Hasselblad Flash Question

[The Smoking Camera]

I have a Hasselblad flash question or two.

For studio and location work I use Profoto D1's with my H4d-40. Pretty simple to sync at 1/800.

Now I am looking for a portable, lightweight high speed flash setup beyond the built in on-camera flash. Would be used for travel or as a lightweight option to my D1's and battery pack. I need recommendations on a flash unit and radio triggers to give me the highest sync speed possible. My understanding is there exist synch speed limitations with some triggers.

Thanks you.

 

[fotografz]

Most flash triggers max out at 1/250th with Focal Plane shutters, and 1/500th with Leaf Shutter lenses. You can push past that but began losing exposure and produce vignetting with Leaf Shutter lenses. I think the Profoto AIR can provide up to 1/1500 Leaf Shutter Speed ... and the new Hensel Porty L has a Profoto AIR receiver.

IMO, the best location battery pack now available is the Hensel Porty 1200L that recycles in 0.95 full pop to 0.2 sec @ minimum pop ... and EH Pro Mini 1200-P Speed Heads that can provide up to 1/8100 flash duration. Hensel claims 450 pops @ full 1200 w/s, which is amazing from a battery unit. It features three different built-in radio receivers including Hensel's Strobe Wizard, Profoto AIR, and Freemask. All three allow control of the lighting from the camera. Hensel is light on information regarding the functionality of the Freemask unit so I don't know the sync speeds with Leaf Shutter lenses.

I personally use Elinchrom Quadra's which are fairly limited compared to the Hensel Porty L, but are very small ... the heads are smaller than a speed-light and tiny enough to put in your pocket. 400 w/s @ 1/500th is okay unless you want to overpower bright sun, or totally eliminate mix ambient by increasing the shutter speed a lot and increasing the flash output as the sole source of light while stopped down. The Elinchrom Speed Radio unit can do up to 1/250th with Focal Plane shutters, so I assume it can do 1/500th with Leaf Shutters. If I need more I have to hard wire sync to the box. the Quadra modifier mount is toy like, and the modifiers available that can actually be used on the Quadra heads pales in comparison to the Hensel array of options.

-Marc

 

[The Smoking Camera]

Thanks Marc,
Can always count on you for a detailed, thorough and well written response. I wasn't clear perhaps, but I am more interested in a smaller lighter travel option such as on camera flash and the option of off camera triggering. However, I do wish to preserver high speed 1/800 sync for outdoor shooting. I believe you use Metz flashes. Is this the way to go? Thanks again.

 

[fotografz]

Thanks Marc,
Can always count on you for a detailed, thorough and well written response. I wasn't clear perhaps, but I am more interested in a smaller lighter travel option such as on camera flash and the option of off camera triggering. However, I do wish to preserver high speed 1/800 sync for outdoor shooting. I believe you use Metz flashes. Is this the way to go? Thanks again.

My bad, I missed the "built-in" part of the beyond the built-in on-camera flash and read "beyond on-camera flash".

No answer for that. I use a Metz in the hot shoe for fill stuff, once in a while a Metz handle mount with its off-camera cord ... but have never used a speed light with a radio receiver with the H.

I do use a speed-light on a handle grip with my S2 ... the trigger is the Elinchrom Speed set ... but I don't have any of the Leaf Shutter lenses for that camera yet so it is 1/125th shutter until then. You have to set the speed-light to A or Manual ... obviously there is no TTL.

I suppose the same set-up would work for the H to provide up to 1/500th sync.

-Marc

 

[dick]

I use a Metz in the hot shoe for fill stuff, once in a while a Metz handle mount with its off-camera cord

-Marc

I use one Metz with the off-camera cord below the lens as fill-in and the other three wireless from that one as main/background etc.

 

[fotografz]

I use one Metz with the off-camera cord below the lens as fill-in and the other three wireless from that one as main/background etc.

Are the wireless triggers the Metz optical ones? How are you configuring/triggering the off-camera speed-lights?

This is why I finally went with the Quadra for a small off-camera set-up. By the time you buy all the speed-lights and separate batteries to power them it's almost as much money and almost the same bulk ... plus, it was beating up the speed-lights pretty badly. Many just shut down after a series of fast shots.

I just remembered that I do use a Sunpack 120J bare bulb off-camera set-up from time-to-time. A diffused Metz MZ with the Hassey TTL module in the hot shoe for fill, and a radio trigger hardwired to the H sync port on the side (I use a Kirk-Grip with an ARCA QR to hold the radio transmitter). Actually any off-camera flash could be used as long as it was plugged into a radio receiver.

Marc

 

[benton1]

Actually any off-camera flash could be used as long as it was plugged into a radio receiver.

Marc

That was also my experience when trying this last week. I used an older Nikon SB80 and triggered it using a radio trigger. I could sync up to 1/800th but was losing some light - not sure if this came from the trigger, the shutter or the flash

Regards

Marcus

 

[dick]

Are the wireless triggers the Metz optical ones? How are you configuring/triggering the off-camera speed-lights?

Marc

I think they are radio - you wire one to the sync socket, set it up as master, and set the others up as slaves.... all TTL.

 

[Dustbak]

I use the TTL5's & Mini TTL1 made by pocketwizard together with SB900's. No problem syncing up to 1/800th.

Additional advantage is radio enabled CLS flash system for my Nikon (up to 1/much with FP flashing) which is totally rocking!

