HSS flash/speedlight

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After failing to take some photos I wanted this weekend, I realised I need a HSS capable flash. I use Nikon and currently have two of the YN560iii and the YN560-TX controller. So which would you recommend? Budget wise if I would prefer not to spend more than £160.

I’d also like recommendations for a softbox and stand. I bent my current softbox a while ago after trying to fold it away. So, if the suggestion can be an easier put away that would be good as well. A range of price suggestions is welcome. I want something that will last a bit longer this time

Thank you in advance.
 
It’d really help if you explained what you’re trying to achieve and why the Yongnuos have failed you.
 
Sorry I wasn’t clear. I wanted to balance the ambient light with flash. The light was perfect for it (sun not too strong), but when I used my Yongnuo, it didn’t even touch the sides with regards to lighting the subject. The shutter speed for the correct ambient exposure was 1/1500 - 1/2000 if I remember correctly. I tried with a low ISO, wider aperture and shutter speed at the maximum sync speed but it was a no go.

I will also be taking some photos in a sunny country not too far in the future so would like to be prepared for that as well (I have heard of ND filters being used instead, but know absolutely nothing about them). Hopefully that explains it better.
 
Though you didnt mention the f/stop a speedlight in itself is barely powerfull enough in HSS mode to have an impact in full sun especially if you pull it back from you subject. Put it in a softbox and you loose even more power..
One option is a more powerfull flash another is using ND filters, e,g, 3 stop, that will actually cost you less in regards to flashpower than the HSS mode.
The filters will pull your ambien exposure down to the syncspeed allowing you to take "full" advantage of the flashpower ( "" ofcource your flash exposure will be pulled 3 stops too)
The 3 stops light you loose is actually less than the penalty of HSS especially at the higher shutterspeeds.
An AD360 in a softbox up very close can overpower the sun but youll be pinned down unable to move your subject around in relation to the flash freely and your own shooting position will be limited too. A solution can be shooting with and with out the flash in the scene and take it away in post but.............

Ohh BTW
a third solution is reflectors
 
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You may have bitten off more than you can chew here, the rule of thumb for overpowering the sun is 600Ws, which isn’t something within your budget.

An AD360 with an efficient receiver will do a job, but if you really need ‘soft’ light, even 600Ws could be limiting.

The good news is that you’ve learned that your YN speedlights aren’t just ‘not as good as other speedlights’, in reality you’ll not get much more even from buying the best speedlights — you need much more power.

Although we still don’t know what you’re shooting and what kind of thing you are trying to achieve.
 
Thanks for the response @soeren the f/stop was 2.2 ISO 100 and shutter speed 1/1600. Are you suggesting using ND filters along with the flash (and reflector ‍♀️)?
@Phil V i wanted to take a portrait where the ambient light is underexposed and the subject correctly exposed by using the flash. When I tried it, the sun was fairly bright. But obviously it’s not strong enough to overpower the sun so I should have done it at a different time.

Here’s a sample image.
44616081091_bc131bffe8_z.jpg

I exposed for the background and wanted the subject to be lit with the flash. But, as you said, the YN isn’t good/strong enough for the light I was working in.

This is similar to what I wanted to do.
https://neilvn.com/tangents/controlling-bright-daylight-with-direct-off-camera-flash/


As for shooting in the sun, I’ll be doing some portraits and it will be very sunny. But I’ll be limited to on camera flash. I’ll look at the AD360 and see. Thanks for your help.
 
Disclaimer.. I am not an expert in the use of HSS flash.

HSS is very much flavour of the month. The availability of cheap new technologies combined with fast glass mean that a lot of folk are using it when other solutions would often work nearly as well IMO.
A hand held silver (or white) reflector will allow you to create 'nicely' lit portraits with a shallow depth of field much more simply. Admittedly, it won't get you the same results as Neil VN.
The Lastolite TriGrip reflectors are much the nicest for holding in one hand; most are too floppy.

Neil VN's pic was taken at sunset - he's not trying to overpower midday sun. It's also worth noting that he's not using HSS, just a speedlite held very close to the model. In other words, you should be able to get pretty to close to his results with what you already have.

