Fuji X100 – Super High Speed Sync!
Today I discovered another of my new Fuji X100′s unique powers. Its leaf shutter has the ability to sync with a flash unit at an ambient-crushing 1/1000 of a second. My D700, by comparison, has a maximum sync speed of 1/250th (you can go higher, but it dramatically cuts your speedlight’s effective power).
With a sync speed so high, I can compete with noon day ambient with a single flash gun and use wider apertures for shallower depth of field, something I couldn’t possibly do with my D700 without much more powerful lights. I tested out this really cool feature today, connecting one of my SB-900 flashes to my X100 with a sync cable (above). For the shots below, however, not only was the SB-900 running light through its dome diffuser, but also through a softbox with two more layers of diffusion material. Despite the bright, harsh sunlight (we took these pictures at around high noon) and all that extra diffusion cutting the flash power, I was still getting my exposures the way I wanted them.
Notice the aperture settings below. To give me even more control over the ambient while using as wide an aperture as possible, I activated the X100′s built-in 3-stop neutral density filter:
Fuji X100 – 23mm 1/1,000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200
Of course, there’s no TTL communication between the SB unit and the camera, so everything here is manually set. I pegged the shutter speed at 1/1000 to give me a wide aperture, and simply adjusted my flash power/distance to taste (flash output was between 1/8 and 1/1 power for these images).
Fuji X100 – 23mm 1/1,000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200
Fuji X100 – 23mm 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200
Never thought I could saturate a noon-day sky so much at such wide apertures while using a single hotshoe flash (through several layers of diffusion!) to light my subject. The results are pretty surreal. Suki, however, is obviously not amused.
Fuji X100 – 23mm 1/1,000 sec, f/4, ISO 200
Sorry Suki.
Fuji X100 - 1/1,000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200
Wow, I thought I loved the X100 before I discovered it can sync at such a high shutter speed. Now I’m utterly head over heels for this camera. =)
See more on Flickr!
I’m amazed at how you bring out the X100′s full potential. Nicely done. I could definitely learn a lot from you
solarsanction
June 11, 2011 at 8:44 pm
wow…. so amazing you can get the blue sky when shooting wide open! I’m impressed. That’s a sick little camera!
Jasmine Lee
June 11, 2011 at 9:13 pm
oooh that’s what makes this look so unreal — the bokeh + blue sky in daylight! normally you don’t see that. how awesome! i need to take some lessons from you about all this lighting business.
Jacqueline
June 11, 2011 at 10:10 pm
this all sounds very cool, and i need a lesson from you about flash/lighting too!
Karleen
June 11, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Very surreal, almost looks artificial.
sibokk
June 12, 2011 at 1:35 am
Leaf shutter has always been this way and has been an advantage for years making it is easy and nice. The D700 though does sync to 1/8000 in FP250 and FP350. FP350 does cut power though.
Jim Dell
June 12, 2011 at 3:01 am
These portraits of the dog look absolutely beautiful. I love the sky in the background.. the color really shines through and it amazing. Very nice.
Kay aka Babygirl
June 12, 2011 at 11:36 am
Absolutely gorgeous. Perfect like it was keyed-in.
howie221
June 12, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Before I read this post, I thought these shots were from your D700. Brilliant job improvising with the flash and look forward to hearing more about the x100.
John
June 12, 2011 at 9:49 pm
i’ve been lurking on your blog after it came up in my reader’s explore. just thought i’d say hi and shamelessly admit that i squealed with delight and pretty much died at the three shiba stars post. love.
Alice
June 13, 2011 at 10:51 am
Thanks for stopping by Alice! I go crazy over that post too =P
Appreciate the comments everyone!
Jonathan
June 13, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Wow, they look great. Just got my X100! Have a Canon 550 EX flash and would like to have a go too. What cable have you used to sync? Would it work for my flash? Love your photos and technique. Cheers.
Michael Hinds
June 14, 2011 at 4:44 am
Thank you! I’m not familiar with Canon flash guns, so I’m not sure if it would work, but I used a Nikon SC-29 sync cable to trigger the flash.
Jonathan
June 14, 2011 at 8:00 am
Thanks for the info and the great blog of course. Cheers.
Michael Hinds
June 18, 2011 at 3:40 am
I tried using the Canon OC-E3 cord with a Canon 550 EX and it worked to 1/4000th.
Paul
July 23, 2011 at 7:43 pm
Cool! Can I see the result?
Jonathan
July 23, 2011 at 8:59 pm
That would work with the X100 or are they only for Nikon/Canon cameras?
Mike
January 22, 2012 at 8:33 pm
great shots, the x100 is an amazing camera, just after taking shots on the beach with the smaller sb800 and I can tell you its time Nikon Leica an Canon offered leaf shutter lenses…..
vicmac64
June 16, 2011 at 4:03 am
Is there a reason why you’re avoiding f/2.0?
Ryuji - boston photog
June 21, 2011 at 9:01 pm
I shoot at f/2 a lot with the X100, but in this case f/2 wasn’t giving me a dark enough background for my taste at max sync speed. I stopped down to f/2.8 and smaller to bring the ambient down further.