I have used Skyport together with the SB's which did cause about a stop of light loss. Sofar the Pocketwizards appear to be better but frankly I don't pay that much attention to things like that. If it works, it works which it does. With the Elinchrom you get used to this, sofar I have not had the feeling I needed to compensate with the Pocketwizards.

The Quadra's are awesome. I have 2 of them and must agree with Marc. I will be receiving a Profoto B600Air somewhere this week (slowly moving from Elinchrom to Profoto). This is also a very compact, yet sturdy thing but only supports one head. Thing is that I used the Quadra with 1 head most of the time too.

No experience yet with the Air, next week more. I loathe the fact I will soon have 3 different systems that all have their shortcomings and none of them is interchangeable (Pocketwizard, Air & Skyport). To make matters worse is that the software of each manufacturer will 'kill' the software of the other...

 

[The Smoking Camera]

Thank everyone.

So Dustbak, you use Pocket Wizard TTL5's and a Mini TTL1 for Nikon on your Hasselblad? And you can fire several Sb-900's remotely up to 1/800 sec? And this is all using TTL rather than manual settings on your flash units? Do you ever attach a Sb-900 or other flash directly to your Hasselblad?

Thanks again.

 

[Dustbak]

Ho, Stop! No... no TTL on the Hasselblad. All manual on the Hasselblad. I would not want it any other way.

On the Nikon it works full TTL and together with the AC3 you can set zones that you can control remotely. Even with the Nikon I sometimes override the TTL system and go all manual.

I have tried using a SB800 directly on the H2F/CF39. It doesn't like it. It actually crashed my body. You apparently need an adapter to do so. I have not used a camera mounted flash in years so I did not really mind not be able to mount it on the Hasselblad.

 

[The Smoking Camera]

Thanks Dustbak. Got a little carried away. Sounds like the PocketWizard tt5 and mini tt1 along with a Nikon flash is a lightweight travel option that offers off-camera sync speeds of 1/800.

Ho, Stop! No... no TTL on the Hasselblad. All manual on the Hasselblad. I would not want it any other way.

On the Nikon it works full TTL and together with the AC3 you can set zones that you can control remotely. Even with the Nikon I sometimes override the TTL system and go all manual.

I have tried using a SB800 directly on the H2F/CF39. It doesn't like it. It actually crashed my body. You apparently need an adapter to do so. I have not used a camera mounted flash in years so I did not really mind not be able to mount it on the Hasselblad.

 

[Dustbak]

You do have to install the latest beta firmware version into the Mini TT1 to be able to use it on the Hasselblad.

 

[fotografz]

You do have to install the latest beta firmware version into the Mini TT1 to be able to use it on the Hasselblad.

Yeah, I tried the Mini and it didn't work so I sent it back ... didn't know about the beta firmware until it was too late.

I just wanted to fire my Profoto studio strobes without the big standard PWs ... and gain 1/800th over the 1/500th which I never got to test.

-Marc

 

[fotografz]

I think they are radio - you wire one to the sync socket, set it up as master, and set the others up as slaves.... all TTL.

I'd double check that Dick. If it is the Metz Wireless TTL it is optical as far as I know. This is based on using the Metz 3083 Digital & film camera Slave Module.

-Marc

 

[fotografz]

I use the TTL5's & Mini TTL1 made by pocketwizard together with SB900's. No problem syncing up to 1/800th.

Additional advantage is radio enabled CLS flash system for my Nikon (up to 1/much with FP flashing) which is totally rocking!

I have used Skyport together with the SB's which did cause about a stop of light loss. Sofar the Pocketwizards appear to be better but frankly I don't pay that much attention to things like that. If it works, it works which it does. With the Elinchrom you get used to this, sofar I have not had the feeling I needed to compensate with the Pocketwizards.

The Quadra's are awesome. I have 2 of them and must agree with Marc. I will be receiving a Profoto B600Air somewhere this week (slowly moving from Elinchrom to Profoto). This is also a very compact, yet sturdy thing but only supports one head. Thing is that I used the Quadra with 1 head most of the time too.

No experience yet with the Air, next week more. I loathe the fact I will soon have 3 different systems that all have their shortcomings and none of them is interchangeable (Pocketwizard, Air & Skyport). To make matters worse is that the software of each manufacturer will 'kill' the software of the other...

This is why I am eyeing the Hensel Porty 1200L unit and am trying to hold out for it ... it has three switchable radio receivers including Profoto AIR. I believe the AIR is advertised as syncing to 1/500th with Leaf Shutters ... but I've seen higher numbers quoted for sync with the Phase One system with Leaf shutter lenses, so I don't know how that is implemented.

The important part of the AIR is distance compared to other radio systems that allow control from the camera ... the Hensel Strobe Wizard isn't so hot.

I pretty much use the Quadra as a stand alone solution for wedding photography/portraits and have 2 boxes/4 outlets, with 5 heads ... mostly for group portraits which I am not all that fond of ... so I like to light them well to avoid post work later for that type of necessary photography. The 5th head is always mounted in a beauty dish on a light stick for roaming work with an assistant.

One thing I do have to comment on ... I previously used the H with radio triggered Nikon SB900s (I also had a D3X at the time), and when using them on full manual to overcome bright lighting conditions, the speed-lights frequently shut down on me, and it took 15 minutes before I could use them again. They were simply being over-used for these kind of lighting scenarios.

-Marc