Action Sports- flash and shutter speed help!

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EmmaSaHe

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emma
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I currently am using the Nikon D3400 however, every time I use my flash the shutter speed is restricted to 200. As I am mainly shooting bikes (BMX & MTB) so my shutter speed needs to be high and the subject well light. Without my flash I get really grainy images due to the high iso and with my flash I get blurred images as the subject is moving too fast to be captured at 1/200. If anyone could give me any guidance that would be really appreciated.
 
Does the flash you are using support high speed sync?
Are you shooting with the camera in manual mode or are you using one of the auto/semi auto modes?
 
I am shooting in fully manual. I'm not to sure if my flash does support high speed sync. I'm using the Nissin Di622 mark 2.
 
A quick google suggests that your flash does not support HSS,although the Nissin i40 did not at first but was subsequently upgraded to support it so it might be worth giving the agents a ring to see if yours has a firmware upgrade available.
Being a Canon shooter I don't know how the Nikon system works in relation to the flash being the fill or main light. With Canon with the set up you have ( camera in manual ) the flash becomes the main light if the Nikon works the same I don't know.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge of your system will make a better and more valuable contribution
 
You don't mention something that is important.... What are the ambient light conditions. HSS (High Speed Synch) is probably not going to be the answer (The speed light simply strobes for the duration of the exposure which means that you have less power and the exposure could still be too long to freeze your movement).

I am guessing that the ambient light levels are low, if they are it may be better to overpower the ambient with the flash as the exposure will more than likely be shorter even though you are limited to 1/200th, simply stop the lens down and use your flash output to get the exposure correct at that aperture (I hope that makes sense).

You need to understand the relationships between the ambient illumination and the illumination from your flash.
 
PhilH04 said:
You don't mention something that is important.... What are the ambient light conditions. HSS (High Speed Synch) is probably not going to be the answer (The speed light simply strobes for the duration of the exposure which means that you have less power and the exposure could still be too long to freeze your movement).

I am guessing that the ambient light levels are low, if they are it may be better to overpower the ambient with the flash as the exposure will more than likely be shorter even though you are limited to 1/200th, simply stop the lens down and use your flash output to get the exposure correct at that aperture (I hope that makes sense).

You need to understand the relationships between the ambient illumination and the illumination from your flash.
Click to expand...

I would try this
 
I would try panning with the riders to keep them acceptably sharp rather than letting the ambient light cause the blurring. Or up the ISO to get higher shutter speeds while keeping the noise (graininess) down to an acceptable level.
 
Nod said:
I would try panning with the riders to keep them acceptably sharp rather than letting the ambient light cause the blurring. Or up the ISO to get higher shutter speeds while keeping the noise (graininess) down to an acceptable level.
Click to expand...

Plus try second curtain synch with your flash
 
Phil V said:
IIRC 2nd curtain on Canon actually kicks in at 1/60 and lower.
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You get a bit more control of flash with the entry level Nikon cameras, whether the D3400 has the options of the cameras higher in the range with regard to rear/first curtain, slow sync etc, It doesn't support FP high speed sync on that camera according to this page.
 
redhed17 said:
You get a bit more control of flash with the entry level Nikon cameras, whether the D3400 has the options of the cameras higher in the range with regard to rear/first curtain, slow sync etc, It doesn't support FP high speed sync on that camera according to this page.
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It’s a function of the actual exposure. And just for the record all canon SLR cameras have HSS enabled (and the P&S with hot shoes), AFAIK low end Nikon DSLRs don’t have FP sync.

The rule of thumb being that entry level Nikon’s have better build quality and sensors, but the Canons are cheap and nasty with old sensors but a full feature set.

10 years ago, Nikon’s flash system was the class leader, it’s now a bit of a joke, with the Rx transmitter only working with the latest generation cameras. It strikes me as very odd that Pocketwizard managed to reverse engineer iTTL and send the messages over radio 7 or 8 years ago, followed by half a dozen other flash makers, but Nikon still can’t do it WTF?
 
Phil V said:
It’s a function of the actual exposure. And just for the record all canon SLR cameras have HSS enabled (and the P&S with hot shoes), AFAIK low end Nikon DSLRs don’t have FP sync.

The rule of thumb being that entry level Nikon’s have better build quality and sensors, but the Canons are cheap and nasty with old sensors but a full feature set.
Click to expand...
I bow to your superior knowledge, but from my experience entry level Canon DSLR's have had limited flash options. If I am wrong I'm wrong. :) This doesn't help the OP though seeing as he had a Nikon.

And I think I said that the OP's camera did not have FP sync, and even linked to the page on Nikon's website to prove it.
 
redhed17 said:
I bow to your superior knowledge, but from my experience entry level Canon DSLR's have had limited flash options. If I am wrong I'm wrong. :) This doesn't help the OP though seeing as he had a Nikon.
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You’re definitely mistaken, like I said it’s a long time since Nikon led Canon with flash tech. As proven by the fact that the OP’s camera doesn’t do FP sync. A Canon 200d has 2nd curtain and HSS.

My 300d would work perfectly well with the latest Canon 600ex-rt radio flash.

There’s 2 chinks in that story:

Canon do not allow for 2nd curtain sync on their remote flashes, but all the 3rd party mfrs do this (possibly a patent issue)

All the latest 3rd party units aren’t compatible with ETTL mkI only MkII so 40d onwards.
 
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