her, she drives 240 and recently shot a 68 on a par-72 course. She can bring it.

I was shooting her for The Sun, and decided to do the job with my Canon G9. That little point-and-shoot might not look like much compared to the other guys' Nikon D2xs and D2Hs bodies, but it does some neat things that makes it very useful as an always-with-you camera.

I usually will do anything I can to hedge my bets or improve my odds before I even get to an shoot, and this time was no exception. The assignment gave me the basic details, and told me to meet Kaitlyn and her coach at the school's baseball diamond after school let out.

Baseball diamond?

Surely we can do better than that. So the first thing I did was to call her school's athletic director (the only contact number I had) and leave a message asking if we could meet at a local golf course instead.

But I was getting no love from the AD, who never did get back to me before the assignment. Thus the headline for this post. But you at least try.

So I decide to go with Plan B, which is to go with the only setting I had available, and knock it down some by using flash to raise up the relative values on my subject.

Problem is, the assignment was for 2:30 in the afternoon, so I was going to need a lot of watt-seconds to overpower daylight -- or a fast sync speed to make my speedlights appear to be more powerful. Which is why I decided to shoot the assignment on my Canon G9.

It'll sync up to 1/2500th of a second without using any kind of a power-sucking FP mode. You just have to tweak it a little so the camera does not know to limit it's shutter to 1/500th of a sec for flashing.

It makes nice files, too. It's 12 megapixels, but the smaller chip size means there is some inherent noise because of the pixel density. So I tend to think of it as an equivalent of an 8MP chip for blow-up purposes and not stretch those pixels out too far.

Anyway, it shoots as low as ISO 80, 1/2500th of a sec at f/8. Which, if you go with the "sunny-16" rule, tells you that it can sync a flash while underexposing daylight roughly three full stops. So it's got that going for it. Which is nice.

But I'm never one to just go with the math -- I like to test things. You know, see them for myself.


So I went out into the front yard grounds of Strobist World Headquarters. I hand-held a flash off-camera, aimed at a tree, and underexposed (cloudy) daylight by two stops. Worked just fine, and I still had some shutter speed / aperture stops left to go for safe measure. Cool.

The next day, when I got to the baseball diamond that would have to substitute for a golf course, I found a shooting direction that would give me a good tree line. The baseball diamond is still there, of course, but I was gonna drop it down to not be so noticeable. I am shooting into the sun, on a partly cloudy / sunny day.

I like shooting into the sun when I am lighting, as the sky can look really cool when you knock it down. Also, your subject is in shadow, which makes them easier to light and they are not squinting into the sun.


As is usually the case, my stand-in while I waited for Kaitlyn was my left hand. It has proved to be a dependable lighting model, if not a muse, for many years.

I cranked my ISO down to 80, and my shutter to 1/2500th (that is so sweet) and dialed in the sky exposure I wanted via the aperture. Nothing technical -- just chimping and looking at my screen on back.

Why this way? ISO 80 gives me the best image quality, which is especially important on a small-chip camera. And the 1/2500th shutter speed meant that I could use the biggest aperture opening possible for ease of flash balancing.

The sky looked best at 1/2500th at f5. Next step is to adjust the flash to give me a good exposure on my hand at f/5. I stuck a Nikon SB-800 on a stand, and softened it a little with a LumiQuest Soft Box II. From about 6 feet away, my hand looked good at about 1/4 power. I synched it with two daisy-chained SC-17 cords -- one neutered and one straight.

So, now I have my shooting aperture, shutter speed, ISO and main light power level all ready to go. Takes way longer to write about it than to do it, actually.

But want a little separation light, too, so I stick a second SB-800 opposite the main light, set to slave with the SU-4 hack. It was pointed pretty close to right back in my lens, so I gobo'd it off with a Honl shorty snoot.

By the way, I have become a big fan of speed straps and will be doing a piece on them (and how to make them) very soon.

This was set at 1/16 power, based solely on the way it looked hitting the left side of my hand in the shooting position. Speaking of shooting position, I always use a marker on the ground for consistency when I am setting up light before a subject arrives. Makes stuff much less complicated.

So, now I'm all set when she gets there.


