Fuji GFX Flash Sync and Lighting

[markymarkrb]

Forum,

I am looking at purchasing a basic lighting system to supplement my portrait photography with the GFX50s. I am a landscape photographer so please excuse my lack of knowledge on this stuff. I know the sync speed is not good on the GFX but I have heard that people have had luck with up to 1/4000th of a second with the Roboshoot MX-20/RX-20. I am looking at getting that with a Rotolight AEOS. Nothing super fancy but just enough to supplement natural lighting. Is this all I need? Would this setup even work with the GFX? Point me in the right direction.


Thanks,
Mark

Mark Benson Reeder Fine Art Photography

 

[jdphoto]

I'm not shooting with the GFX, but for me, having a high flash sync up to 1/500th, allows me to balance the ambient light and use fast lenses wide open. The idea being the wider aperture creates a shallow DOF. Much more flattering for portraits. However, I'm also shooting film with the Pentax 67 with it's 1/30th sec. flash sync. The Rotolight Aeos is a great option, but not as powerful as a strobe. They're cool to the touch and you can get very close to the model. You could use ND filters on the GFX to achieve the shallow DOF with its rated flash sync. I think you can turn off preview in the EVF and compose normally with the ND's attached. There are many new lighting products coming online that seem to mitigate the slow sync issue. Have fun, lighting adds such an amazing new dimension to photography. It'll unleash your creativity.

 

[PSon]

Another option is to use leaf shutter if you already have the Hasselblad HC lens. This option offers 1/800s flash sync which allow you to combat the Sun at full strobe power and at the same time attenuate the diffraction phenomenon.

 

[iiiNelson]

I believe Godox/Flashpoint/CheetahStands recently announced the Fuji trigger that should allow HSS/TTL with their flash system.

 

[mjr]

Morning

For what it's worth, I shoot the GFX with a big set of Hensel strobes in the studio and on location and haven't had an issue with the sync speed, I guess it depends on what you want to shoot. I don't do leaping athletes in bright backlit sun balancing with strobes wide open, if I did then maybe I'd have an issue but have found that because the evf can be switched from showing the exposure to just showing a bright image, that using an ND filter is no issue either.

I think that it's easy when looking at specs to think that things will be a problem but actually it's not always the case, best to really nail down what you want to shoot and get a kit that allows you to do that. Experimenting the other day I switched from using the strobes to just using the modelling light at full power wide open and didn't trigger the flash at all, just bumped the ISO and used a faster shutter speed, again that wouldn't work in direct sun but there are lots of creative options to work around the sync speed, including adapting leaf shutter lenses as mentioned, I'm not a big fan of adapters personally but there are options.

Good luck!

Mat

 

[Schmiddi]

I believe Godox/Flashpoint/CheetahStands recently announced the Fuji trigger that should allow HSS/TTL with their flash system.

Hello,
they did - but only Fuji X- is listed so far, the GFX is not in the list. In case the flash-system is the same as in X-Pro and such, it should work anyway. But I would try before buying...
Besides that, I use the Godox AD600B on my Sony - it's a great system.
Best regards,
Andreas

 

[markymarkrb]

Thanks for all of the responses. I am watching now to see how the Gotox X1T-F performs with the camera. I hope that it is successful with HSS on the GFX.

 

[iiiNelson]

Hello,
they did - but only Fuji X- is listed so far, the GFX is not in the list. In case the flash-system is the same as in X-Pro and such, it should work anyway. But I would try before buying...
Besides that, I use the Godox AD600B on my Sony - it's a great system.
Best regards,
Andreas

Pretty sure they use the same TTL system.