CS Lens flash sync with Elinchrom Skyport & Quadra Hybrid A Heads

[topoxforddoc]

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I have a set of Elinchrom Quadra Hybrid Li-ion Action Heads (with flash duration up to 1/4000th sec) triggered by an Elinchrom Skyport Speed trigger. I am thinking of buying a S(006) body and a 70CS lens with the discount before the new rumoured CMOS S version TBC at Photokina.

 

Does anyone know if I will be able to use the 1/1000 flash sync capability of the CS leaf shutter, or will I be crippled by the Skyport trigger (which has a published 1/320 max sync speed with SLRs)?

 

Many thanks

 

Charlie

[hoppyman]

Hi Charlie. I shall be in studio today with the Skyport Speed trigger and that 70 CS. I'll test it up to 1/1000th for you. I normally just use 1/180th just as habit.

 

Edit:

This will be with the S2. I did borrow an S for a few days and recall using it at higher sync speeds due to ambient light, but that was with different triggers.

You need the higher speed for fill or ambient light considerations then, Charlie?

[topoxforddoc]

Hi Charlie. I shall be in studio today with the Skyport Speed trigger and that 70 CS. I'll test it up to 1/1000th for you. I normally just use 1/180th just as habit.

 

Hi Geoff,

 

Many thanks. That would be great. I think the S2 goes to 1/500th on CS and the S 006 to 1/1000th with a CS lens.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

[daure]

Hope it could help.

Page Nr 5

The s(2) could be seen as a Compact digital camera when used with cs lenses ...

:) (assuming that all the "compact digital camera" have a leaf shutter)

 

http://www.elinchrom.com/data/download/els_speed_transmitter_e.pdf

[peterv]

I think the S2 goes to 1/500th on CS and the S 006 to 1/1000th with a CS lens.

 

Nope, that is incorrect, the S2 does 1/1000th too. When the S2 was announced, it was first mentioned that the leaf shutter wouldn't go further than 1/500th, but when the CS lenses were finally released Leica engineers had managed to go even one stop faster.

 

Charlie, this thread might be of interest to you:

 

http://www.reddotforum.com/showthread.php/971-Radio-triggers-capable-of-syncing-at-1-1000-s

[topoxforddoc]

Nope, that is incorrect, the S2 does 1/1000th too. When the S2 was announced, it was first mentioned that the leaf shutter wouldn't go further than 1/500th, but when the CS lenses were finally released Leica engineers had managed to go even one stop faster.

 

Charlie, this thread might be of interest to you:

 

http://www.reddotforum.com/showthread.php/971-Radio-triggers-capable-of-syncing-at-1-1000-s

 

Peter,

 

thanks for the correction about the S2. I had read the thread on reddotforum. No mention of Elinchrom though. That may just mean that it doesn't work. I'd just like to know before I drop £4k on a 70 CS and a fair bit more on a S 006.

 

Charlie

[daure]

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Ok.

Copy from the user manual elinchrom speed transmitter :

 

Select “Speed” sync mode

Synchronises SLR cameras up to 1/250 s, or compact digital cameras up to 1/2850 s, depending on the camera type & the flash duration of the flash unit.

 

Select “Standard” triggering mode

Synchronises SLR cameras up to 1/200 s, or compact digital cameras up to 1/1600 s, depending on the camera type & the flash duration of the flash unit.

[topoxforddoc]

Ok.

Copy from the user manual elinchrom speed transmitter :

 

Select “Speed” sync mode

Synchronises SLR cameras up to 1/250 s, or compact digital cameras up to 1/2850 s, depending on the camera type & the flash duration of the flash unit.

 

Select “Standard” triggering mode

Synchronises SLR cameras up to 1/200 s, or compact digital cameras up to 1/1600 s, depending on the camera type & the flash duration of the flash unit.

 

Thanks

 

Charlie

[hoppyman]

I tested with the Skyport Speed and BXRi 500 this afternoon and the CS Summarit -S 70 on S2 (in CS mode of course).

