Continuous Shooting with Flash

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WhiteLight

Senior Member
OK.. i think this is the second time am posting this question, but this time the confusion is a LOT more...

Here's my mind cracking situation-

i need to shoot in burst mode or continuous mode
The flash is slightly off camera on a flash arm, connected to the bottom of the camera.. so flash (SB700) is in Remote mode

initially, i tried this with the D5100 but it wouldn't fire more than once...
i assumed since the D5100 does not have a commander, it wasn't firing.

this morning, as the battery was low on the D5100 i wanted to shoot a family of wasp kinda bugs.
tried shooting in burst mode, but same issue!
it would fire only once...

i've tried every setting to no avail..

does anyone have any idea what my problem is & how i can solve it?
Also if anyone with either of these cameras could try the above, it would be brilliant

thanks
 
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FastGlass

Senior Member
Short answer, no. You going to find that no you cannot shoot in continuous mode and expect the flash to fire at every frame. The capacitors in the flash need to recharge and it takes time. But that depends on the flash output power setting on the flash. Full power, definitely not. if setting the flash output at the extreme low end of the power output scale , maybe. Also keep in mind that the flash will most likely overheat. You need to get into strobes to accomplish what your after.
 
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pedroj

Senior Member
This might help...

[h=3]Menu of the other photo pages here[/h]

[h=1]Nikon Auto FP flash mode (HSS) - What is it?[/h] This topic is more special purpose, so no harm is done by skipping this page for now. Next Page - Soft Light.
This article is too long unless you really want to know. Here is a very short version:
Auto FP (also called HSS flash) is an entirely different flash mode, where the flash is triggered repeatedly and rapidly (tens of thousands of times per second), so that it mimics being "on" like continuous light (like sunlight or a desk lamp is on continuously). Humans still see a "flash", but this continuous duration is on during the longer focal plane shutter travel time (which eliminates any shutter sync problem). To be able to be on continuously, it can only run at about 20% power level.
The purpose of it being continuous is that there is no concept of sync, any shutter speed works (the only reason it is called High Speed Sync). Like sunlight, it works at any high shutter speed, but HSS is NOT high speed flash. It is no longer a speedlight - continuous light has no motion stopping capability (we do still have the shutter speed, but the speedlight was typically much faster). Since it is continuous, Equivalent Exposures apply again now, meaning a wide aperture can compensate for the light losses of a fast shutter speed, for both FP flash or for ambient, since both are continuous.
Did I mention that FP acts as another continuous light? It no longer acts like "flash" and certainly is no longer a speedlight.
The usual purpose of this FP flash mode is to provide wide aperture, by allowing fast shutter speeds with fill flash in bright sun, at perhaps 1/3200 second at f/2.8 (ISO 100) - if desired, and if the reduced power allows sufficient distance range.
The flash has to be built to implement this continous mode. The camera has to be built to enable and trigger it. The camera and flash have to communicate about this, parts of a matched system, not just any random parts.
 
SkvLTD

SkvLTD

Senior Member
What lens are you trying to shoot them with? I've had NO issue shooting bees and butterflies on-camera.
 
D

dukatum

Senior Member
SkvLTD said:
What lens are you trying to shoot them with? I've had NO issue shooting bees and butterflies on-camera.
Click to expand...
Not sure a lens change is going to impact the quick firing of a flash to be honest.

Try this:
Set the lowest power setting on your flash where possible to reduce the recharge time between each flash (best to have fully charged batteries to).
Set with rear-sync so it flashes at the end of the exposure to get movement trails and sharp animals, this bit depends on their movement speed and your shutter speed.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
The fast lens reduces the flash power requirement as it only cares about aperture not shutter speed, so F2.8 requires half the power of F4. Therefore twice as many shots per charge cycle. If the flash is fully charged and you set it to 1/8 power, it should fire about 8 times per charge. I've done this at a wedding where I wanted fill flash for the confetti being thrown where I shot 6 or so frames.

My SB900 also has a strobe feature where the flash will fire many times on a single frame. I've not really got beyond playing with that feature.
 
SkvLTD

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Also if it's not the up-in-wasp's-face close-up macro, you'd get the working distance to shoot camera with a diffuser or some reflector to be able to pull things off without getting radio triggers.

If you must do optical slave, then reduce the power of on-board trigger flash to minumim and SB's to 1/2 or 1/4 so it could shoot enough times and recycle properly. Also face the IR front towards your camera and then rotate the head to face the subject.
 
