Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A fast camera requires a fast strobe. the speed at which a strobe fires from start to finish is called it's "flash duration." Flash duration is something you don't hear about too often and those that have knowledge of it are either scientists, sports photographers, or high end beverage photographers that shoot "pour" images for the big bear and soda companies. But with the advent of the first global shutter camera, the Sony A9III, all of a sudden, flash duration might mean more to a greater group of photographers seeking to make images that were impossible just a year ago. Since the Sony A9III can be used at any shutter speed with flash, it opens up new opportunities for visually literate shooters. But even though the A9III can shoot at 1/80,000th of a second and with flash, the speed of the flash becomes of paramount importance. Speed-lights can produce very short flash durations but when you need to use multiple light sources inside of large modifiers outdoors, all of a sudden, speed-lights are not going to cut it. In this video I discuss older Elinchrom mono-block strobes in the Compact (600w/s) and Style (500w/s) series that have fantastically high or short flash durations. It is through using these strobes, in particular, that the A9III will really be able to show its stuff. I will be doing more videos in the future on this topic in arena situations to see just how little power is now needed to avoid all ambient light even in brightly lit LED sourced arenas for basketball and hockey.
A fast camera requires a fast strobe. the speed at which a strobe fires from start to finish is called it's "flash duration." Flash duration is something you don't hear about too often and those that have knowledge of it are either scientists, sports photographers, or high end beverage photographers that shoot "pour" images for the big bear and soda companies. But with the advent of the first global shutter camera, the Sony A9III, all of a sudden, flash duration might mean more to a greater group of photographers seeking to make images that were impossible just a year ago. Since the Sony A9III can be used at any shutter speed with flash, it opens up new opportunities for visually literate shooters. But even though the A9III can shoot at 1/80,000th of a second and with flash, the speed of the flash becomes of paramount importance. Speed-lights can produce very short flash durations but when you need to use multiple light sources inside of large modifiers outdoors, all of a sudden, speed-lights are not going to cut it. In this video I discuss older Elinchrom mono-block strobes in the Compact (600w/s) and Style (500w/s) series that have fantastically high or short flash durations. It is through using these strobes, in particular, that the A9III will really be able to show its stuff. I will be doing more videos in the future on this topic in arena situations to see just how little power is now needed to avoid all ambient light even in brightly lit LED sourced arenas for basketball and hockey.