When she arrives, I back myself up with a quick mug shot right off the bat. For this, I used a Sigma 50-150/2.8 on a Nikon D300.

Why the backup shot, different body and different lens? Lotsa reasons. It is insurance against a bad card, bad camera and/or a malfunctioning lens. Or if something happens and she (or I) have to go before we do the lit shot. Also, it gives the paper a file mug for later, when she shoots a double-eagle and we are not there to see it.

From here on out, everything is easy. As far as the technicals are concerned, she is pretty much the tree in my front yard. No surprises, no complex thinking. I can relax, get her to relax (which is more important) and shoot. I did make one adjustment -- she was a little bright so I dropped my shooting aperture a third of a stop down, to f/5.6. No big whup.


I shot about 45 frames, in B&W and color. I knew it was going to run in B&W inside the sports section, but shot color to have some just in case. They always convert the color originals to B&W, but I think the stuff shot in B&W looks better. Plus, shooting some frames in B&W first helped me to visualize it better for after the conversion.

You can still see the home run fence in the top photo, but it is very much muted. You can't clone it out for the paper, either. That's a real ethical no-no. Fortunately, the paper's repro quality (or lack of it -- we print on Charmin) is such that will mute the line even more if not kill it altogether.

Finally, if you get a chance, take a look at it the top photo bigger, or even full-sized. (Not even full-sized, actually, as I cropped it a little.)

That Canon G9 is a trusty little always-there sidekick that's currently going through the PJ ranks like a hot knife through butter. You can shoot real assignments with it, do amazing stuff with your suddenly-more-powerful flashes, record audio and even shoot full video for the web. That's a lot to like.

Here is the location kit I put together, packed for easy travel and opened up to show what's there. in a waist pack and with minimal shoulder wear-and-tear, I have a high-sync body with a a whole range of lenses, three light sources (SB-800's) with stands, grids, gobo's, umbrella, gels, etc., and SC-17 sync cords for close work. It's ridiculous how much you could do with something that takes up so little space and weight.


NEXT: Controlling Daylight, Pt. 1

On Assignment: On Camera, On Axis, On Budget

Ever notice that the on-camera flash shots from your point-and-shoot camera can actually look … kinda good?

That's because those cameras are so small that an onboard flash acts more like a ring light than a DSLR-style on-camera flash. Here is how to get that look with your DSLR, some gaff and an OCF cord. Read more »

Nikon's D7000 Sync Dial Goes To Eleven

I'm just getting familiar a new Nikon D7000, which we are using to get some video on the Flash Bus tour. The camera gives some good files -- both stills and 1080HD video.

Just out of curiosity, I taped over the back two contacts tonight to see if I could overclock the sync a little. And I had a pleasant surprise… Read more »

Travel, Light

UPDATE: Corrects backpack, adds links to backpack and duffel.
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I have logged a lot of air miles over the last few years, and am getting ready to pile on a few more en route to Dubai this week.

On of the biggest advantages of being speedlight-based is being able to avoid the excess-baggage mafia. Given that I usually travel with computer, camera gear, lighting gear (including stands, etc.) in addition to the typical clothing stuff, I thought I would do a quick post on what and how I pack. Read more »

FYI: DIY RPCube PDQ

Do you have one of those new RadioPopper JrX "Studio" model receivers? Tired of waiting for the upcoming RPCube, so you can remotely control Nikon flash power levels?

There is a lively discussion on how to roll your own (pretty easily and cheaply) happening in the Strobist Flickr group discussion board.

All you need is an SC-17 or a multi-flash sync cord (or generic equivalents of either) and a stereo miniplug. (And just one $10.50 multi-flash cord will make two "cubes".)

(Photo: azreloaded)

Packing Light for Central America

I am headed to the Arenal volcano area of Costa Rica, for a shoot at an ecological institute and for some fun with the family. I have been before, and am looking forward to dodging sticks thrown at us by the howler monkeys.

It is easy to pack when going on a trip just for fun -- a good point-and-shoot and maybe a slaved speedlight. Ditto packing for a straight shooting trip -- bring everything you think you might need.

But this trip is a hybrid of sorts, so I tried to get as much versatility as possible into a single small bag and shoulder sling. For my one-bag eco shoot I'll have five light sources, a stand/umbrella kit, a boom, and all of the light modifiers and grip gear I think I'll need -- plus backups on the critical items.

So, how much crap can you fit into a small bag? . . .
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My Limit: One Domke F2 Bag

The Domke F2, seen above, is the standard news photographer bag. I have five of them, most of which are threadbare from many years of hard use. They are not huge, but will swallow up a decent amount of gear. My goal was to get everything into one Domke bag with the standard, 4-square divider -- except the stand kit which will go over the other shoulder. That was a bit of a challenge, as the gear would also include a laptop and storage for photos.

I'm no Chase Jarvis (holy crap!) so the only pack donkey I have to consider is myself. As always, the idea is not choosing what to bring but rather choosing what to leave at home.



So, here it is, unpacked. You can see a bigger version here.

Starting with the body and glass, I am bringing one D300 body (bottom left) which gets me 12 megapixels in a small package. Ditto the glass -- one lens. On the D300, a 24-70 gets me from moderately wide to portrait length. And the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 is scary sharp and far and away my favorite lens.

As a backup for the body and glass, I'll have a Canon G9 (bottom center). Not ideal, but it is only a backup. It also serves as an (extreme) macro and video in a pinch if I need it plus a voice recorder. The SC-17 TTL cord (upper left) can tie the G9 into a multi-light, off-camera setup very easily. If needed, it'll give me ultra high-speed synch, too.

At bottom left are three SB-800's, one of which is always used as a key light and keeps a 1/4 CTO warming gel permanently attached. You'll remember I said five lights -- that's three speedlights, the pop-up on the D300 (which make a great on-axis fill in a pinch) and whatever ambient is available for my photo. Always consider the ambient as a additional light source.

The last major item is a netbook -- a neat little Acer Aspire One which I picked up for $325 on Amazon. It has a (tiny) solid state hard drive, runs a very stable Linux, and has proven to be quite reliable.

I won't be using this for image processing. It is just for email, website upkeep and Skyping with the house sitter, etc. Speaking of that, I will only have limited net access on the road, so please hold off on all but the absolute most urgent messages until I return. I hope to moderate comments at least once a day, but we'll see how the net access goes.

Next to the netbook is a small 250GB hard drive, a card reader and about 40Gb worth of compact flash cards. I will use the netbook to move the complete shoots onto the portable HD, and keep a second copy of only the loose edit of the best stuff on the cards, erasing all of the crap as I go after offloading to the HD. There is no better way to conserve space than to erase crap as you go.

This gives me one copy of everything -- utter crap and loose edits -- and two copies of anything that has any potential at all. And the second copy of the edits (on the CF cards) is more stable than a second HD.

Starting at left and working right are various power and connector cords, and a set of earbuds for my iPhone and Skyping. My backup for net access is the iPhone, but let's hope it doesn't come to that. Hard to work down a pile of emails quickly with an iPhone. On the two AC cords (netbook and D300 charger) I used Honl speed straps as cable ties, getting me a little double duty there, too.

In the center up top is a Honl shorty and two spaghetti snoots. Dead center are Pocketwizards -- just two, as I can sync the other SB's with their built-in slaves.

Next door is a charger (and extra batt) for the G9, and a small barn door for the SB's. The G9 will take up zero space, as Susan will be carrying that as her camera. (Heh.) Tucked next to the PWs is a dual-point Sharpie, with 2 feet of gaffer's tape wrapped around it. I have no idea what I will use this for at this point, but experience tells me I will almost certainly use it.

The (strapped) stand kit includes a single shoot-thru umbrella, and is held together by two ball bungees, which I am sure will find several more uses during the trip. The stand will work on it's own, but I also expect to use it as a voice-activated boom. The whole thing is light, so all I need is a scrounged helper to save the weight and space of a real boom.

At top right are two more light mods -- a Ray Flash (because it is the smallest of the ring flash adapters) and a LumiQuest SB-III. Having second thoughts on the ring -- might leave that here. Between the snoots, umbrella and the SB-III, I can get a variety of looks while taking up very little space.

Last but not least are two Justin Clamps, which don't pack so well. But they are very useful, so hard not to include. I saved the space in the bag by clamping them onto the strap on the outside.


