How to set flash at 1/200

[Thymen]

Hello Folks;

does anyone know how to make sure that, in Aperture Priority Mode, the flash sync speed is set to 1/200? Whatever I do, it remains at 1/60.....

Greetings,

Thymen

Oops.... for the D80, ofcourse

 

[artmika]

IMHO there is no way in "A" mode.
You must use "S" mode, or "M" mode, of course, to set that shutter speed.

 

[Thymen]

Bummer..... but it explains why I couldn't find it!

Thymen

 

[Bob Walters]

Hello Folks;

does anyone know how to make sure that, in Aperture Priority Mode, the flash sync speed is set to 1/200? Whatever I do, it remains at 1/60.....

Greetings,

Thymen

Oops.... for the D80, ofcourse

Crank the ISO way up and only shoot in really bright sunlight. What's happening is that the camera is attempting to reduce the shutter speed below 1/200 in order to make a proper exposure 'cause you're operating with insufficient ambient light.

The shutter speed is normally limited to go no lower than 1/60 (I suppose the thinking has to do with camera shake) unless you set a lower value or select slow sync (which will allow the shutter speed to drop lower than the normal minimum). That's why it appears to be stuck at 1/60th.

If you use Aperture priority in bright conditions with sufficiently high ISO, the shutter speed will be faster than what you're seeing now. Or you can select S or M mode.:smile:

 

[jeremyInMT]

Tom,

As far as I have seen with my D80 and the built-in flash and my sb-800, I can use 1/200 all I want. It isn't locked at 1/60 unless you set that as the minimum shutter speed and don't have enough light.

hi thymen,

You can do this as long as You like and will have no effect, unless You use the sb-800.

The integrated flahlight only works wih the sync. speed of 1/60 sec.
Sorry not to give You some cheaper advice, but when I remember the manuals right, the sb-600 could'nt do that not either, maybe with other flashlights, but the difference in price is not that huge, to buy the original.

In addition:This feature works only in P, S, A, and M mode and on the FRONT and REAR of the shutter.

btw: manual p. 98!!! or integrated helpfunction inside Your body(camera!!)

regards tomTom

 

[Thymen]

This afternoon I'll do some experimenting with all the remarks made here. See if I can work it out.

Thymen

 

[ronnies]

I'm with Edward. In M and S mode you will be able to use ANY shutter speed up to the max sync speed on the D80.

Ronnie

 

[Thymen]

In Aperture Priority Mode, the shutterspeed stick at 1/60, UNLESS the shutterspeed, without flash, would cause overexposure.

The time between the edges of the curtain passing a sensor location is the shutterspeed.

The shortest shutterspeed at which the shuttercurtain 1 opens, "FLASH", shuttercurtain 2 closes is 1/200. So, the 1/200 exposure will be complemented by the flash, which starts/ends while the shutter is fully opened. Flash duration can be very short, like 1/20.000 of a second. But very bright too...

At shutterspeeds shorter then 1/200 the flash behaviour changes. The shutter will not be fully opened, but curtain 2 will already start to move before curtain 1 has completely ended its cycle. In that case, the flash needs to start when the first curtain begins to open, and end after curtain 2 has fully closed. Which may be, at say 1/500, during 1/200 of a second, and not 1/20.000! The flash lasts longer, but is less bright. This mode is called the FP-mode.

Now it would be possible to set the shutter speed (in A-mode) to 1/1000 of a sec, which means that compared to 1/60 you would loose a lot of ambient light exposure time, thus less photons hitting on the sensor. This then gas to be compensated for by extra flash energy. Meaning more battery drain.

Now, my conclusion to why, in darker environments, the sync speed is 1/60 (in A-mode) is that Nikon decided to make as much use of the ambient light as possible to save on flash energy. At shorter than 1/60, blurring due to camera shake would most likely not occurr in most situations, also because the flash at its short burst of light would "freeze" the scene anyway.