FWIW, I've found that a 600Ws flash fitted with a high intensity reflector (like the Elinchrom maxilite) can overpower bright Summer afternoon sunshine, but only just unless I get it uncomfortably close to the subject. I regularly use an AD360 with a similar reflector at dusk, though. I can dig some examples out if that would be helpful.
 
I see no flash tell tales in that Pic. Did it even fire?
Your exposure equals around f5,6-8 @ 1/200 which your flash should be able to do with some power in reserve
 
Disclaimer.. I am not an expert in the use of HSS flash.

HSS is very much flavour of the month. The availability of cheap new technologies combined with fast glass mean that a lot of folk are using it when other solutions would often work nearly as well IMO.
A hand held silver (or white) reflector will allow you to create 'nicely' lit portraits with a shallow depth of field much more simply. Admittedly, it won't get you the same results as Neil VN.
The Lastolite TriGrip reflectors are much the nicest for holding in one hand; most are too floppy.

Neil VN's pic was taken at sunset - he's not trying to overpower midday sun. It's also worth noting that he's not using HSS, just a speedlite held very close to the model. In other words, you should be able to get pretty to close to his results with what you already have.

FWIW, I've found that a 600Ws flash fitted with a high intensity reflector (like the Elinchrom maxilite) can overpower bright Summer afternoon sunshine, but only just unless I get it uncomfortably close to the subject. I regularly use an AD360 with a similar reflector at dusk, though. I can dig some examples out if that would be helpful.
Yes please to the examples @juggler, thank you. I think as I won’t be trying to overpower the sunlight that regularly it makes sense to stick with what I have for now.

Use f/5.6 and 1/250 to avoid loosing a lot of power to HSS... if the BG is busy, reposition the subject.
Thank you.

I see no flash tell tales in that Pic. Did it even fire?
Your exposure equals around f5,6-8 @ 1/200 which your flash should be able to do with some power in reserve
The flash fired but as the sun was so bright, it wasn’t strong enough to even make a dent in terms of lighting her. I’ll try that next time the sun makes an appearance
 
That’s a well written article, but as with all these things ... if someone’s made it look easy, the devil is in the detail.

If we extrapolate his camera settings to F16 he’d have been at 1/1000 of a second, which is 3 stops under Sunny 16, add in the underexposed sky and it’s probably 5 stops darker than Sunny 16, ergo, late afternoon / early evening, he uses the phrase ‘overpower the sun’ IMHO misleadingly.

Now that scenario takes us right into possible with a speedlight, most of the time in the UK we can do dusk and sunset images with a speedlight in a softbox. But if you want a flash in a softbox at noon in the summer, you’ll be needing the power of 6 or 7 speedlights.

Recommended softbox, Godox 80cm with S type bracket for the speedlight.
 
Yes please to the examples @juggler, thank you.

I make no claims as to the quality of these & some are quite old but they're what I have to hand! They might give some idea of what kind of kit you need to overpower daylight in varying light conditions with a high intensity reflector.

The high intensity reflectors do give more light (in a narrower beam) than a standard 7" dish, and considerably more than a softbox, but there are a few things you should note:
  1. Some are better than others
  2. The standard Godox S-fit bracket lets a fair bit of light leak backwards
  3. The shadows can be very unforgiving, which makes the lighting inflexible. Head (etc) angle becomes much more important.
All that said, I suspect that what you really want to do is create more appealing light on your subjects rather than totally defeat the ambient?

I have got an HSS capable speedlite - a Godox AD685 - but unfortunately I don't have any examples of pics taken with it. Whenever I've wanted to use HSS I've gone straight for the AD360 'cos it's so much more powerful and more convenient.

I'll say again, I'm not an HSS expert but I suspect that ordinary speedlites will really struggle in HSS mode to do what you want. The Godox AD200 is probably the cheapest HSS light with enough power to be useful. I'm sure others will put me straight if I'm wrong.

On to the pics..

1. Taken during a workshop. 600Ws strobe in an Elinchrom Maxilite hi intensity reflector just before midday in the Summer. Strobe was about 3m from subject.
You can see the contradictory shadow directions but the model's pose means that it doesn't matter in this case.

