1/2000000 sec flash under development

[xpatUSA]

Just read this on my Smartphone

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/548...al-hotshoe-gun

Developer's remarks are included in the comments . .

[HaseebM]

Wonder how this will be useful and what's the break-limit for freezing a shot?

[Loose Canon]

This is pretty cool on a number of levels.

Not the least of which is along with fire and water I can soon add firearms to my studio work! The lead is gonna fly!

I think I’ll change the name to the OK Corral Studio!

[Shadowman]

Nice, but I'd prefer something more like this.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/569...asts-18-500fps

[xpatUSA]

Wonder how this will be useful and what's the break-limit for freezing a shot?

Well. "a shot" can be anywhere from say 500 fps to maybe 3000 fps, so can't really help

By the way, what is meant by "the break-limit"?

[mrinmoyvk]

That means 2000000 frames per second shutter speed.

[JR1]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Will I get one

Don't need one

Decent camera, HSS flash

[xpatUSA]

That means 2000000 frames per second shutter speed.

No, it does not mean that at all. As I understand the article, it is only referring to the flash unit.

[george013]

That means 2000000 frames per second shutter speed.

It means that in the dark and open shutter, you will get an exposuretime of 1/2000000sec.
George

[rpcrowe]

As I read this, I wondered what the minimum flash duration was for my Canon speedlights (430EX and 600EX-RT). I did not find the Canon minimum flash duration but the Nikon SB 800 has the following durations in manual at various power settings

SB-800 duration specifications
1/1050 sec. at M1/1 (full) output (t.5)
1/1100 sec. at M1/2 output
1/2700 sec. at M1/4 output
1/5900 sec. at M1/8 output
1/10900 sec. at M1/16 output
1/17800 sec. at M1/32 output
1/32300 sec. at M1/64 output
1/41600 sec. at M1/128 output

http://www.scantips.com/speed.html

I realized, however, that my 430EX minimum power setting is 1/64 which would probably result in a longer minimum flash duration that my 600EX-RT which also has a 1/128 power setting.

NOTE: The stop action capability of a short duration flash exposure will work when there is no (or very little) ambient light. The shutter can be open on bulb and the flash wil control the action stopping capability...

[george013]

http://www.scantips.com/speed.html

NOTE: The stop action capability of a short duration flash exposure will work when there is no (or very little) ambient light. The shutter can be open on bulb and the flash wil control the action stopping capability...

Or use ambient light and flash and action together for some nice results.
Out of next link http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com...curtain-flash/

I don't think flashspeed in this case is of importance.

George

[Shadowman]

As I read this, I wondered what the minimum flash duration was for my Canon speedlights (430EX and 600EX-RT). I did not find the Canon minimum flash duration but the Nikon SB 800 has the following durations in manual at various power settings

SB-800 duration specifications
1/1050 sec. at M1/1 (full) output (t.5)
1/1100 sec. at M1/2 output
1/2700 sec. at M1/4 output
1/5900 sec. at M1/8 output
1/10900 sec. at M1/16 output
1/17800 sec. at M1/32 output
1/32300 sec. at M1/64 output
1/41600 sec. at M1/128 output

http://www.scantips.com/speed.html

I realized, however, that my 430EX minimum power setting is 1/64 which would probably result in a longer minimum flash duration that my 600EX-RT which also has a 1/128 power setting.

NOTE: The stop action capability of a short duration flash exposure will work when there is no (or very little) ambient light. The shutter can be open on bulb and the flash wil control the action stopping capability...

Thanks for the link, now for some experimentation.

[Loose Canon]

Richard your article, while informative, seems a bit dated as regards studio strobes!

There are, on the market, studio strobes that are very capable of achieving motion stopping durations. Not a lot of them, and none that approach a speedlight minimum duration, but a t.1 of 1/13,000 is pretty darn good. They are using essentially the same technology as a speed light but with sufficient power handling capacity that can be used in higher powered studio strobes.

Remember, a t.5 rating represents how fast a flash dumps 50% of the total flashpower. T.1 represents the time it takes 90% of the total flash to be emitted. So the t.1 rating is what is important when judging motion-stopping capability because that extra 40% can cause motion blur just the same as having too much ambient light intruding. Even the remaining 10% over the t.1 can be enough to cause ghosting. The LED flash in the OP really doesn’t get into specs so much and even if it did I’m no engineer so I wouldn’t understand most of it anyway! But I found the comment regarding the response time of different colors in the spectrum interesting. I have seen this manifested in motion-stopping tests. Typically, the color temp is not constant during the flash duration so the average of the color at the beginning of the discharge and the color temp at the end of the discharge determines the flash temp. It appears there is possibly going to be a big color tradeoff along with the power tradeoff for the insane duration speed.

Probably doesn’t even matter that much since the LED flash is a specialty light. Maybe not something the average shooter would use on a day to day basis! Certainly not this average shooter at that price point and with those tradeoffs!

Still pretty cool though!

NOTE: The stop action capability of a short duration flash exposure will work when there is no (or very little) ambient light. The shutter can be open on bulb and the flash wil control the action stopping capability...

True, but not always necessary for typical use. Certainly true for the LED flash in the OP with that duration and that kind of bullet-fast motion.

I know you know this stuff Richard but there have been some inquiries regarding lighting on the Forum (which I think is awesome). So for my own and the possible benefit of others I’d like to continue a bit here:

Typically what is needed is for there to be little enough ambient that the x-sync by itself is fast enough to kill it (black frame when no lights fired). You don’t have to shoot bulb to stop most action.

Since the x-sync is the fastest shutter speed where the shutter curtains are wide open over the sensor, and neither one is traveling across the sensor, the flash duration (and intensity, and which is way shorter than the shutter speed) still determines the exposure of the shot regardless of the x-sync speed as long as all ambient is eliminated.

And before anyone whacks me on this I am not referring to HSS which is a different story and where ultra-short flash durations are actually detrimental.