645DF leaf shutters and cheap hss triggers as Yongnuo YN622

[wagabundo]

Hi!

does anybody tried to use cheap triggers with leaf shutter lenses ?

I'm looking for cheap option to sync flash with 1/800 , 1/1600 shutter speed

Yongnuo YN622 can sync up to 1/8000 so even more that I need. They are made for Canon and Nikon (TTL), but should work with 645DF as well, am I right ?

Best
Paul

[Chris Valites]

The interesting thing to watch out for is transmission time, commonly referred to as propagation delay. Some triggers are faster than others, meaning they have less propagation delay. This is the time it takes for a signal to go from the transmitter to the receiver and actually trigger the remote flash. The PocketWizard Plus III and MultiMAX have FAST mode, which allows for faster triggering, and the Profoto Air transceivers also have a FAST mode as well that perform slightly better, in my tests.

Screenshot at 5.15.03 is the Profoto Air, while the PocketWizard is the darker image. Nothing else changed in these images beyond the trigger used.

You'll also want to try to experiment with flash durations. The longer the duration, the more noticeable light loss you'll see at faster shutter speeds, as your shutter will be capturing only a tiny portion of the flash output. Faster flash durations will have less output falloff.

I wish I could tell you about the Yongnuo YN622 triggers specifically, but I have no experience with them directly.

[barihunk]

Hi!

does anybody tried to use cheap triggers with leaf shutter lenses ?

I'm looking for cheap option to sync flash with 1/800 , 1/1600 shutter speed

Yongnuo YN622 can sync up to 1/8000 so even more that I need. They are made for Canon and Nikon (TTL), but should work with 645DF as well, am I right ?

Best
Paul

Have not tried the Yongnuo triggers but basically there are two types of sync, one is regular synch (which I think the Yongnuo is 1/250) and HSS - which is discharging the flash multiple times to expose the whole focal plane shutter. What Chris says is right. (check their post https://captureintegration.com/definitive-guide-to-medium-format-high-speed-sync/)

Chris: are these with both triggers in fast mode? And what flash was used? Are there combinations of trigger and strobe that can take full advantage of the 1/800 or 1/1600 synch (i.e. full power strobe)

[Chris Valites]

These triggers were actually both set into Normal mode; a full test with Normal vs Fast on each trigger (as well as the Broncolor triggers) will be done shortly.) They were also shot with the B1 in Normal mode, not Freeze mode, so it had a longer flash duration. Think of it as a worst case scenario situation.

But building off the theoretical side of things, the best way to ensure you can get great results is to use a flash with a very short flash duration, and a trigger with a very short propagation delay. My gut says the Profoto Air will be the best, but I don't know if it beats the Broncolor yet. Soon though!

[scottstebner]

I've been using the Paul C Buff Cybersyncs for about 4,000 shots now. They are rated to 1/2500th of a second. Only had an issue on about 4 frames so far.

[barihunk]

These triggers were actually both set into Normal mode; a full test with Normal vs Fast on each trigger (as well as the Broncolor triggers) will be done shortly.) They were also shot with the B1 in Normal mode, not Freeze mode, so it had a longer flash duration. Think of it as a worst case scenario situation.

But building off the theoretical side of things, the best way to ensure you can get great results is to use a flash with a very short flash duration, and a trigger with a very short propagation delay. My gut says the Profoto Air will be the best, but I don't know if it beats the Broncolor yet. Soon though!

I did a brief test and there is a difference between the amount of light the sensor sees at 1/1600 with the B1 monolights at full power depending on whether the trigger is in normal or fast mode, so your test may be informative for that.

Do you have any idea what the actual flash durations are for the B1 (assuming you're talking about the B1 monolights) are in normal and fast mode? The graph Profoto provides is nonsensical – the Y-axis makes no sense to me either whether I try to interpret it in linear or logarithmic scale.

[Chris Valites]

Hi Bari,

I actually don't. I plan on using the Profoto B4 for my tests going forward though; the dial-a-duration will make this test a cinch.

I plan on doing a short duration and long duration test for both FAST mode triggers, and normal triggers, so there will be four results for each trigger (if they have FAST mode.)