When using flash at night, what's the minimum shutter speed to use?

Question

I have a fully manual SLR camera that I've had for years but have only recently started taking night pictures with flash but my first set came back with half the picture dark as if the shutter speed was too slow. What is the minimum shutter speed I can use when taking a flash picture? Any other hints for flash/night photography?

Answer 1

sounds like you have a camera which has a focal plane shutter which is likely synced at 1/60 of a second you'll find some synced at little higher but I dont recall one higher than 1/125 and that was a nikon. Most cameras have the sync speed marked in red or with an "x". Shooting with a longer shutter speed will allow you to pick up any available light just be wary of camera shake use a tripod.As you have found using a shorter shutter speed allows the shutter to close before the light hits the film giving you that black side.The shutter speed wasnt too slow but too fast.

Answer 2

Sounds like a sync problem. Your shutter speed was too fast. Check you manual if you have one, if you don't it's probably 1/60, but some cameras used 1/125. Also, make sure you understand how to use your flash calculator to insure that your aperture opening is correct. Then bracket your shots, keep a log and see what works when. If you have a camera that uses a dedicated flash unit make sure there are no incompatibility problems between the flash and the camera.

Answer 3

Most all 35mm film cameras synch with the flash at 1/60 second. Some shutter speed dials have a red X to show the correct synch You can use 1/30 or 1/15. If you use 1/125 your flash photos will turn out just as you described.

For best results, use 1/60 or the red X.

Answer 4

A camera old enough to be non-automatic with focal plane shutter probably has a max flash sync at a speed much slower than 1/60. In fact they were so slow that they had to use special FP flashbulbs that would have consistant light out put for the 1/15 second it took for the shutter slit to pass over the film plane. X sync reqired the shutter to be completely open over the entire image area, and typically that was 1/15 sec. Using a strobe flash as fill in daylight was impossible with these cameras.

Answer 5

Night photography is a very intresting art. It is my favorite and I experiment with it often. When using a night flash it can range from a very open shutter like F2, full power flash, and a shutter 1/30 for close range. Using a higher ISO can boost light as well but it tacks on noise. Some of the most intresting results are obtained from having a one minuet or more shutter with a medium F stop and low ISO. Use a seperate flash from the camera that you can fire by pushing a button. Set the flash on maxium power and fire off as many flashes as you can in your time frame that you have set the camera for. Walk around the back side of your camera and fire it off at several different angels but try not to fire it off in a straight line of the lense for it will show "flash dust" in the air. It takes a few test exposures to get the results you set out for and the variable of chance helps in some moments. If you was wanting to get a good picture of a person with the flash and allow the available light to fill in the frame you can use a 15 second shutter, maxium flash, ISO 100-200, and a F stop of around 8. This allows the background to expose as for the subject has already been exposed by the flash. This is taking into consideration that there is no light shinning on the subject and there is at least dim light in the distant background, like from a city. I hope this helps!

Answer 6

I have been using a 2.8 zoom on indoor sports and have found that my best results have been from slightly underexposed photos that are corrected in Photoshop. Like yourself, I have decided that I need a 250 SS to freeze the action and that pretty much dictates that the lens will be set at F2.8. I have played around with various ISO settings and usually settle on 800 or 1600 if the lighting is poor. Main thing to remember is do not be afraid to underexpose by a stop or two. You can easily correct that with most photo editing applications and it will allow you to use a lower ISO. Depending on the sport, you can also try panning the action with a slower shutter speed to see if that will buy you an additional stop or two of ISO. An added benefit is that it can sometimes eliminate background distractions too. One last suggestion is to capture your images with the RAW format and then tweak them on the computer. Not sure what type of camera you have but I have seen significant differences between how camera's JPEG processing software works with low light/high ISO settings. From what I have read, the difference is in the coding and logic used by the different manufacturers internal camera software. I have a Panasonic LX-1 that I bought for it's size, features and it's Leica lens. At ISO 50 or 100, it can produce images that rival almost anything but at ISO 200 and above, the grain is so pronounced that it almost looks like an effect. The same is not true with the Canon point & shoots and DSLR's. I have used them up to ISO 1600 with only moderate grain. By using RAW files, you eliminate the manufacturers software processing and make those processing decisions yourself in your editing software (Photoshop, Corel, etc). Good luck.

Answer 7

If you have 1/2 a picture, then you chose a shutter speed that was twice the flash sync speed maximum.

Most older cameras had flash sync at 1/60 and you may have chose 1/125.

I once tried taking a series of flash pictures at very slow shutterspeeds. They were perfectly exposed, but my movement and the movement of my subjects blurred the images.

I hope this is helpful for you.

Answer 8

It varies, but you will have to look up your "sync speed." It's probably marked in red on your shutter speed dial.

In the olden days, 1/60 was common for horizontal travel shutters and 1/125 for vertical travel shutters. You can open up the back of your camera with no film in it and see which direction your shutter moves and take it from there if you can not otherwise find out.

Answer 9

dont exceed the "red" number on the dial, proberly 60th to 250th - the camera you use would have been helpful


Any other hints for flash/night photography, yes plenty what gear you using? - what trick do you want to do?

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