Jonathan
June 21, 2011 at 9:55 pm
These are really impressive shots, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the IQ of the camera compared to what I’ve seen on other review sites. You may have just helped Fuji with another sale.. good job!!
Zarek Rahman
June 23, 2011 at 6:29 am
[...] wrote a post a while back that covered the X100′s ability to sync with my SB-900 flashgun at crazy high shutter speeds. That high speed sync helps the camera’s tiny, relatively low-powered built-in flash as well, [...]
Fuji X100 : Intelligent Flash « Jonathan Fleming's Blog
July 11, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Just curious which flash bracket are you using? is it travel friendly?
same question with your soft box!
Love your shots!
JD
July 12, 2011 at 6:57 am
Thanks! Used a 24″ Lastolite EZY Box for this series of images. The set comes with a bracket and extendable handle to attach your flash to. It collapses down very small so yes, definitely a nice portable solution.
Jonathan
July 12, 2011 at 3:20 pm
Great shots! Even more amazing than the performance of the X100 is your ability to get Suki to sit still! My Shiba Inu would be half-way to the horizon if I took her out for a photo session…
Jay
July 17, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Hmmm, you might be interested in my latest post: http://jonathanfleming.wordpress.com/2011/07/23/suki-unleashed/
Jonathan
July 23, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Hi! can you share what brand of sync cable are you using?
Michael Sy
August 10, 2011 at 3:27 am
I already did in a comment above, but again it’s a Nikon SC-29
Jonathan
August 10, 2011 at 7:22 am
Nice post. I’ve got the same 24″ Lastolite Ezybox hotshoe so will most definitely have to give this a try with my X100. Guess I’ll need to get myself synch cable tomorrow. It’ll give me something to play with until my D700 gets back from Nikon, as well as a lighter package to run round with when I wnt to leave the big old’ DSLR at home.
Jacques
December 1, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Hi Jonathan, I stumbled upon your blog a few days ago and have read almost every post! It’s informative and your shots are beautiful. Not to mention, I love San Francisco (one of my favorite cities), dogs and photography so your blog is a real treat! I’ve never been a fan of flash photography, mostly because I really do not understand how to do it properly so I haven’t experimented with it more than using the pop up/intelligent flash on my cameras, but your posts on the subject, and your tips and tricks are really interesting and the results are perfect. I just wanted to ask if this set up that you have up there (with the SB900 and SC-29 cable) works on P&S particularly the Fuji X10 (cause that’s my newest baby and I love it!) I’d be really interested to try out all your flash tips on it.
Bianca
December 22, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Hi Bianca! Thanks for stopping by and checking my blog out. The X10 has a hotshoe like the X100 does, so I imagine it should work with the sync cable and SB unit just fine, but I can’t say for sure because I haven’t tried it myself.
Jonathan
December 23, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I love these shots – especially the 1st as Suki is beautifully ‘connected’ to the overall picture. Certainly a technique I will try with my X100.
MaxS
January 18, 2012 at 10:02 am
Jonathan,
I keep referring to this blog post as I consider buying a Fuji x100. I am really into using large diffused flash outdoors. Currently using the Nikon HSS system with 4 SB800′s in a nice, but pricy Foursquare softbox.The harsh California is brutal when you can’t choose they time of day to shoot your subjects.
I also have a handful of fabulous Leica M mount lenses from my newspaper days that I’m wondering if they will work on an x100. Do you or any of your blog followers have experience with the old (circa 1970..I bought them used) Leica lenses such as my 21mm Super-Angulon-M f/3.4 or Summicrons? I know they lens coatings weren’t that great back then, a potential issue in backlit situations, but the sharpness and lack of distortion was amazing.
Thanks.
Don
PS: beautiful dog!
Don
February 24, 2012 at 10:17 am
Don,
Thanks for the comment! The X100 is not an interchangeable lens camera. The 23mm lens it has is built right into it. However, if you don’t mind the cost, the upcoming Fuji XPRO-1 will take a Leica M mount adapter. That may be the camera you’re after.
Jonathan
February 24, 2012 at 10:32 am
These are really impressive. Thank you.
Scott
March 5, 2012 at 2:19 pm
you should read your manual of the d700 again, because all nikons sync to 1/8000 of a second (at least the higher end models do) -
str4wman
March 15, 2012 at 10:55 am
And you should read the first paragraph of my post again
At shutter speeds above 1/250th on my D700, I can only sync with my speedlights if I use Auto-FP high speed sync, which switches the lights to a lower-energy mode of dissipation. The effective range of the flash is therefore dramatically reduced. So while my Nikon can sync at higher shutter speeds, the true maximum sync speed of the camera is still 1/250th. The Fuji, on the other hand, will sync at much higher speeds without a penalty in effective flash power.
Jonathan
March 15, 2012 at 11:21 am
I just assumed the d700 can sync like a d1x up to 500 and from there it will sync with an electronical shutter to 8000. (or even 16000) I also think that the early nikon amateur cameras also had this feature but I’m not sure about this.
