How to use rear curtain sync...?Help Help~~

[cythomas83]

Guys i dun really know how to use rear curtain sync since i m a noob :bsmilie:

i set it to rear curtain in my flash then shoot the moving fan...bt i cant get the effect...only the freeze fan =.="

can anyone teach me like aperture n minimum shutter speed setting?
and also the background should it be real dark or with lights also can...

i m so ;( while i cant get the effect after i test it so many times :cry:

Hope some PRO can give me some tutorial lol... :thumbsup:

thanks a lot in advance

 

[Dream Merchant]

The reason why you are seeing only frozen fan blades could be because there is not enough ambient light to register the movement of the fan blades - cause the blur effect. Try increasing your ISO and decreasing your shutter speed while maintaining the same aperture value. Best to adjust shutter speed and aperture in manual exposure mode.

One other possibility is that there IS enough light to register the fan blade movement, but the blades are moving so fast, it just causes a totally 'blurred' wall which may look translucent in the photo.

Since you did not attach a photo sample nor include any technical info like camera settings etc, we cannot tell anything.

All the best.

 

[cythomas83]

The reason why you are seeing only frozen fan blades could be because there is not enough ambient light to register the movement of the fan blades - cause the blur effect. Try increasing your ISO and decreasing your shutter speed while maintaining the same aperture value. Best to adjust shutter speed and aperture in manual exposure mode.

One other possibility is that there IS enough light to register the fan blade movement, but the blades are moving so fast, it just causes a totally 'blurred' wall which may look translucent in the photo.

Since you did not attach a photo sample nor include any technical info like camera settings etc, we cannot tell anything.

All the best.

my setting is iso100 in a room with yellow light...using f2.8 and i tried many of shutter speed like 3sec-20sec...using 580exii in rear curtain sync setting...the result came out is just the frozen fan blade..i din turn the fan so fast...only set it at power 3...

 

[Dream Merchant]

Sorry, but we can't be of much help because we don't have an actual photo to try and see what's the possible problem.

 

[dingaroo]

my setting is iso100 in a room with yellow light...using f2.8 and i tried many of shutter speed like 3sec-20sec...using 580exii in rear curtain sync setting...the result came out is just the frozen fan blade..i din turn the fan so fast...only set it at power 3...

Sorry, but we can't be of much help because we don't have an actual photo to try and see what's the possible problem.

"A picture is worth a thousand words!"

 

[cythomas83]

i think i know the problem is...my fan is white colour n so do the background...maybe this is the problem..
hmm i deleted all the photos coz i m mad tat time...sry...

maybe u guys can share with me normally wat setting u will use in read curtain sync...thx..

 

[WhiteOak]

I don't know much about canon, but I think you need to set your rear curtain sync on your camera as well..

 

[cythomas83]

I don't know much about canon, but I think you need to set your rear curtain sync on your camera as well..

if nt wrong..while i set my flash to rear curtain n my camera also will become rear curtain setting...point me if i m wrong...thx

 

[Reportage]

i think i know the problem is...my fan is white colour n so do the background...maybe this is the problem..
hmm i deleted all the photos coz i m mad tat time...sry...

maybe u guys can share with me normally wat setting u will use in read curtain sync...thx..

simply take again with the settings you used and post here with the exif. we can help you better that way.

 

[ZerocoolAstra]

a flash is an instantaneous burst of light, and with it you're trying to capture movement... I sense a problem here.

with rear curtain sync, your camera (should) exposes for the ambient lighting, then supplements it with a burst of light from the flash at the end of the exposure, to freeze motion.
So naturally I would expect the fan blades to be frozen if they're not moving faster than the burst of light.
What's your issue then? I don't quite understand what you're trying to achieve. If it's movement, why not use tripod with long exposure, and forget about the flash?

 

[ed9119]

i set it to rear curtain in my flash ....

i tot that rear curtain sync is set on the camera ?

 

[Edwin Francis]

1. 3-20 sec sounds way too long for something like this -- even a ceiling fan at slow will have turned several times, leaving you with an image of a translucent disc, as DM pointed out. You need a shutter speed during which the blades turn a small part of the complete revolution, say 15°?
2. For the blades of a fan, 1st or 2nd curtain is pretty much irrelevant -- it'll just look as if it's rotating in the opp direction
3. White on white IS a problem -- whatever ghost trail you achieve will probably be overpowered by the background when the flash fires. If you're talking about a ceiling fan, the solution is probably not practical (paint the ceiling black). Trying this on a table/floor fan is prob not a good idea cause there is very little gap between the blades.

I'd suggest if you wanna experiment with slow sync / rear curtain flash, you go out one night with a willing friend, camera, lens, flash and tripod. Find a nice clear space near a lamp post (ambient light), with a dark / distant background. Treat it as 2 exposures, one for the ghost trail, one for the solid image. Go full manual on both ambient and flash power. Once you've got both exposures the way you want, combine them in one exposure.
You can do it all at one go (the ambient and flash exposures) -- I'm suggesting separating them as a learning exercise.

 

[cythomas83]

1. 3-20 sec sounds way too long for something like this -- even a ceiling fan at slow will have turned several times, leaving you with an image of a translucent disc, as DM pointed out. You need a shutter speed during which the blades turn a small part of the complete revolution, say 15°?
2. For the blades of a fan, 1st or 2nd curtain is pretty much irrelevant -- it'll just look as if it's rotating in the opp direction
3. White on white IS a problem -- whatever ghost trail you achieve will probably be overpowered by the background when the flash fires. If you're talking about a ceiling fan, the solution is probably not practical (paint the ceiling black). Trying this on a table/floor fan is prob not a good idea cause there is very little gap between the blades.

I'd suggest if you wanna experiment with slow sync / rear curtain flash, you go out one night with a willing friend, camera, lens, flash and tripod. Find a nice clear space near a lamp post (ambient light), with a dark / distant background. Treat it as 2 exposures, one for the ghost trail, one for the solid image. Go full manual on both ambient and flash power. Once you've got both exposures the way you want, combine them in one exposure.
You can do it all at one go (the ambient and flash exposures) -- I'm suggesting separating them as a learning exercise.

thx edwin...i will give it a try :thumbsup: