Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

What is max synch speed of Einstein on a 5d2?

Many 'studio' strobes or monoblocks need to use a lower synch speed than the cameras max synch speed so I was wondering how the Einstein faired when used with a 5d2, connected directly, ie no radio remote delays?

Thanks.
John

I haven't tried it but I own that camera. The "official" top sync speed is 1/200. You can easily try it yourself by bumping up the shutter speed till you start to see a bar in your image, that would be the shutter.

I have a 7D also and that camera syncs at 1/250. It can be nice to have when using outdoors during daylight but indoors I just use 1/125 typically.

This applys to external flash, not with the 580ex or similar shoe flashes, they can do a high speed sync by strobing the light to match the shutter slit. This works well but greatly lowers the output of the light.

Thanks, but I don't own an Einstein so that's why I posted the question.

I usually shoot in daylight and I'm always trying to at least balance but usually overpower it so I'm trying to find out if the Einstein will help or hinder that cause. If I have to shoot at a slower shutter speed than the 5d2's max of 1/200th then that's a relative disadvantage for me compared to a weaker strobe but which might allow the cameras full synch speed. I was simply assuming (and hoping) that there are many people out there who use this combo.

Thnaks
John

With the 5D Mark II my safe sync speed is 1/160th and that's with ANY strobe (with the exception of a camera mounted 580EXII). Einstein is no better or worse than any other strobe when it comes to the limits of your camera sync speed.

Not entirely true. While many studio lights are really quick, there are some very powerful or very poorly designed strobes still in use that will ramp to full output slower than Einstein.



Remember the black bar is far less noticable in daylight, as there is ambient light illuminating the scene as well. The "black bar" will only prevent flash from hitting that part of the scene.

An interesting blog post from David Hobby on this topic: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/10/gr ... -sync.html

Thanks guys. So 1/160th it is then.

Regards
John

Jjphoto, I do a lot of youth sports portraits. I will do all day shoots sometimes when your talking 20 or 30 teams. I will start at 9am and go till 4pm sometimes. The Einstien will over power the sun on a clear day for my setups. I start at 1/60 to 1/125 and by mid afternoon I'm at 1/200 - 1/250 on my 7D.

You have to remember that shutter speed doesn't change your flash exposure. So as clouds and time of day changes, I use shutterspeed to adjust my ambient exposure. By mid afternoon on a clear day I may have to stop down to f/8 or f/11 so or lower my ISO and adjust my strobe power but it all works out.

Hope this helps...

FWIW... I shoot a 5Dii and with a synch cord I get clean frames at 1/200th all the way through Einstein's power range. Banding starts at 1/250th.

I would suggest seeing what your max is with the cord. CyberSync will also probably get you to that same point. However, even though it is stated as 1/200, in reality it can be (and in many cases, is) lower with any studio light. PC cord will be the fastest method, so that will tell you your maximum limit.

5D Mark II's can vary quite a bit from what I've heard/read. If you've seen any of the Zack Arias workshops on creativeLIVE he mentions his max sync speed with his 5D Mark II is also 1/160th. Also, he shoots with AlienBees. :)