How to force shutter to 1/125 for flash sync on Nikon F80?
Obrag Aterg
1/125 for flash photo, but my F80 has the tendency to use 1/60: why?
I have to force the camera to use 1/125 by switching to shutter priority,
but can't I do it in Program? This is ridiculous, considering that even a
crap EOS 88 or 500n can do flash syn at 1/90 at auto mode, and my FM2 don't
complain of (given it's manual) 1/250. The manual is vague about the actual
flash sync (giving 1/60-1/125 as figures), and reviews I've read suggest
that 1/125 is the norm.
Alexander Grekhov
> 1/125 for flash photo, but my F80 has the tendency to use 1/60: why?
Because Nikon programmed it to do so.
> I have to force the camera to use 1/125 by switching to shutter priority,
> but can't I do it in Program?
Exactly. Better yet -- switch it to manual. With TTL flash it is very
easy to use as long as you understand how it works.
> This is ridiculous, considering that even a
> crap EOS 88 or 500n can do flash syn at 1/90 at auto mode, and my FM2 don't
> complain of (given it's manual) 1/250.
Switch your N80 to manual -- and it is as good as FM2 (sans 1/250
X-sync).
> The manual is vague about the actual
> flash sync (giving 1/60-1/125 as figures), and reviews I've read suggest
> that 1/125 is the norm.
Manual is badly written. Switch to shutter priority and do not worry
much, or switch to manual, but watch your distance to the subject and
your aperture -- you may get underexposed shots if you are too far.
Alexander
OpNet
playing around with all the shutter priority modes and such. I believe that
the Shutter Priority is good enough. If you need manual, use it, but I just
tend to use Shutter Priority and all my shots come out just fine. Why do you
need 1/125? 1/60 is pretty good for most shots, 1/125 should only be used
for very fast action.
Zack
in article 98ns9g$9l9$1...@coco.singnet.com.sg, Obrag Aterg at ob...@post1.com
wrote on 3/14/01 8:41 AM:
Gregg
but also want to keep a fairly wide lens opening to throw the back ground out of
focus, you need the faster flash synch speed of 1/125 (1/250th is even better,
but not available on the N/F 80).
I'd Rather Be Killing Spammers
>I have a Nikon F80 (N80 in US, I think). The manual says it can sync at
>1/125 for flash photo, but my F80 has the tendency to use 1/60: why?
I didn't understand the question until I read the next paragraph:
>I have to force the camera to use 1/125 by switching to shutter priority,
>but can't I do it in Program?
Let me see if I've got this straight: you want to use program mode and
control the flash sync speed at the same time? What is wrong with
you? If you want to force the camera to sync at 1/125 then why aren't
you in shutter priority or manual mode? I can't begin to understand
how you can want to both have and not have control of the shutter speed
at the same time. It makes no sense.
>This is ridiculous, considering that even a crap EOS 88 or 500n can do
>flash syn at 1/90 at auto mode, and my FM2 don't complain of (given
>it's manual) 1/250.
Again, you've lost me. The FM2 forces you to choose your shutter
speed. The F80 will do 1/125 if you use shutter priority auto or
manual. What is your problem?
>The manual is vague about the actual flash sync
>(giving 1/60-1/125 as figures), and reviews I've read suggest that
>1/125 is the norm.
1/125 is the fastest on the F80 but I have no idea what the norm is.
The software can choose what it thinks is best. Note, that a lot of
people don't like to use the fastest sync speed because we like to pull
in some ambient light as well so that our pictures don't look as
flashed. The reason to use a high speed is because you want to reduce
the amount of ambient light hitting the film. This could be because
you want to increase the flashed look or because you want to do fill
flash in direct sunlight with a relatively fast film.
--KAS
Mark Bergman
thinks that 1/60th of a second is going to give the best balance (or
whatever) between ambient and flash exposure. Why do want 1/125th exposure?
Are you using it for fill flash outside? Are you trying to stop motion?
Think about what YOU want and use aperture or shutter priority. If you want
the camera to think for you then totally ignore the shutter speed and
aperture displays.
"Obrag Aterg" <ob...@post1.com> wrote in message
news:98ns9g$9l9$1...@coco.singnet.com.sg...
Gregg
Obrag Aterg wrote:
> I have a Nikon F80 (N80 in US, I think). The manual says it can sync at
> 1/125 for flash photo, but my F80 has the tendency to use 1/60: why?
The camera is attempting to default to a slower flash synch speed for the
purpose of allowing the maximum amount of ambient (non-flash source) light to
expose the film.
>
> I have to force the camera to use 1/125 by switching to shutter priority,
> but can't I do it in Program?
If there is a particular reason you need to have 1/125th speed synch just
switch to shutter priority or manually select 1/125th .... no problem.
The camera should default to it's maximum flash synch speed of 1/125th even in
Program mode IF (1) the ambient light is bright enough (relative to the film
speed), (2) you are attempting to shoot a main subject at maximum (or near
maximum) range of the flash, and (3) you are using a telephoto "D" type AF
lens. In that situation, the camera will know that the distance of the main
(focused) subject is at or near the max range of the flash, that the telephoto
lens requires the fastest possible shutter speed to reduce camera shake, and
will attempt to get the maximum output of the flash by keeping the lens open as
wide as possible, all which tell the camera to go to the fastest possible flash
synch speed.
For most general shooting (Program Mode!), however, the camera attempts to
maximize depth of field by stopping down the lens (and thereby requiring a
slower the shutter speed) .... but with a bottom limit of 1/60th or 1/30th to
avoid camera shake.
Try some experiments yourself and happy shooting!