I used only the standard Elinchrom mode (not the speed option)

Synchs perfectly up to and including 1/500th. 1/000th results in I would say 2 stops underexposure (shutter started closing I guess). I didn't experiment with anything else in settings.

[topoxforddoc]

I tested with the Skyport Speed and BXRi 500 this afternoon and the CS Summarit -S 70 on S2 (in CS mode of course).

I used only the standard Elinchrom mode (not the speed option)

Synchs perfectly up to and including 1/500th. 1/000th results in I would say 2 stops underexposure (shutter started closing I guess). I didn't experiment with anything else in settings.

 

Geoff,

 

Many thanks. That's really helpful to know. Otherwise using the CS lenses outside with Skyport triggered strobes might be difficult if one were limited to 1/125 flash sync.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

[mwilliamsphotography]

I can confirm that the Skyport transmitter will allow sync to 1/500 with any leaf shutter lens.

 

1/1000 sync with the S2/S with the Quadra pack is possible if you use the direct hard-wire sync cord.

 

To get to 1/1000 radio remote sync requires a Profoto AIR transmitter set to "speed mode" by pressing the mode button for 7 seconds. Then up 1/1000 radio sync is possible with AIR equipped monos and packs … or any unit with an AIR receiver plugged into the mono or pack's sync port.

 

All packs and monos will sync to 1/1000 when hard-wired to the S2/S.

 

The only caveat regarding sync times is flash duration … if the flash duration is slower (1/650) than the shutter speed used (1/1000), exposure will be off. When some units are set to full power, their flash duration can drop below 1/1000. See the specs on your specific lights.

 

Marc

[hoppyman]

Thanks for that additional info contributed Marc.

I would think that the flash duration for the unit I have is slower than that 1/000th for sure. I don't have any experience with the models that Charlie is using there.

 

As a practical matter, I'm happy with the current limitation to 1/500th for my studio applications and without any need to experiment further currently.

[topoxforddoc]

Dear Marc and Geoff,

 

Many thanks for the helpful info. Using a 1/1000th flash sync in daylight might be handy. No point in having a shutter which can, if the lights can't. The Elinchrom Quadra Hybrid flash exposure will go as short as 1/5700th sec, and 1/4000th is standard without any fiddling.

 

So, at least I can use the Skyport to 1/500th, which should be fine for most stuff anyway.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

[mwilliamsphotography]

Dear Marc and Geoff,

 

Many thanks for the helpful info. Using a 1/1000th flash sync in daylight might be handy. No point in having a shutter which can, if the lights can't. The Elinchrom Quadra Hybrid flash exposure will go as short as 1/5700th sec, and 1/4000th is standard without any fiddling.

 

So, at least I can use the Skyport to 1/500th, which should be fine for most stuff anyway.

 

Best wishes,

 

Charlie

 

Actually Charlie, the Quadra with the A head plugged into the "fast" B channel can be as fast as 1/6000 … BUT … that is when set to minimum power which is lower W/s than a speed-light output.

 

Yes, 1/1000 sync can be very helpful when shooting outdoors in bright conditions. I use it all the time to control the background exposures … or to enable use of more open apertures for DOF control.

 

In most cases, the flash duration is faster than the shutter speed, so what shutter speed is used isn't relevant to the flash exposure on the subject, but shutter speed has a direct affect on the ambient exposure.

 

In the studio, where you can block or eliminate the ambient, flash duration becomes the dominate factor. You could set 1/100 or 1/1000 shutter and the results would be the same. My studio has windows with ambient contaminating the set at certain times of the day, so I use a faster shutter sync speed to kill it completely.

 

- Marc

[hoppyman]

And Charlie, please keep in mind that I tested in the standard mode with no attempt to change settings. So if you need higher then it can be done. Just not something I've tried or needed this far.

[topoxforddoc]

Thanks again to you both. That's been really helpful.

[120]

They extended the discount?

[topoxforddoc]

They extended the discount?

 

S006 bodies still available in the UK with the discount at c GBP12500. Discount ending 1st September, just before Photokina.