Advice From a Real Travel Photographer

... which would not be me.

I love to travel and shoot, but Bob Krist is the real deal. His first travel assignment for National Geographic was documenting the separation of Pangea into the five continents that we all recognize today.

Bob has shot travel professionally for the last 30 years, and wrote the book(s) on the subject. His latest is Travel Photography: Documenting the World's People & Places. If it were a college course would best be described as a Survey of Travel Photography.

It is a cover-the-bases book which takes a systematic look at travel photography, from what gear to pack to shooting advice to digital asset management on the road. It is aimed at amateurs, and not so technical when it comes to photographic technique. There is a chapter on light, and some material on off-camera flash, but its strength is that it allows you to be sure you are considering everything.

We sometimes bore down so far into our specific areas of interest that we miss the forest for the trees. The thrust of this book is that it will keep you from completely screwing up the photos from a big trip because of some dumb little thing you would fail to consider.

If you travel a lot and want a look into a long-time pro's approach to travel shooting, it is well worth a read. But I also have been using it as the answer to friends and family members who have asked me for photo advice before a big trip. Those are exactly the guys who are likely to miss something critical (like on-the-road image backups, for example) and Bob covers all of the bases.

If you are already a digital photography stud you might find this book a little basic. For those folks, I would steer them to an earlier book, Spirit of Place, which can be hard to find now. But even then, if you have a friend who is heading out on a big trip I can't think of a nicer thing to do for them than to point them to Bob.

How To: Sync a Canon G9 at 1/2500th of a Sec

The Canon G9 is my knock-around point-and-shoot camera. It has 12.1MP, a fast lens, does video and actually syncs well above its nominal sync speed of 1/500th of a sec -- if you know how to do it.

There are a couple ways to pull this off, and the cheapest way is actually the best.

The first thing you have to know if you are going to sync the G9 (or G7) at high speeds is that the camera's onboard flash has to be turned off. Ironic, I know. But the engineers at Canon programmed the flash to sync at 1/500, so when the flash is on that is where your shutter is gonna max out.

So, now that we have turned off the flash, we'll be synching an off-camera flash via the oh-so-handy hot shoe up on top of the camera. The easy way is to use a Pocket Wizard, which works fine but will in practice limit you to a max of about 1/1000th of a second.

This is because of the very minor lag times introduced by the circuitry in the PW itself. This is even more of a hindrance with some of the other wireless remotes, to the point of not being useful at all for some other wireless trigger units.

What you need for really high-speed sync is a simple, dumb wire. This will mean you are limited only by the shutter speed and the power level of the flash.

Why the power level? Because power level (for a speedlight) corresponds to the actual duration of the flash pulse itself. A full-power flash lasts about 1/1000th of a sec. And no matter what synching method you use, you will not squeeze that flash pulse into a 1/2500th of a second's time.

So, first understand that you can expect a full-power manual flash to be fully deployed up to about 1/1000th of a sec. A half-power flash will buy you up to about 1/2000th of a sec. And beyond that, you'll need to limit yourself to a 1/4 power flash, max.

You may think you are synching a full-power flash at 1/2500th, but you are not getting all of it. Just mind the math and you'll be fine.

So, how do we squeeze all of this flash through, without a PW? We use a dumb PC cord. For the camera, you'll need a PC adapter, such as a Nikon AS-15, which converts a hot shoe to a PC cord. Then, you are all set, just as if your camera had a PC jack.

Connect the PC cord to the flash, either by straight connection or via a hot shoe adapter on the other end, and fire away. This will buy you the full synch capability of the G9, but it seems a little cumbersome.

Fortunately, you can bypass all of these steps with a simple, neutered Nikon SC-17 cord. Which is what we will be learning about in the next post.

Control Your World With Ultra-High Sync

UPDATE: The main body of this post now has an expanded list of high-sync cameras and a link to a .pdf tutorial on both Nikon and Canon proprietary high-speed pulsing flash features. -DH
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Anyone can nuke their environment late in the evening, when just a little twilight is left in the dusk sky. In fact, the usual problem is failing to open up your shutter to let the ambient burn in for some flash/ambient balance.

