Earlier today, I posted the results of a test of the maximum synch speed of the Sony a7RII with both EFCS on and EFCS off. It appeared that the camera’s true synch speed was 1/200 second in both modes.
That got me wondering. Would the D810, with a specified synch speed of 1/320 second, fare about the same?
I put an AF-S 85mm f/1.4 Nikon G lens on a D810, and aimed the camera at a white wall in manual exposure mode and the aperture set to f/11. I connected the hot shoe directly (all copper, no IR or radio synch) to a Paul Buff Einstein and set the flash for a full 640 watt-second dump. I made exposures at 1/400, 1/320, and 1/250, with EFCS on and off.
The images:
About the same margin in both cases.
Just like the a7RII, the camera doesn’t quite meet its spec.
Cutting the camera a camera a little slack results in a nicely exposed image.
I have to ask myself, after being zero for two in finding a camera that meets its max synch speed spec, if there’s something wrong with my test. Yes, there is. For the answer look here.
The Olympus E-M1 is said to be above spec for sync speed, being rated to sync at 1/320, but actually being able to sync at 1/500.
I’ve tested my old E-M5 and found it similar: rated for 1/250, but being able to sync at 1/320.
> The Olympus E-M1 is said to be above spec for sync speed, being rated to sync at 1/320, but actually being able to sync at 1/500.
1/500 only if you are in 16:9 mode with flash on a hot shoe with cropping in raw conversion to that mode…
Also when I tested remote (radio, non TTL) firing with E-M1 ans A7mkI I got :
Olympus E-M1 + Cactus v5 radio /non TTL/to Cactus v5 + Yongnuo YN560 mk I = 1/320 xsync in 4:3 aspect w/o shutter blade shading
Sony A7 + Cactus v5 radio /non TTL/ to Cactus v5 + Yongnuo YN560 mk I = 1/250 xsync in 3:2 aspect w/o shutter blade shading