Inga Offline Upload & Sell: Off
|
OT, but people keep saying HyperSync causes a loss of power...this is not the case. High Speed Sync does. Getting mighty sick of people confusing these terms and the pros and cons of each.
HyperSync is a PocketWizard related technology where they time the triggering of the flash/strobe (and allow you to fine tune the timings of the flash triggering), and utilise long flash duration to coincide with your shutter being open. The key here is long / slow flash durations on your strobe. It also happens to coincide on most strobes with using high power settings as the flash duration lengthens as power output increases. (This is also why action heads and freeze settings work against this technology, by shortening the flash duration and making sync at higher shutter speeds more difficult). I do not believe that HyperSync decreases the output of the flash in any way. In reality, if the flash duration is significantly longer than the shutter opening, then not all of the flash output will be captured by the sensor though. So I guess in some cases this could be perceived as reducing the output of the flash.
HSS (or Auto-FP? in Nikon) is not vendor specific, although only some vendors offer technology that does it. It is dependent on the output capabilities of the flash/strobe as it is not just delivering a single punch of light. HSS relies on the flash being able to fire a strobe-like burst of light. It is this pulse-like action that is terribly inefficient compared to a single dump of flash. As shutter speeds shorten, the pulse needs to push harder to expose all parts of the sensor. There is a direct correlation between shortened shutter speeds and decreased effective power of the flash. In real-world situations, if you're shooting at shutter speeds well above your sync speed (think 1/1000th or faster), your flash, be it a Speedlight or something like a B1 / B2 etc, will end up in the upper end of it's power settings. Obviously we know that in the case of Profoto gear it actually won't shoot HSS below power 7.0 (or 8.0 for Nikon). HSS is a very inefficient technology at delivering flash power to the sensor, at this point in time. Hopefully this will continue to improve as time goes by, because it's much more convenient to use than ND filters or HyperSync (which requires PWs for a start, and then often relies on very specific configurations and settings to time perfectly).
In terms of power output efficiency for "overpowering the sun" type situations, my take is as follows, in order of efficiency:
(0.5). Leaf Shutter camera systems with x-sync way higher than 1/200th
1. Shooting at x-sync with small aperture (with ND filter if you want shallow DOF), using a strobe with enough power to keep up with your aperture settings
2. HyperSync, relies on PW triggers, timings tuning, strobes with slow flash durations
3. HSS, relies on HSS capable strobes/flashes and trigger system
In terms of convenience I find HSS the easiest approach for my shooting style and needs, but I can only use it in specific situations as I'm only using Canon speedlights and they simply don't have the power to push that pulse through a large modifier over any distance more than arms-length. If I need to go beyond that then I guess a B1/B2 or the aforementioned Godox AD360 is probably my next step. I find ND filters impractical to work with in most situations personally. And while I'm techy and love to fiddle with things, (and own PW triggers) the HyperSync stuff is too frustrating with regard to timings and tuning and getting the setting right etc that I gave up on that a long time ago. It works...but is best for very specific circumstances that are too limiting for my needs.
Sorry for the OT rant...but please, learn the difference between HSS and HyperSync before you comment and potentially perpetuate misinformation and confusion for others.
|