This speedlight-lit photo would be a very good example -- except for the fact that it was taken at about 1:30 p.m. on a sunny day at a recent Strobist meetup near Baltimore, MD. That little patch of dark grey up top is sunny mid-day sky.

More after the jump.
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The exposure for the above flash-lit shot was at ISO 200 at f/16 and a 1/4000th of a sec. It's that last part which makes everything possible. High-sync cameras are the little hidden jewels in various manufacturers' lines. We have talked about them before, but I came across these two photos which really show just how far you can go with it while archiving the other day.

There are a few special cameras with electronic shutters which do not really have a hard maximum sync speed. At some point while going up the shutter speed scale, the mechanical shutter does not actually continue to speed up. Instead, the chip just uses software to take a smaller and smaller slice of time to create the picture.

This totally rocks, because for every shutter speed you can climb up and can still sync the flash, the aperture can open up a full stop. So the flash has to put out half the light to get the same effect. And you can have it both ways, too, by walking that shutter up and leaving the aperture closed down to turn day into night. Or wherever you want it to be.

The trick is, you have to fool the camera into thinking there is not a flash attached to it. This way it will not restrict itself to its normal maximum sync speed.

These days, the camera normally knows it has a flash on it from the TTL circuitry that talks between the two. You can get around this pesky restriction by using a non-TTL PC cord if the camera has a PC jack. You can also use an adapter such as the Nikon AS-15 (~$20) which turns a TTL-enabled hot-shoe into a dumb PC jack. Works fine, but it needs a PC cord and a sync jack on the flash to complete the connection.

Even cheaper and better is a used Nikon SC-17 cord, which is normally TTL until you neuter the little guy by opening it up and snipping all of the wires except for the ones that are connected to the center post and the edge strip. This turns the TTL cord into a dumb (non-TTL) hot-shoe extension cord.

You can also high-speed sync with a Pocket Wizard, which does not make use of TTL signals, either.


Cameras to Control the Sun

Before we go any further, lets review some of the cameras which have the ability to sync right on up there through the shutter speed scale past their nominal sync speeds. None of them are particularly expensive, and they make ideal second cameras. Just keep an eye out for them on Craigslist or eBay -- especially right after a hot new model comes out (cough, D300, cough) and people get a case of upgrade-itis.

Number one on the list is my very favorite sleeper DSLR, the Nikon D70s, and to a slightly lesser extent, it's older sibling, the D70.

The 6.1MP D70s is now my primary body. I have three, and I am pretty sure my wife is now considering an intervention. But you can buy four of them is great shape for about the price of one D300.

The Nikon D40 (but not the D40x) can do this sync trick, too. It's a newer chip than the D70/s, but it is not compatible with many Nikon lenses. Make sure you check your charts if you are considering buying one.

Also, the old D1 (and /h and /x) bodies are said to sync up high in the range, too. I have no first-person experience with this, so check it out if not sure.

(UPDATE: According to a couple commenters, the Nikon D50 does the high-sync thing, too. Ditto the Sony R1, Olympus E-1 and E-3. Cool.)

On the Canon end, I am told the EOS 1D's do it. Again, never owned one. But I have heard they work from several people.

What I have owned are both the Canon G7 and Canon G9, which are neat little 10- and 12-MP point-and shoots. You have to turn off the in-camera flash and sync via a Pocket Wizard or a PC adapter (like the Nikon AS-15) and a PC cord. I love both of them. They'll sync up to a 1/2000th. The neutered Nikon TTL cord works great with them, too. (Works best, actually, IMO.)

You should be able to find any of these cameras new (G9) or used (all of the older models) for under $500.00.

Schweet.
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Now, just because a camera will sync with a flash does not mean a flash will sync with a camera.

(Huh?)

Follow me for a sec. A full-power flash from a speedlight usually has an actual duration of about 1/1000th of a sec. Which means that no matter what, you will not be able to sync one at full power at a 1/4000th of a sec. The actual flash pop lasts too long for the length of time the shutter is open. Rule of thumb is, the more you dial the flash down, the faster it will sync higher up with one of these special cameras.

If you are using remotes, they will limit you, too. My PW's limit me to about a 1/1600th of a sec with a D70s. But the neutered TTL cord will sync at right up to an 1/8000th(!!!) of a sec at lower flash powers (and thus, durations -- and higher manual flash power settings as you walk down the shutter speed scale.

