Flash photography tip: Using flash at faster shutter speeds

Friday 21 March 2025, 15:30 by Elja Trum | 2,496 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Want to take flash photos with a faster shutter speed than your camera's flash synchronisation speed? Use your flash's High Speed Sync feature.

Isabelle - f/2.8, 1/1.000s, 160 ISO @ 50mm
At a higher shutter speed, the shutter moves across your sensor like a slit. The first curtain opens to expose your sensor, but the second curtain follows directly behind it to cover the sensor again.

If you used flash at a faster shutter speed, only part of the image would be lit by the flash.

With high-speed sync, your flash does not fire just once to expose your sensor, but several times in rapid succession. Each time, part of the sensor is exposed, eventually producing a properly exposed photo.

One disadvantage of high-speed sync is that it uses more power and that the maximum output of your flash is lower, roughly one stop less powerful.

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