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dukatum

Senior Member
Geoffc said:
The fast lens reduces the flash power requirement as it only cares about aperture not shutter speed, so F2.8 requires half the power of F4. Therefore twice as many shots per charge cycle. If the flash is fully charged and you set it to 1/8 power, it should fire about 8 times per charge. I've done this at a wedding where I wanted fill flash for the confetti being thrown where I shot 6 or so frames.

My SB900 also has a strobe feature where the flash will fire many times on a single frame. I've not really got beyond playing with that feature.
Click to expand...

Yep you are correct, my bad.
@SkvLTD do you have pictures of bee's on here somewhere? I'd be quite interested to see how these turn out. Are we talking like a Bee's nest? that'll be very interesting as a shot close up.
 
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W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Thanks @FastGlass @SkvLTD @Geoffc @dukatum

I've tried with the 35mm 1.8 & the 105mm 2.8..
Even at the lowest settings, the camera shoots only once..
It's like the camera is on Single frame mode... if i keep the shutter button depressed, it shoots once & it's done.
if i hold on for the next minute too, there is no difference.
i'll have to release the shutter button & press again for the next shot...

it just doesn't allow for shooting focus stacked pics for example, which i've seen to be possible..
 
D

dukatum

Senior Member
WhiteLight said:
Thanks @FastGlass @SkvLTD @Geoffc @dukatum

I've tried with the 35mm 1.8 & the 105mm 2.8..
Even at the lowest settings, the camera shoots only once..
It's like the camera is on Single frame mode... if i keep the shutter button depressed, it shoots once & it's done.
if i hold on for the next minute too, there is no difference.
i'll have to release the shutter button & press again for the next shot...

it just doesn't allow for shooting focus stacked pics for example, which i've seen to be possible..
Click to expand...

Oh sorry its the camera only shooting once? Thought the issue was the flash not firing off in quick succession.
Sounds like a camera setting to me. You sure your mode isn't accidental on Q mode rather than CH (just the slightest movement past CH changes it).
 
W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
dukatum said:
Oh sorry its the camera only shooting once? Thought the issue was the flash not firing off in quick succession.
Sounds like a camera setting to me. You sure your mode isn't accidental on Q mode rather than CH (just the slightest movement past CH changes it).
Click to expand...

Yep.. Both cameras are on Ch mode.. Tried Cl as well..
Hmm I must be doing something wrong..

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
SkvLTD

SkvLTD

Senior Member
I still say that for what you're trying to do, WL, unless you're trying to go for some funky effect w/ your flash, i'd just shoot it on camera.

Else, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.644603015608866.1073741934.434528646616305
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.479506948785141.1073741838.434528646616305
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.511291242273378.1073741857.434528646616305

For some credentials since all of those but the top album were shot on a 5100 without any flash for the most part.
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
As for continuous flash with my set up I very rarely use it but have found that if my flash is in the hotshoe the camera will fire repeatedly even when the flash has not fully recharged so you do lose light. What I tend to do is shoot single frames or if I am wanting multiple shots I will use my SB-910 at low power. I have tried with my radio triggers but they will not trigger for HSS so I tend to keep my speedlight on the hotshoe. Other than that I will do away with flash and shoot with natural light.

Here is a good explanation of flash settings - Nikon Flash - More Settings | DPanswers
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
WhiteLight said:
@Scott Murray, it's on Manual..
But i've tried with both AF-S & AF-C
no go either ways..
Click to expand...
See if focus is set to focus, this may/will slow you down if it cannot get focus lock. I keep mine set to 'release'.

a1 AF-C priority selection – (Focus or Release) If exact focus is important to you, set to Focus. Otherwise, if you need to get the shot even if focus is not attained, set to Release. This setting operates in AF-C mode only.

a2 AF-S priority selection – (Focus or Release) This is similar to “a1″ except it controls AF in AF-S mode. You’d normally have pretty static subjects if shooting in AF-S, so you’d want to ensure focus is obtained. You’d usually set this therefore to Focus.
 
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F

FastGlass

Senior Member
WhiteLight said:
Thanks @FastGlass @SkvLTD @Geoffc @dukatum

I've tried with the 35mm 1.8 & the 105mm 2.8..
Even at the lowest settings, the camera shoots only once..
It's like the camera is on Single frame mode... if i keep the shutter button depressed, it shoots once & it's done.
if i hold on for the next minute too, there is no difference.
i'll have to release the shutter button & press again for the next shot...

it just doesn't allow for shooting focus stacked pics for example, which i've seen to be possible..
Click to expand...
Oh I thought it was a flash issue.
 
W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
OK...so tried changing the focus/release settings - no difference.
I can shoot no problems with the flash on-camera...
off camera - only one shot at a time...
the camera will not close the shutter again until the shutter button is not released

:( :( :(
 
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