# Quick question!



## Mikeyb90 (Nov 30, 2016)

This product says it does front curtain sync, is that the same as high speed sync? My friends are having a surprise birthday/engagement and asked me to be there for the moment. I need a speed light in a hurry so I wanna try this out. Will it work? 













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## Big Mike (Nov 30, 2016)

As far as I know, front curtain sync is just the standard way that most flashes work.  It is not the same as high speed sync (rapidly pulses the flash rather than one big burst).

Rear curtain sync is when the flash fires just before the shutter closes.  It's really only useful when you are dealing with motion blur and flash at the same time.  

I don't know why they would list 'front curtain sync' as a feature.  Maybe they meant rear curtain sync?  Maybe that's their way of saying that it doesn't do rear curtain sync?  

Either way, I wouldn't really consider it a make or break feature.


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## Derrel (Nov 30, 2016)

Terrible MIC English specs...but neither front curtain (aka 'regular' sync) nor rear curtain flash synchronization is the same as "high-speed synch", which is CANON language for what Nikon designates as FP Sync, for high-speed focal plane shutter settings, like say 1/800 or 1/1250 or 1/4000 second flash synch with a Focal Plane shutter.

Basically, this is a decent $69 made in China flash that will give you TTL flash, Multi, Manual, and S1,S2 flash. No explanation of what S1 and S2 flash "is". But, I highly doubt it will do FP synch flash.

Keep in mind that lower-level Nikon cameras, like the D3200 or D5100 for example (among others), cannot do FP Sync, since that is a capability that the BODY and the flash unit, combined, must do.


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## OGsPhotography (Nov 30, 2016)

In a hurry the answers are no and yes.

Not really a quick question as it seems you've opened at least 4 can o worms on this one.  4Rabbit holes if you will;

1. Whats front curtain sync? Which opens new question; whats rear curtain sync? Which opens the question, should you care? Do you need to know this for your impending shoot?

2. Whats high speed sync? Which opens the question, should you care? 

3. Will it work? Well now thats a huge hole your digging. Yes! But also no. Not in the wrong hands which opens the 4th and final hole I'll bother with; 

4. Surprise birthday/ engagement?? And they want you to photograph it with your new toy? I say go for it why not, or, they should probably hire a pro if they "need"engagement shots.

Also, note that your probably not allowed to use them screen shots, Ive had a few taken down, I dont like it but its policy apparently. You can make a link to them if you want.

With my YN 560 speedlights I do not use rear curtain nor high speed so I wont pretend to know the actual answers to the questions you implied.

Good luck.


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## Designer (Nov 30, 2016)

"Front Curtain Sync" is what they all do, but I wonder what the S1 and S2 functions are.  Get this deal and after you read the manual, get back to us on what the S1 and S2 functions are.

We might also wonder why they include a lens cap leash, but what the heck, it's in there.


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## OGsPhotography (Nov 30, 2016)

S1 is slave 1st flash, s2 is second flash slave to ignore pre flash.


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## WayneF (Dec 5, 2016)

Derrel said:


> Terrible MIC English specs...but neither front curtain (aka 'regular' sync) nor rear curtain flash synchronization is the same as "high-speed synch", which is CANON language for what Nikon designates as FP Sync, for high-speed focal plane shutter settings, like say 1/800 or 1/1250 or 1/4000 second flash synch with a Focal Plane shutter.



Actually, Nikon flash manuals call it FP High Speed Sync, since introduced in the SB-25 in 1992.   It is nothing new, electronically, it is the same function performed by the old FP sync flashbulbs.   

The first reference I find for Auto FP is the D2 camera models.   I'm not sure Auto is a plus, if the camera can randomly switch into and out of FP mode according to shutter speed changing.


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## Alexr25 (Dec 5, 2016)

WayneF said:


> Actually, Nikon flash manuals call it FP High Speed Sync, since introduced in the SB-25 in 1992. It is nothing new, electronically, it is the same function performed by the old FP sync flashbulbs.


The Nikon FP high-speed sync is nothing like the old FP flash bulbs. It works by triggering the speedlight multiple times during the shutter curtain's traverse across the sensor, both camera and speedlight must support the feature for it to work.
FP bulbs worked by having a long burn time and triggering the flash before the shutter started to open. There is a technique used by some studio flash manufacturers that they call High-speed sync that mimics the function of FP flash bulbs by triggering the flash early and relying on the relatively long flash duration of a studio flash to provide illumination during the whole exposure.  It works reasonable well with the flash at full power but less so as the flash power is turned down and the flash duration decreases.



WayneF said:


> The first reference I find for Auto FP is the D2 camera models. I'm not sure Auto is a plus, if the camera can randomly switch into and out of FP mode according to shutter speed changing.


The camera does not *RANDOMLY *switch. It switches if (a) the FP mode is enabled on the camera, and (b) the speedlight supports FP mode and FP mode is enabled on the speedlight, and (c) the shutter speed is equal to or higher than the shutter speed set as FP mode speed. Given the conditions that need to be met for the camera to go into FP mode I would not call it random.


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## WayneF (Dec 5, 2016)

Alexr25 said:


> The Nikon FP high-speed sync is nothing like the old FP flash bulbs. It works by triggering the speedlight multiple times during the shutter curtain's traverse across the sensor, both camera and speedlight must support the feature for it to work.
> FP bulbs worked by having a long burn time and triggering the flash before the shutter started to open.



These are just quibbles about semantics.  

So sure, that is exactly the same purpose.  Sure, we must expect some design difference between electronic HSS flash and FP flash bulbs, no one said otherwise. But sure, both are just flash durations designed to mimic continuous light (without sync issues, and Equivalent Exposures also work again), specifically in order to bypass FP sync issues, specifically by being on continuously for the focal plane shutter travel time.  Same concept exactly.  HSS is Not a new idea, same idea as the old FP flash bulbs.  And even HSS was done 24 years ago, in ancient times.  



> The camera does not *RANDOMLY *switch. It switches if (a) the FP mode is enabled on the camera, and (b) the speedlight supports FP mode and FP mode is enabled on the speedlight, and (c) the shutter speed is equal to or higher than the shutter speed set as FP mode speed. Given the conditions that need to be met for the camera to go into FP mode I would not call it random.



We might debate the word Random.  I would be OK to substitute Variable, but I was speaking of random results, not about implementation details.  We understand the details. But from the viewpoint of the unaware photographer, as the normal random light variations occur (clouds, shadows, simply repointing the camera, etc, etc) to shift shutter speed from slightly below to be slightly above the activation threshold, and flash power drops to about 20%, we would expect random variations in results. Exposure automation might track ambient, but HSS flash power is something very different (certainly at longer distances not reachable by HSS).   Results from picture to picture could have random results caused by Auto FP. 

My own notion is that if Not intending to use HSS, we should specifically turn Auto FP off, to prevent surprises. True of Auto anything really, if you don't want it, you don't want random changes.


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