Photo 12-09-2018, 14 06 22 (Small).jpg

2. From the same workshop, early afternoon.. sun high in the sky. Again, 600Ws in Maxilite at about 2m.
Note that even this isn't enough to default bright sunshine - you can see distinct unsightly double shadows

Photo 12-09-2018, 14 06 05 (Small).jpg

3. AD360 on max power in similar high intensity reflector with modified bracket to increase output. Taken just before dusk in Autumn with overcast skies. This was nearly enough to defeat the daylight. You can see some of the sky just showing through the trees.

(Note 2 gelled speedlites & smoke in the background too)

_SRC5220 (Small).jpg

4. Godox AD360 in HSS mode in a vertical strip box, pretty close to the model. Probably on half power. I suspect I left one of the diffusers out to increase output, and I was using my modified bracket again to prevent the light leakage. Mid morning, Summer, hazy skies.

I reckon I could have got very similar results with a handheld silver reflector.

_SRC9561-Edit-Edit (Small).jpg
 
Sorry I wasn’t clear. I wanted to balance the ambient light with flash. The light was perfect for it (sun not too strong), but when I used my Yongnuo, it didn’t even touch the sides with regards to lighting the subject. The shutter speed for the correct ambient exposure was 1/1500 - 1/2000 if I remember correctly. I tried with a low ISO, wider aperture and shutter speed at the maximum sync speed but it was a no go.
.

The power of flash really goes down by a few magnitudes at such fast shutter speeds in HSS mode. You would probably need something a lot more powerful than a speedilte there, particularly if using lighting mods.

From a limited experience with a speedlites outdoors it is easier to get the results by sticking to X-sync speed and base iso then brining it in range with aperture or CPL, but I appreciate you may not want to do so due to artistic reasons.

Of course the closer the lights can be brought to the subject the less power would be required. It is much easier with longer lenses whereas wideangles require good distance or lots of editing and multiple frames.

It may be worth considering a camera with low base ISO (100 or less) and highest possible X-sync speed (1DXII / D5, or better all of the medium formats). I don't suggest buying one today just mentioning as another option. I'd go with a more powerful light in the first instance.
 
Are you suggesting using ND filters along with the flash (and reflector ‍♀️)?
ND filters affect both the ambient and the flash. However, they can have much less impact on the flash power compared to the automatic/instantaneous loss that occurs when it switches into HSS mode.
 
I make no claims as to the quality of these & some are quite old but they're what I have to hand! They might give some idea of what kind of kit you need to overpower daylight in varying light conditions with a high intensity reflector.

The high intensity reflectors do give more light (in a narrower beam) than a standard 7" dish, and considerably more than a softbox, but there are a few things you should note:
  1. Some are better than others
  2. The standard Godox S-fit bracket lets a fair bit of light leak backwards
  3. The shadows can be very unforgiving, which makes the lighting inflexible. Head (etc) angle becomes much more important.
All that said, I suspect that what you really want to do is create more appealing light on your subjects rather than totally defeat the ambient?

I have got an HSS capable speedlite - a Godox AD685 - but unfortunately I don't have any examples of pics taken with it. Whenever I've wanted to use HSS I've gone straight for the AD360 'cos it's so much more powerful and more convenient.

I'll say again, I'm not an HSS expert but I suspect that ordinary speedlites will really struggle in HSS mode to do what you want. The Godox AD200 is probably the cheapest HSS light with enough power to be useful. I'm sure others will put me straight if I'm wrong.

On to the pics..

1. Taken during a workshop. 600Ws strobe in an Elinchrom Maxilite hi intensity reflector just before midday in the Summer. Strobe was about 3m from subject.
You can see the contradictory shadow directions but the model's pose means that it doesn't matter in this case.

View attachment 134316

2. From the same workshop, early afternoon.. sun high in the sky. Again, 600Ws in Maxilite at about 2m.
Note that even this isn't enough to default bright sunshine - you can see distinct unsightly double shadows

View attachment 134317

3. AD360 on max power in similar high intensity reflector with modified bracket to increase output. Taken just before dusk in Autumn with overcast skies. This was nearly enough to defeat the daylight. You can see some of the sky just showing through the trees.