So, using the FP mode at 1/2,000 consumes more flash energy than at 1/60, but does not produce better (less blurry) photos.

Yo Momma, I'll stick with the 1/60! I'm totally convinced now!

Thymen

 

[ronnies]

Using 1/60th or 1/200th will make no difference to your flash exposure only to the exposure of the ambient light.

Ronnie

 

[Thymen]

Using 1/60th or 1/200th will make no difference to your flash exposure only to the exposure of the ambient light. Ronnie

It WILL make a difference, because actually when the meter reads that less then 1/60 is required, flash is not required. You're then in the 'fill-in flash mode".

1- What you state here is true, but if you use a faster shutter speed within the cameras flash sync limit, (1/200th D80), (1/250 D200(, (and 1/500 D70) you can use a larger aperture for the same exposure.
..
1- Also using a faster shutter speed can better stop subject movement.

1- Yes, but that is a photographers decision to deviate from the general every-day optimum Nikon may have chosen.

2- Yes, but I guess for general use, 1/60 plus flash will be sufficient. The D80 allows the user to make his/her own settings to suit special situations - great camera, eh?

I tried the following, at higher iso in broad daylight:


------- test 1 --------------------

- ISO 800 (auto-iso off)
- auto FP off
- Aperture priority
- SB800 mounted

Aperture F8 - flash sync was 1/60
Aperture F6.3 - flash sync was 1/200
Aperture F5.6 - flash sync was HI (because FP mode off, and shortest sync speed had been reached!!)

---- test 2 ----------

- ISO 800 (auto-iso off)
- auto FP ON
- Aperture priority
- SB800 mounted

Aperture F8 - flash sync was 1/60
Aperture F6.3 - flash sync was 1/200
Aperture F5.6 - flash "sync" was 1/250
Aperture F4.0 - flash "sync" was 1/400

----------------

It all makes sense, but when Nikon stated that the flash sync speed is 1/200 in non-FP mode, I expected this speed to pop up every time. It is just a little bit more complicated that just that. Wouldn't it be nice if Nikon extended the list of option 24 (min. shutter speed at flash) all the way up to 1/200?

Thanks guys, for all your remarks. I thinks I understand now what is going.

Thymen

 

[ronnies]

It WILL make a difference, because actually when the meter reads that less then 1/60 is required, flash is not required. You're then in the 'fill-in flash mode".

Thymen

No it won't. Your flash exposure is decided by the aperture and the duration of the flash. The ONLY difference will be the ambient light exposure.

Also the "fill-in-flash" mode is decide by the flash settings (TTL or TTL-BL) and not the shutter speed.

Ronnie

 

[Thymen]

Beg to disagree, Ronnie.....

Suppose that available light is such that, without flash, 1/100 of a second is required at F8 to let enough photons bump on a sensor pixel for correct exposure. Then there is nothing to gain by adding a flash. It's output should be zero, for there is already enough light.

However, the flash WILL fire, regardless of there being enough light. I assume that the exposure time will be shortened a little to compensate for that (minimal) flash output.

After all, that is needed is enough light energy on a pixel, due to whatever combinaton of shutter speed, aperture, available light strength and/or flash strength. I assume that the Nikon engineers have evaluated all this, and have programmed the D80's computer so that it will give the proper balance of parameters.

Thymen

 

[ronnies]

The added flash will be used to raise the exposure of the shadows. The ambient exposure set by the shutter speed will not change. Try it yourself with a back lit subject. One picture with and one without flash. I expect the shutter speed will not change.

Ronnie

 

[Thymen]

Hi Ronnie,

hm.... not sure whether we disagree or do not completely understand one another. However, I am sure that, without knowing the algorithms the Nikon engineers programmed into the D80 we'll just keep guessing about the way things really are.

But, the combination D80 and SB800 works fine for me, thats for sure! And with digital shots costing next to nothing there's plenty of room for experiments.

Thymen