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Whats the difference between, High Speed, 1st&2nd Curtain. I have a Canon 450D (Rebel XSi) and a 430EXII Flash?

  • I have a Canon 450D (Rebel XSi) and a 430EX II flash unit. Whats the difference between, High Speed, 1st Curtain & 2nd Curtain? (Shutter Sync)

  • Answer:

    Although both of the previous answers are correct, I'll try to give you a bit more practical information. You would use second curtain synch when you where photographic moving objects, if you use first curtain sycnh then after the flash during the rest of the exposure the subject is still moving, so there are trails in front of the subject, if you you use second curtain synch the trails are behind the subject so it looks more natural. High speed synch is useful for very fast moving subjects, that even 1/200th (your cameras synch speed) wouldn't freeze. It is also useful for fill flash, as outdoors on a sunny day even 1/200th might not be fast enough to allow a ballanced exposure. In high speed mode the output of the flash is vastly reduced.

Olof N at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Imagine that when the shutter opens, a curtain opens across it then a second curtain follows on. The speed at which this happens is the 'shutter speed'. Most modern DSLR's and flash units will synchronise at a maximum shutter speed of 1/250 sec. This means that 1/250 is the fastest shutter speed the camera can be set to to be fully open when the flash fires. If the shutter speed is slower, that's fine, but if its faster, then the flash will illuminate the back curtain and you'll get an Image which is half black across the bottom. High speed sync means that the flash can sync at faster shutter speeds than 1/250 because instead of a single flash, the flash actually 'pulses' and so can remain in sync. 1st (or front curtain) synch means the flash fires as the first curtain opens the shutter. 2nd (or rear curtain) sync means the flash fires as the second curtain closes the shutter.

Oh I know this one :) 1st curtain fires the flash at the begining of the exposure and 2nd curtain fires the flash at the end of the exposure. High speed sync can only be used when the exposure is faster than the maximum flash output.

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