(Note 2 gelled speedlites & smoke in the background too)

View attachment 134318

4. Godox AD360 in HSS mode in a vertical strip box, pretty close to the model. Probably on half power. I suspect I left one of the diffusers out to increase output, and I was using my modified bracket again to prevent the light leakage. Mid morning, Summer, hazy skies.

I reckon I could have got very similar results with a handheld silver reflector.

View attachment 134319
Thank you for the examples, helps.

The power of flash really goes down by a few magnitudes at such fast shutter speeds in HSS mode. You would probably need something a lot more powerful than a speedilte there, particularly if using lighting mods.

From a limited experience with a speedlites outdoors it is easier to get the results by sticking to X-sync speed and base iso then brining it in range with aperture or CPL, but I appreciate you may not want to do so due to artistic reasons.

Of course the closer the lights can be brought to the subject the less power would be required. It is much easier with longer lenses whereas wideangles require good distance or lots of editing and multiple frames.

It may be worth considering a camera with low base ISO (100 or less) and highest possible X-sync speed (1DXII / D5, or better all of the medium formats). I don't suggest buying one today just mentioning as another option. I'd go with a more powerful light in the first instance.
I think that’s what I’ll do. My camera has a low base ISO. And I recently changed/upgraded.

ND filters affect both the ambient and the flash. However, they can have much less impact on the flash power compared to the automatic/instantaneous loss that occurs when it switches into HSS mode.
I’ll look into it.
 
I make no claims as to the quality of these & some are quite old but they're what I have to hand! They might give some idea of what kind of kit you need to overpower daylight in varying light conditions with a high intensity reflector.

The high intensity reflectors do give more light (in a narrower beam) than a standard 7" dish, and considerably more than a softbox, but there are a few things you should note:
  1. Some are better than others
  2. The standard Godox S-fit bracket lets a fair bit of light leak backwards
  3. The shadows can be very unforgiving, which makes the lighting inflexible. Head (etc) angle becomes much more important.
All that said, I suspect that what you really want to do is create more appealing light on your subjects rather than totally defeat the ambient?

I have got an HSS capable speedlite - a Godox AD685 - but unfortunately I don't have any examples of pics taken with it. Whenever I've wanted to use HSS I've gone straight for the AD360 'cos it's so much more powerful and more convenient.

I'll say again, I'm not an HSS expert but I suspect that ordinary speedlites will really struggle in HSS mode to do what you want. The Godox AD200 is probably the cheapest HSS light with enough power to be useful. I'm sure others will put me straight if I'm wrong.

On to the pics..

1. Taken during a workshop. 600Ws strobe in an Elinchrom Maxilite hi intensity reflector just before midday in the Summer. Strobe was about 3m from subject.
You can see the contradictory shadow directions but the model's pose means that it doesn't matter in this case.

View attachment 134316

2. From the same workshop, early afternoon.. sun high in the sky. Again, 600Ws in Maxilite at about 2m.
Note that even this isn't enough to default bright sunshine - you can see distinct unsightly double shadows

View attachment 134317

3. AD360 on max power in similar high intensity reflector with modified bracket to increase output. Taken just before dusk in Autumn with overcast skies. This was nearly enough to defeat the daylight. You can see some of the sky just showing through the trees.

(Note 2 gelled speedlites & smoke in the background too)

View attachment 134318

4. Godox AD360 in HSS mode in a vertical strip box, pretty close to the model. Probably on half power. I suspect I left one of the diffusers out to increase output, and I was using my modified bracket again to prevent the light leakage. Mid morning, Summer, hazy skies.

I reckon I could have got very similar results with a handheld silver reflector.

View attachment 134319




I really like image No 4
Is this a CosPlay of War Hammer 2000 Imperial trooper I believe !
 
HSS, if using an off camera speedlite then which is the best trigger system to use, well I should ask which is the most affordable ! ?
I have looked at Yong Nuo and Godox

YN-ST-E3 is a fully functional canon clone and in fact with extras. Just be very careful with the battery door and the savings are great.
 