So, working in relatively close, we might just open up the shutter until the sky was at a tone that we liked, as in this example which was shot at f/14 at 1/500th of a sec. I know, the trees are a little cluttered, but the point was to show the other meetup-ers that we could place the sky tone wherever we wanted with high-sync.

If you want to do multi-light setups this way, no problem. (A nice rim light coming from back camera right would have amped our example quite a bit.) You can add another PW, but it is usually easier to slave the other flash(es).

A couple of thoughts about the flash mode: If you are working with static subjects, manual is an easy way to go. But if you are in a dynamic setting, consider the old-fashioned "auto" mode. This'll get you some flexibility, considering you cannot go with TTL. (Remember, we don't want your camera to find out there is a flash attached and start telling us what shutter speeds we cannot use.)

Some high-end cameras have a special, pulsing, high-speed flash mode, too. If you are lucky enough to have both a flash and camera that supports these sophisticated functions, definitely enable them. No reason not to.

(UPDATE: A commenter pointed to a pretty good paper on this high-speed, pulsing flash setting here.

But you'll find that you'll actually get more light out of your flash at super high sync speeds with the above neat little supercameras, if you are able to scrounge one for your bag.

___________________________

Related Post (using High-Speed Sync)

:: On Assignment: Parking Lot Ambush ::

On Assignment: Pool Portrait

A few days ago, I had an assignment to shoot a professional triathlete at a local pool. It was a quick, bottom-of-the-page sports assignment. But the photos were a good illustration of how to use location to control bad sunlight, and then build the good light back up with flash. So here it is.

We were doing a story on her because she will be competing against men in her next event. She's not superhuman - there was just a scheduling mix-up on a race for which she had properly entered and trained before they cancelled the women's event. So it's gonna be her against the guys.

The assignment was in for 2:00 in the afternoon, which is just in time for bad-quality sunlight. Naturally, I grabbed a flash with a light stand and set out to tame it. I am trying something a little different here and just walking you through the process step-by-step, thinking out loud as I go.

I get there traveling very light, as usual. I am carrying one camera with a wide-angle zoom, a flash with an external battery (overkill in this case) and a portable light stand kit.

I meet her at the front door. She's very personable, and I figure it'll be easy to make a nice portrait of her. As always, one of my first conversation points is to find out how much time she has for me. That's always very important when planning what I'll do. And it also shows that I respect her time constraints, which is important to her.

She tells me that a group of athletes are concurrently being shot by another photographer, Nicole Martyn, a young Patuxent Publishing photographer with a very good eye. So I make it a point to keep an eye on how Nicole is photographing the other athletes. You can always learn something.

The fact that the subject is already occupied with another photographer might have irked me 20 years ago, but now I use it as time and space to figure out how I want to shoot her while I wait. I tell her that I'll need 5 mins to find a spot and set up light, and that works out well for the her, too.

So, where to shoot and how to shoot it?

As I said before, the sun is coming in high and hard. So I am looking to (a) get away from it, and/or (b) make it better. (As it turns out, I ended up both - one each in two separate shots.)

I find an alcove by a door to the locker rooms that is in the shade. The pool is in the background, as seen in the top photo. The shady area is about 4 stops below the sunlit pool area, which gives me a good platform from which to add light.

Within about 30 seconds there is an SB-800 up on a stand to camera left, set on 105mm beam spread and 1/4 power manual. This gives me f/16 @ ASA 200 a few feet away at the wall on the right, as measured by my "Flashmeter LH" (left hand.) As always, I fine-tune my flash exposure by shooting my hand in the subject's light and eyeballing the back of the camera.
It's fast and free. The water drops on the front filter (thanks to the wet kid that just ran by me) even show up at f/16. And at f/16 at ASA 200, I have plenty of shutter-speed choice to set the sunlit pool area just as bright or dark as I want via the shutter speed.

I'm about 3 minutes into the assignment at this point, and catch the eye of the triathlete. She pops over for a minute (not even a minute, actually) and the first shot is done.
Here's the set-up. As you can see, I am using a cardboard snoot on the flash to control the light spill. This gives me a little edge to the light, and a photo with nice, sealed edges.

