Nissin Di866 rear curtain sync problem

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I have a Canon 5D and just got the Nissin Di866. I want to do those outside portraits where the low-light background is properly exposed ( a fairly longish exposure) and then the flash fires at the end of the exposure to illuminate the model. Now the Nissin manual says this is 2nd curtain sync (or rear curtain) and says that it fires at the end of the exposure, which is what I want. However it is firing both at the start and at the end of the exposure. I have changed the camera's setting to rear curtain too but it still fires twice. Any ideas?
 
If you're using the flash on TTL, then the first flash will probably be the pre-flash which dtermines the TTL flash exposure required. The second flash you see should be for the actual exposure. If you use short flash durations e.g. 1/60 up to sync speed, you would possibly not notice the pre-flash.
 
Spot on. It's the ETTL metering firing before the start of the exposure.
 
Ah! Thanks. I was experimenting earlier and I thought the first flash looked quite weak. It just doesn't mention it in the manual.
 
Second curtain sync can be a problem when using E-TTL, because the model reacts to the pre-flash and blinks, or even moves thinking the picture has been taken.

Second curtain is only important is the subject is moving, and the direction of the movement blur is important. If the subject isn't moving, then first curtain is more reliable. It makes no difference to the slow-sync flash/ambient exposure effect.

Or, disable the pre-flash by switching the gun to manual.
 
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