ETTL - 2nd curtain shooting

lolage

lolage

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Ben
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Hi

I'm going to be going to a nightclub on Friday and want to be shooting the majority of my shots with 2nd curtain flash so I can have a longish shutter to get lots of ambient light in then to freeze them with the flash later on.

I'm trying this with my camera but it flashes at the start of the shutter and at the end, is this normal? However, if I put the flash on manual it only does it at the end of the shutter which seems like the logical way?

Any ideas? I have a Canon 600D and a 430EXII

Cheers
 
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The first flash occurs before the shutter opens and is for metering, the second flash is for exposure. Putting the flash in manual will avoid the first pulse but you'll need to figure out your own exposure settings.

The ETTL headed paragraph here explains it.

Bob
 
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As Bob says :)

Also, be aware of a liitle known fact about second curtain sync. It doesn't work at all above about 1/30sec, and then it's more like 'middle-curtain sync' if you follow. Both Nikon and Canon are forced to run it like this with very generous tolerances, to make sure it works with everything, old and new.

It only gets really close to second-curtain proper at something like 1/4sec and longer. Pocket Wizard's Mini/Flex trigger system is the only way I know to improve on that.

Also, many club shooters find that their subjects move immediately after the pre-flash goes out, thinking that the picture has been taken.
 
HoppyUK said:
Also, many club shooters find that their subjects move immediately after the pre-flash goes out, thinking that the picture has been taken.
Click to expand...

Yeah thats the problem I thought about when reading this! Hmm, lots of things to consider!
 
I can't see any reason you'd need or want second curtain sync for this. As Hoppy has mentioned you're better off using first curtain sync otherwise people are going to think you're done after the preflash and start to walk away or do other things

Ambient light doesn't care whether you capture it before or after the flash, the only reason you'd want second curtain is if you specifically wanted the ambient to be before the flash like with the headlights on a moving car or something like that.
 
lolage said:
Cool, first curtain it is then. :)
Click to expand...

:thumbs:

Second curtain is usually over-rated, often by those that think it's some kind of magic bullet without understanding what's actually happening.

It works very well when a) the direction of movement is important, and b) it's predictable. Neither of which usually applies to club shooting.

There's another drawback with second curtain too, in that if the shutter speed starts to get long (ie when it works best) it's impossible to time the shot accurately, to capture fleeting gestures and expressions. Almost by definition, you'll miss the moment.

Generally more trouble than its worth TBH, but for the right subject and conditions, it's great.
 
HoppyUK said:
:thumbs:

Second curtain is usually over-rated, often by those that think it's some kind of magic bullet without understanding what's actually happening.

It works very well when a) the direction of movement is important, and b) it's predictable. Neither of which usually applies to club shooting.

There's another drawback with second curtain too, in that if the shutter speed starts to get long (ie when it works best) it's impossible to time the shot accurately, to capture fleeting gestures and expressions. Almost by definition, you'll miss the moment.

Generally more trouble than its worth TBH, but for the right subject and conditions, it's great.
Click to expand...

Cool, gonna be out doing nightclub photography for the first time tomorrow! Will report back with my results. :thumbs:
 
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