Canon 580 Flash

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Roy Fox
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Can anyone help me in using the multi flash setting on my flashgun, I have tried using the multi shot setting on the camera at 3 frames per\sec, combined with 3 hertz setting on the flash, but the falsh refuses to fire.
I can get multi flashes on the cmera,using the standard ETTl but recycling time is not in time with camera.
Can anyone assist please
My Best Regards to all
Roy Fox
 
Multi-flash is designed to work with a single longish exposure. e.g. you would have an exposure of 1 second and with a 3hz flash frequency you would get the flash firing three times while the shutter was open. Typcal use would be to freeze a moving object/person in multiple positions across one frame.

If you want the flash to fire each time you release the shutter then that is not multi-flash. That is just single flash, used three times. The problem you have is that if you require the flash to deliver a lot of power it cannot recharge quickly enough between frames, so you'll get a good frame and then probably two very underlit frames.

There is a custom function that you can enable/disable that will prevent the shutter releasing until the flash is ready to fire again. Alternatively you can set it so that the flash will fire, whether it is ready or not, and thus your shutter will release.
 
Roy, welcome to Talk Photography

If I read you right you are confusing two totally different operations, namely fps (frames per second) and multi flash. When using the multi flash option of your 580 the shutter of your camera should remain open until the flash has completed the sequence (you need to ensure the shutter remains open long enough). In this scenario the flash is usually the only source of light so your (moving) subject would appear several times in the same shot lit only by the flash. Frames per second (fps) is a function of the camera whereby the camera captures multiple shots at the rate of (in this case) 3 frames per second.
 
if you press the third button from the left, if you press it once, it'll show a box with a flash sign and a H. this is high speed shooting it'll recharge the flash quicker before the next discharge.

And wow, never knew what that multi setting did before, i do now :D
 
Ant said:
if you press the third button from the left, if you press it once, it'll show a box with a flash sign and a H. this is high speed shooting it'll recharge the flash quicker before the next discharge.

And wow, never knew what that multi setting did before, i do now :D
Click to expand...

"High Speed Shooting", as you call it is actually "High Speed Sync". It has nothing to do with allowing the flash to recycle more quickly. It enables you to shoot with a shutter speed higher than your normal flash sync speed. On a Rebel series camera the max sync speed is 1/200. On most cameras higher up the food chain the max sync speed is 1/250.

High Speed Sync allows you to shoot with any shutter speed of your choice, right up to the camer'as maximum, be that 1/4000 or 1/8000. It changes the way the flash operates completely and is actually quite inefficient, meaning it sucks more power from your flash and actually increases recycling time.

I would typically use HSS when needing to use flash in daylight, to fill some shadows, but wanting to retain a wide aperture for shallow DOF and nice bokeh. Without HSS you would be limited to a shutter speed of 1/200 or 1/250. In bright sunshine you would need to shoot at around f/10 or f/11, at 1/250 or 1/200, even at 100 ISO, just to avoid overexposing the overall scene. Those are not great aperture choices for a nice portrait. If you wanted to shoot at, say f/4 or f/2.8 then you would need HSS so that the flash could operate with the higher shutter speed necessary to maintain a good exposure for the ambient light conditions.

I base the figure above on the Sunny 16 Rule, which says that in bright sunshine, with f/16 as your aperture, your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of your ISO. So if your ISO was 100 and your aperture was f/16 your shutter speed would be 1/100. If you used 200 ISO your shutter speed would be 1/200 etc.. So for a standard exposure in bright sunny conditions (no cloud or haze), at 100 ISO, you could choose combinations of aperture and shutter speed as follows....

f/16 and 1/100
f/11 and 1/200 - max sync speed for a Rebel and a 5D
f/10 and 1/250 - max sync speed for most other camera bodies. a 1D3 can sync at 1/300.
f/8 and 1/400
f/5.6 and 1/800
f/4 and 1/1600
f/2.8 and 1/3200
f/2 and 1/6400
 
Hi Guys, many thanks for the replies, it makes a bit more sense now.
Best Regards

Roy
 
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