Sony A7rIII Flash Sync Speed – Limited to 1/200 sec?

It's a combination of camera and strobe capabilities. The camera shutter determines the speed at which it can execute a normal flash sync - the first curtain exposes the sensor, then the flash fires, then the second curtain moves in and closes the sensor. The shutter curtains don't move instantaneously though, and the speed at which they move out and in determines the overall shortest possible exposure - while they're moving, the sensor is still getting some light. In order to provide a shorter exposure, the second curtain starts closing before the front one is fully open, creating a strip of light that races across the image, and this precludes using a normal flash, because if it fires when only part of the sensor is exposed then you get underexposed areas where the curtains were covering the sensor at the moment that the flash fired. Some cameras have shutter curtains that move exceptionally fast, like the Nikon D50 that allows 1/500s flash sync; some are much slower, like Nikon 1 series that are generally limited to 1/60s flash sync speed. Most Sony interchangeable-lens cameras are limited to 1/160s, or, in some limited circumstances as Pavel mentions, 1/200s.

 

 

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Thanks for the in depth explanation. The A7R3 is actually capable of syncing up to 1/250 using my regular Metz M-360 flash, not having any issues with a black band above water.

On 4/1/2019 at 3:19 PM, Barmaglot said:

.... Sony TTL converter release date?

UWTechnics ships Sony TTL Converter for Nauticam A7...A9 housings since 31-July. 

Maximum sync speed is 1/250, tested, no dark strip on images.

I have been using the Turtle TTL trigger for A7RIII for a year with Inon z-330s at 1/250, no problem.

Bumbi

It seems it might be the Nauticam mini flash trigger causing the Sony to not go past 1/200. I'll probably order one of these triggers myself and see if they work with my Sea and Sea YSD2J strobes.

Nauticam product is manual trigger, it does not use communication protocol with camera. Max sync speed must be 1/160 for this case.  Yes, the 1/200 can be used as a threshold value, small gradient begins at the top of image.  But for 1/250 sync speed, you need any TTL device connected to HotShoe.

On 8/4/2019 at 2:02 PM, Pavel Kolpakov said:

But for 1/250 sync speed, you need any TTL device connected to HotShoe.

Hello Pavel,

From your last post, would it be ok deduct that a D500 could do 1/320 and 1/500 with anuticam's TTL board working on Manual?

I'm not really after TTL, but 1/500 in manual will be quite interesting.

Kind regards,

Joss

2 hours ago, Joss said:

Hello Pavel,

From your last post, would it be ok deduct that a D500 could do 1/320 and 1/500 with anuticam's TTL board working on Manual?

I'm not really after TTL, but 1/500 in manual will be quite interesting.

Kind regards,

Joss

Hello Joss,

Only Sony plays that game with sync speed (1/160  >> 1/250).

Nikon D500 has fixed max sync speed 1/250. This is simply a speed of Nikon mechanical shutter.  Impossible to improve it by this way, The only way to use high shutter speeds for D500 is to use HSS underwater strobes (if appear on the market), which can produce 40 khz flicker long flash.

On 8/8/2019 at 12:20 PM, Pavel Kolpakov said:

Hello Joss,

Only Sony plays that game with sync speed (1/160  >> 1/250).

Nikon D500 has fixed max sync speed 1/250. This is simply a speed of Nikon mechanical shutter.  Impossible to improve it by this way, The only way to use high shutter speeds for D500 is to use HSS underwater strobes (if appear on the market), which can produce 40 khz flicker long flash.

Hello Pavel, thank you for taking the time to answer.

Regarding HSS. I have seen the specs of the new Retra strobes and it shows "HSS ready".

What do you think about it? does it means that that my credit card will be bleeding soon?

Kind regards,

Joss

54 minutes ago, Joss said:

Regarding HSS. I have seen the specs of the new Retra strobes and it shows "HSS ready".

What do you think about it? 

Yes, Retra new strobe is announced as HSS. We are waiting for it to make TTL tests.

When HSS strobes appear on the market, TTL circuitry manufacturers can make HSS feature in firmware.