SLR Geek

Why is this important?

Shutter speed is the one and only factor that will solely affect ambient light in flash photography. Since flash duration time occurs in a range from 1/1000s – 1/10,000s — that is literally an instant! Therefore, adjusting your shutter speed will never really be a factor in determining your flash exposure (This is why Guide Numbers never mention shutter speeds (read Flash Photography and pwning the inverse square law for more information)). In contrast, all other exposure factors; aperture, ISO, and flash power, all touch on flash exposure. Furthermore, flash power, similar to shutter speed, is the only factor that solely affects (you guessed it) your flash exposure (oh, and flash to subject distance).

So shutter affects ambient light, so what?

Imagine those beautiful sunny days where the sky is blue and vibrant — rich and full of color. If you’re going retain any of that richness, you’d want a high shutter speed. Using what we know about the “sunny 16″ rule (set aperture to ƒ/16 and shutter speed (reciprocal seconds) to ISO), we can set our exposure variables to ƒ/16 | 1/100s | ISO 100. If we’re strobin’ it up outside with a Canon 5D2, we can max out at 1/200s, which means we would adjust our aperture to ƒ/11. That’s right. Say it out loud — Ef-eleven (my thoughts exactly).

The downside

As just mentioned “Ef-eleven” completely messes with our ability to use shallow depth of field, not to mention our speed lights are having to work their arse off to get through that tiny little aperture (I can hear the lights screaming now “Gah! Ef Eleven! I curse you!”). Not to mention, true landscape photographers would simply love to underexpose that deep rich sky by half a stop, which would put us somewhere back around ƒ/13 or so since changing our shutter is no longer an option as we’re maxed out at 1/200s. Wouldn’t it be great to shoot at ƒ/2 at 1/8000s? What’s a photographer to do?

Ladies and Gentlemen, the RadioPopper

If you haven’t heard about it yet, RadioPopper announced their new generation of radio transmitters, the RadioPopper PX. And if you’re as excited as they are, you’re jumping for joy at the ability to sync at 1/8000s! Yes, wirelessly via radio signal (not that line-of-site Nikon CLS crap (I kid)). You can buy one right now for $180 USD available to US and Canadian markets.

We interrupt this program with a special announcement from Pocket Wizard

Just when you thought things were heating up, Pocket Wizard introduces the Flex-TT5 and Mini TT1. A system (currently only for Canon) that can also achieve 1/8000s. Details can be found on the Pocket Wizard Flex product page.

Ok, let’s look at the real details here

RadioPopper

So clearly these guys did something right. But what are they really doing? As it turns out, they’re jumping on board with the current E-TTL and CLS systems that Canon, Nikon, and every other system is already doing to achieve high speed sync, and transforming those signals into a reliable radio signal. Yes, clever, but kind of a hack. What the video ever so slightly “glosses” over is that you need an existing commander unit, be it a Canon ST-E2, or a Nikon SU-800…. although technically speaking, any of the Canon EX speedlights, or Nikon SB’s will work as long as they’re mounted to your camera. But what’s the point of that? You just bought a shiny new speed light, you want it “off the camera” — even the pro’s should be slightly disappointed by this. In the end, the only justification for actually springing for one of these is if you already own an existing IR commander unit. If you do, get the Poppers without thinking twice.

Pocket Wizard

These little gems are great. I personally own quite a few of their previous generation Plus ii tranceivers, and they’re fantastic. But the hoopla is all about the new Flex TT5′s with the high speed sync. The downside is that they are proprietary to camera brand. They are first shipping for Canon, and then later in Q2 of 2009, they will be available for Nikon. And then many other manufacturer’s are essentially SOL. The brilliant part, however, is that they mount to your camera’s hotshoe and interpret the data on the spot without doing any magic IR listening like the Poppers. So no need to get a commander unit, the PW IS the commander. The other great thing is that they are compatible with their older siblings (the PW2, MultiMAX, and other built-in PW receiver hardware). This means we can keep our existing setup, and simply add-on. Nevertheless, the downside is in fact the proprietariness (is that a word?) of them. This means that I can’t share my Nikon Pocket Wizard with my wife (who shoots with a Canon 5D Mark ii), or vice versa (which will be the more likely in our situation). Furthermore (on a good note), we can still use them as receivers (since the Flex TT5′s are still “trans”ceivers). If you are in a situation where you are swapping between Nikon and Canon brands in your setup, you definitely don’t want the Mini TT1 since it is a transmitter only.

And so life goes on

Unfortunately there still no perfect solution for high speed sync without either springing for extra commander units, or buying into a specific brand. But let’s not be grim, both of these setups are great interim solutions. I’m personally going to stick with Pocket Wizard because I have a vested interest in Pocket Wizard as-is. If you’re starting fresh, and you’re looking for a high speed sync setup, examine your options and pick what is right for you. Cheers.