I also know that the fuji syncs up to 1000 because of the electronic shutter since almoust any digicam syncs up to 1/500.
str4wman
March 16, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Great article and good comments! I am not sure if I understood this correctly: If I would connect my 430EXII with an off camera cord to my X100, the speedlite works in manual mode? But then it should also work if I mount the speedlite directly on the X100 hotshoe, or am I wrong? Something has to trigger the canon flash…Thanks for any answer!
infonist
March 20, 2012 at 9:15 am
I haven’t tried it with Canon flashes, but I found that if I connect my SB-900 to the X100 directly, it does indeed fire just as it does when I connect it via the sync cable.
Jonathan
March 20, 2012 at 9:20 am
Alright. I just remembered that I mounted my speedlite already once directly on the X100 , and the flash fired, but the flash light was way to intense. Probably the flash wasn’t set to manual mode or it was set to full power, I can’t remember. Anyway, I will try again and write some feedback here! Thanks so far.
infonist
March 20, 2012 at 9:38 am
So I tried it and it just works fine! 430EXII mounted on the X100, no problem! Just set the X100 to external flash….
infonist
March 25, 2012 at 1:30 pm
Love your post. Thank you.
I own a x100 and in need of a flash gun. Can you recommend one please? You sound like the guy in the know.
Thanks
Chris
Chris
March 25, 2012 at 1:19 pm
You can certainly get Fuji’s own or try to use one from another camera you use. If you’re not sure yet just get a cheap one you can experiment with for a while =)
Jonathan
April 6, 2012 at 12:31 pm
Hi Jonathan,
Its nice to come across your blog about Finepix X100 using Nikon Flash + Off-camera Flash cord !!
I just got my hand on the X100 and I would like to explore more on Off-cam flash on it.
ummmm ….I’m not quite familiar with manual flash unit settings; could you give me some advice about settings? e.g. Manual mode, Adjust Flash Output to 1/8 … more on this info?
More important … how to determine the Flash output power? based on … distance? iso?
My family have Nikon SB-800 & Off-camera flash cord ( non Infra red one) that I can use it for experiment !!
Ultimately … I hope I can get familiar within with hi-speed sync mode !
Thx
Peter
Peter K.
April 4, 2012 at 12:39 am
Hi Peter,
If you want to get super predictable results, you could use an external light meter to get your flash settings right when using a setup like I describe above. This works for very controlled settings. In my case, chasing my dog around a park? I just guess what the power needs to be. I usually get pretty close =)
Jonathan
April 6, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Thx Jonathan,
May I ask you a bit more?
I tried using Finepix X100 with Nikon sc-17 (cord) and try Nikon SB 26 & SB 800.
Unfortunately … this combinations seems not working.
Later I tested using Nikon D2H with sc-17 and both flash(s) and confirmed both are working.
( I believed direct mount the flash to X100 should not work either )
I am just wondering … is there any settings required in X100 in order to use non-Fuji flash( I believe not )?
Checked that my X100 is still under firmware 1.01 ; does it required higher version to make this work??
Or … is it my X100 faulty?
Any clue to share?
Peter
Peter K.
April 8, 2012 at 10:26 am
Hi Jonathan,
At last, I found an old PANASONIC FLASH ( with Manual & Auto only ) … I tested again with SC-17 and no working. But I mount it to X100 directly ; seem working. So it seems this SC-17 compatibility issue.
Again, Nikon D2h + SC-17 + SB-800 or SB-26 = WORKING. And it is just not working with X100.
Sorry my mistake again.
Peter
Peter K.
April 9, 2012 at 7:47 am
Peter, good to know! Glad you got everything going =)
Jonathan
April 11, 2012 at 10:52 am
In fact, you can push it to 1/4000; it wont work at f/stops wider than f/8, but it can be done. My “go-to” ambient killing set up with the X100 is to use a long off-camera cable, with the camera set to 1/4000, f/8, ISO200. This is 2 stops below “sunny 16″, and a single speedlight in a umbrella at ~4-6 feet can give me f/8. If I shoot a bit later in the day, I can get 1/2000, f/5.6 or even f/4, which is a breeze for small flash.
Since I love the 35mm (equiv.) focal length anyway, this is becoming my camera-of-choice for off-camera lighting. The only wrinkle here is that my Pocketwizards will only give me 1/1000; if I want the extra 2 stops of ambient killing shutter speed, I have to go wired.
edge100
April 28, 2012 at 8:47 am
Hi, Jonathan
I love your photos. Just one quick question. Is 1/1000 the maximum x-speed achievable with internal flash? Can you go even higher?
wonblee
May 11, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Thanks for the comment! I’ve actually had the built-in flash sync to 1/2000, so you you can indeed go higher.
Jonathan
May 14, 2012 at 10:12 am
i could totally see myself shooting on the street with flash like that. But then how am I gonna sip coffee without a free hand. That’s something to think about ;P
Nice dog!!
Alan P.
May 18, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Interesting comments,,,,
free yourself from the cord,,, i tried this with my elinchrom Skyport transmitter and receiver with a canon 580 ex flash and it works a treat,,,,,
Mark Betts
May 24, 2012 at 12:22 pm