It could hardly be simpler or quicker. The coiled cord thingie hanging down is my SC-17 off-camera TTL cord, which never ever gets used for TTL. Today, it is doubling as a lightstand-hotshoe adapter, as it has a 1/4x20 thread on the bottom. (When I do use it as an O-C cord, it is in the manual mode.)

I ask here if she can meet me on the other side of the pool in 5 mins. Fine. She goes back to re-join the others, who are being shot individually by Nicole.

Five minutes may not seem like much time to plan a shot. But if you are already familiar with your ambient and have your light already set up, it is more than enough time.

A minute later, I am set up by a ladder on the other side of the pool, facing into the high-angle sunlight. It's coming from overhead background camera left.

I decide to shoot her on the pool ladder to get a clean (water) background that the sun can light for me. I can nuke her from the front, and she will not leave a shadow on the background, either. What I now have are two planes. One is flash lit, and one is ambient. And I can control both independently. Lighting with flash against the ambient this way always give you the most control.

I stick the flash at camera right and set it to 1/2 power on manual. I want the ability to really dial down the water while shooting, without having to alter the flash. I can easily do it with shutter speed at this flash level. The snoot is still on the flash, which will keep the chrome rails from throwing an unmanageable highlight back at me.

Three minutes later, she is back and on the ladder.

I sight down the snoot and aim it right toward her face.

"Can you see the flash at the other end of the tube?"

"Yes."

Good. I know that her face will be lit by the snoot's beam. Who needs modeling lights, anyway?

Now, we all have our different ethical compass points - as do our publications. Mine is such that I feel comfy positioning her for a portrait. This photo does not purport to be a hands-off, documentary action shot of her practicing. It's a portrait. I have already altered the scene by merely showing up and talking with her. Ditto for using flash. And that's true whether it was crappy, direct, on-camera flash or something a little higher on the lighting food chain.

So, if you feel differently, then by all means act on it. But just be aware that an extreme aversion to injecting yourself into a scene for something like a portrait can sometimes be a fear of lighting, masked with the indignance of an ultra-hands-off, documentary artiste.

My position is that you have to convey your subjects with integrity, and balance the fly-on-the-wall times with the times that require you to elevate the technical quality of a photo. On a portrait (if they know you are shooting it) you are already a little bit pregnant with respect to controlling the photo. Learn to work along the ethical continuum in a way that is both honest and allows you publication to have strong images.

Sermon's over. Back to the photo.

Here's a trick I use to improve the quality of light from a snoot when shooting someone. Have them turn their body toward the light and look at it with their face, then have them look back at you with their eyes. It'll help the quality of a hard light. And it is a natural task for the subject to perform. Much easier and less cumbersome than trying to nail everything down and then shoot them while they are stiff as a board.

Just do not get the light too far off of the shooting axis, or it starts to get weird.

So, there's snooted, half-power flash firing into the shadow side of the subject, in line with her face. Looks fine, but the exposure is out of whack for both her face and the background.

This is why I have the flash powered up to give myself some leeway. With the camera set at 1/250th, I pop a test photo. Using the TFT screen on the back as a guide, I adjust the aperture until her face looks properly exposed.

With that nailed down, I repeat the process for the background, except I alter that by adjusting the shutter speed. Takes about 15 seconds.
A minute later, we are done. That makes 10 minutes for the whole assignment, with only two or three minutes of the subject's time actually taken up. Why so fast? After all, I could have shot 300 frames and kept her there for 30 minutes.

My reasoning was two-fold. First, I didn't want to monopolize her time and shortchange the other shooter. And second, it is very good practice for those times when you are shooting someone very important (or consumed by their own ego) and they have very little time.

And, as I am both so very important and utterly consumed by my own ego, that's it for me.

:)

Next: Strobe on a Rope

Q&A: Controlling the Sun When Using Flash - A Comparative Guide

After Monday's post lighting a soccer player into the sun at a wide aperture, several questions came up via comments and Twitter about the relative benefits of doing this in different ways.

Yes, there are different ways to do it -- namely ND, high-speed sync and special-chip cameras. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. The full how-to and scorecard, inside. Read more »