Can the canon 5D sync faster than 1/200th with a flash? I saw in the manual that it says it can, but how do you set it up to do that? is it in the flash (I have a 430 ex). I would like to use flash more outdoors with shallow depth of field, so in order to do that I need to be able to use a much faster shutter speed. Is this possible?

Yes, it can. You have to set the flash to high speed sync. It has a little squiggly arrow which indicates whether or not it's on. If you don't turn it on...it will stop at 1/200 sec.

I've never done it, but on camera, I believe you can, off camera however is a big fat "NO!"..........


you can synch outdoors at 1/250 if the ambient is high enough, like below...





there you go, Jennifer beat me to it AND answered it!

Yes as stated above the 420ex can do High Speed Sync on camera only since it can only be a wireless/slave unit and not a Master/Commander unit as the 550ex or both versions of the 580ex.

If you want to get high speed sync outdoor with wireless flash system, which in my book is much better than using pocket wizards, you will need to purchase a 550ex or one of the two versions of the 580ex units.


hope that helps!

Hi Mike:

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I was just wondering why you prefer the 580ex to the pocket wizards?
I've been contemplating getting the pocket wizards, becuase the infra red sensor really bugs me on the canons. It basically means that I can't light from around corners and I often find the damn thing ends up in the photo to get the shot I really want.

Hijack, Hijack J/K

Yes the IR has some major drawbacks but 90% of the time I personally do not need to shoot around corners or through walls PLUS the key to me is having the HighSpeed Sync allowing me to shoot outside at any time of the day with any amount of light and shoot at f/2.8. This gives me those beautiful blurry backgrounds which makes your simple snapshot with a huge depth of field background (as you would get with the PW) into a portrait.

Having 98% of TriCoast's Images shot with wireless IR flash those who say it can not be done I would love to talk to them. Yes it has drawbacks but so many people would rather not deal with the drawbacks and learn to overcome them and just goto the PW's. Again if it works for your business thats is great but the results you get with PW's simply are not what I want in our work, look much more non-professional IMO, so they simply do not work for me at all in the majority of our sessions.

I hope that answers your question if not please email me or call me I love talking wireless flash systems, its what I teach around the U.S. in my workshops and speaking engagements, it is truly one of my greatest passions for years now.

Thank you Mike. Your work is just awesome. I didn't realize that you couldn't shoot PW's on high speed sync.
I appreciate your reply. Yeah...maybe I don't have to spend more money on PW's!