Are you kidding me.......Another flash head

[ChadS]

@ChadS - I think Bob is trying to eliminate wing blur. I'm guessing that Bob mis-typed in his post - he didn't mean "1/64th of a second," he meant 1/64 flash power setting. That's the minimum power setting for the flash. Capacitor-driven strobes don't have variable intensities - when they're on, they're on at 100%; when you use lower power, what you're getting is shorter duration of light - that's needed to eliminate the wing blur (the duration of a full-power flash is too long). So, to overcome ambient light but still maintain the shortest possible flash duration, you need more flashes.

Thanks Neuro that makes total sense to me. (it would help to know that one of the projects I'm working on is imaging 10 micron particles moving at 100 m/s with micron resolution). What's the time frame of a full strobe? How repeatable is the interval at 1/64 does anyone know? I ask because LEDs can be switched at 1-10 microsecond speeds quite easily (1-10/1,000,000). An array of them soft-box-sized and aimed at the feeder should do the trick. The trick is getting them all to turn on (and off) at the same time. However, this is not really that hard to do.

[neuroanatomist]

What's the time frame of a full strobe? How repeatable is the interval at 1/64 does anyone know?

No idea for the 430EX II. I ran across this table for the 580EX some time back:

Courtesy of photosbykev, the flash durations of a 580EX are:

full power = 1/1000 s
1/2 power = 1/2000 s
1/4 power = 1/4000 s
1/8 power = 1/9000 s
1/16 power = 1/15000 s
1/32 power = 1/21000 s
1/64 power = 1/30000 s
1/128 power = 1/35000 s

So.. I don't know if you knew.. but I work for Microsoft.. I was totally on a conference call with some big wigs when I peeked at this.. they were discussing our numbers and wondering what went wrong. I laughed! Most. Uncomfortable. Silence. EVER.

LOL. Sorry, Rocco. My bad. But...that's what you get for peeking at a forum while you're supposed to be working (typed John on one Mac as he occasionally glances at an Interwise presentation on his other Mac while he listens to the conference audio on a cordless earpiece on mute, while chewing his lunch...).

[ChadS]

Bob, when's hummingbird season? If 1/128 power is 28 microseconds then we've got a ton of room to play with in terms of freezing wing flight - 5 microsecond pulses are quite easy (I just looked up that a signal generator we build into one of our instruments makes 10 ns pulse trains using LEDs). Granted, high-speed LEDs are expensive - maybe $0.10 each? Of course, we're talking all manual flash - no TTL metering. Send me a pm if you're interested. This could be a fun side project.

[HDNitehawk]

This thread started out with Bob’s 430 ex II addiction. But I see with other people it is already exposing other types of addictions as well. These problems might run deeper than they first appear.....

[Sean Setters]

This thread started out with Bob’s 430 ex II addiction. But I see with other people it is already exposing other types of addictions as well. These problems might run deeper than they first appear.....

Of course, I'm reading the thread while sipping on my 4th cup of coffee, too...

[ChadS]

@Sean is 4 cups of coffee considered a lot? Uh oh...

[Jayson]

There is a 5-step program to help all of you ....

1. Place item in box
2. Drive to Post Office
3. Allow clerk to release box from your grip
4. Mail to Kenosha, WI
5. Go home and repeat the above

Fee free to call me if you need any help getting through all of the steps, I love helping friends in need!!

Very much looking forward to seeing those new hb photos, Bob!!

That was exactly what was going through my mind...different address of course.

[bouwy]

Ps: You might need a "always wear eye-protection" sign at your door to avoid photokeratitis

LOL

[bouwy]

Ps: You might need a "always wear eye-protection" sign at your door to avoid photokeratitis LOL

[Steve U]

I'm pretty sure there are support groups for compulsive flashers.