HSS, if using an off camera speedlite then which is the best trigger system to use, well I should ask which is the most affordable ! ?
I have looked at Yong Nuo and Godox
For off camera use I'd go with Godox just for the system access.
 
YN-ST-E3 is a fully functional canon clone and in fact with extras. Just be very careful with the battery door and the savings are great.

I will have a look at reviews and prices

I would like to get a 3rd Speedlite to supplement my 2 canon speedlites

For off camera use I'd go with Godox just for the system access.

I have 2 speedlites which are Canon 580 Mk2 and 430 Mk2

So what I looking for are triggers / receivers to use for off camera flash.
Secondly I own a Sony mirrorless as well and hope to get in the future either A6700 / A7000 or A7iii
So therefore I will hope to have a system that can talk between different manufactures.
So f I go with ether a Godox or Yong Nuo transmitter on a Sony camera will it talk to Godox receiver or Yong Nuo receiver attached to a canon speedlite !
I take it it is the transmitter & receiver language should still be the same regardless what they are mounted to ! ! ?
 
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I have 2 speedlites which are Canon 580 Mk2 and 430 Mk2

They are IR optical slaves which is not great (i.e. crap outdoors and anywhere without direct line of sight). The Canon RT system has eliminated all the hassle years ago and works wonders. You might as well replace them with the latest and greatest or at least the chinese clones.
 
I will have a look at reviews and prices

I would like to get a 3rd Speedlite to supplement my 2 canon speedlites



I have 2 speedlites which are Canon 580 Mk2 and 430 Mk2

So what I looking for are triggers / receivers to use fr off camera flash.
Secondly I own a Sony mirrorless as well and hope to get in the furure either A6700 / A7000 or A7iii
So therefore I will hope to have a system that can talk between different manufactures.
So f I go with ether a Godox or Yong Nuo transmitter on a Sony camera will it talk to Godox receiver or Yong Nuo receiver attached to a canon speedlite !
I take it it is the transmitter & receiver language should still be the same regardless what they are mounted to ! ! ?
Godox. Go Godox and save yourself the trouble from mixing systems.
I have an A6000 and a X-T2. When I bought my first speedlights for the A6000 I found the Sony ones to be way to expensive and with the possibilities in the godox system there wasn't much to debate. Since then the system has evolved, I've added the x-t2 and all I had to do was buy the trigger for it. ATM I have 2 TT685-S and an AD360 though no fuji shoe speedlight yet. I have an AD200 on the way, consider another and then maybe a TT685-F. So if I had Canon, Nikon, Sony or whatever original speedlights I'd sell them.
 
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Godox. Go Godox and save yourself the trouble from mixing systems.
I have an A6000 and a X-T2. When I bought my first speedlights for the A6000 I found the Sony ones to be way to expensive and with the possibilities in the godox system there wasn't much to debate. Since then the system has evolved, I've added the x-t2 and all I had to do was buy the trigger for it. ATM I have 2 TT685-S and an AD360 though no fuji shoe speedlight yet. I have an AD200 on the way, consider another and then maybe a TT685-F. So if I had Canon, Nikon, Sony or whatever original speedlights I'd sell them.

Now the AD200 is a very good beast. From the YouTube reviews I have watched there seems to very little Con's in owning one. Power over trans-portability seems to its selling point and that it can fit brackets design for speedlites.
I have even looked at these, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cactus-V5-Transceiver-Wireless-Black/dp/B005G3G29Y
The problem now which may sound bizarre is there is a lot of choice for speedlites and competition not to buy Top camera manufactures speedlites is intense, especially with direct copy clones !
At the moment I want to get much more use out of my 2 canon speedlites by getting them off camera and start being more creative. I use the EOS 7Dii pop up flash to optically trigger the 580EX Mkii in master mode which in turn triggers the 430EX Mkii in slave mode. The system is optical and IR and within and up to the Sync speed of 1/250.
So if I want to do any High Speed Sync ( HSS ) then this is were I run in to problems. For any off camera flash in trying to control ambient light out doors is very difficult unless I use wireless triggers.
 
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