#1  
Old 04-02-2013, 03:20 PM
leon's Avatar
leon
Registered User

leon is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Warrnambool
Posts: 12,430
A Question on Lightning Triggers

Hi guys, I have a question on the use of a lightning trigger for my Canon 5D.
At the moment i just use a bulb setting, put my timer on about 7-8 seconds @ F/11 and 200 ISO, this is for night time stuff and if one happens to land in front of the lens during that time it is captured,

However i tend to use up a lot of frames as the camera just runs continuously on that setting.

As I understand it a Lightning Trigger opens the shutter at the time the strike appears.

The question is this, if a strike appears and sets off the trigger will it open for the set time that i have set my camera at, or will it just do a one off opening and then close.

In other words, will it open the shutter for the 7 or 8 seconds that i have my timer on.

Many lightning strikes last longer than a split second, so i figured if it only open briefly that closed again one could lose have the strike.

Some response on this would be much appreciated, thank you

Leon
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 04-02-2013, 03:28 PM
niko's Avatar
niko
Registered User

niko is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 1,053
Leon,

you set the ISO, aperture and shutter speed in Manual as you would - the lightning trigger will fire and the camera will take the pic according to your settings.

easy!

cheers

niko
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 04-02-2013, 03:53 PM
leon's Avatar
leon
Registered User

leon is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Warrnambool
Posts: 12,430
That's what I wanted to hear Niko, now tell me where can i buy a quality unit please,

Leon
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-02-2013, 04:06 PM
niko's Avatar
niko
Registered User

niko is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 1,053
Leon,

there was a very recent post discussing the various models.

I've got the one from the bloke in Greece - it works fine but everything is hot glued in place and has a tendancy to fall apart if not carefully handled - mind you it was considerably cheaper than some of the other units

n
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-02-2013, 04:07 PM
niko's Avatar
niko
Registered User

niko is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 1,053
here in fact

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...trigger&page=2
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 04-02-2013, 04:08 PM
Octane's Avatar
Octane (Humayun)
IIS Member #671

Octane is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Canberra
Posts: 11,159
www.lightningtrigger.com

H

Edit: spelling.

Last edited by Octane; 04-02-2013 at 07:17 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 04-02-2013, 04:10 PM
niko's Avatar
niko
Registered User

niko is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Posts: 1,053
what is said in the thread about the ones from Greece is right

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lightning...item4abe4be130


I like the look of this one because the battery can be changed without pulling it apart. It also has hotshoe mount - I had to make my own for mine
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 04-02-2013, 06:58 PM
leon's Avatar
leon
Registered User

leon is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Warrnambool
Posts: 12,430
H, thanks mate, and of coarse you IIS's

Leon
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-02-2013, 07:16 PM
Octane's Avatar
Octane (Humayun)
IIS Member #671

Octane is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Canberra
Posts: 11,159
Except, I spelt it wrong! Oops.

H
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-02-2013, 09:07 PM
Astroman's Avatar
Astroman (Andrew Wall)
<><><><>

Astroman is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Paralowie, South Australia
Posts: 4,367
Okay, Lightning triggers are best used during the day. Night Lightning depending on the scene can be used in the manual fashion, more on that later.... For Daylight lightning you expose the shot as a normal shot but bare in mind that you want to aim for at least a 1/8s exposure or longer. To do this you will need to use ND filters or stop your lens down to F11 or so. You wouldn't want to go any greater than F16 IMO. Using ND filters allows you to keep the aperture wider allowing more of the strike to become visible especially those fainter streamers. For a lightning trigger I would recommend the one that Martin (BlackWidow) sells not only is he an Aussie, but he is also on IIS. He sells them on Ebay for around $99. To me when I had a look at a friends trigger, it looked really well made and didn't look like it was going to fall apart on you..

Lightning triggers will not get all of the strike in the shot, many times you will miss completely or it will trigger with the lightning off the side of the frame. The triggers have to "see" the strike happen before they fire, this usually means you will only get the return strokes of the lightning strike (for a CG), not the initial connection between ground and cloud, which is usually the brightest. Cloud to Cloud strikes can often be missed also due to them sometimes lasting longer than a CG, or some of the time they are cut short due to the exposure times being too short.

Now Night Lightning is very dependant on scenery. If you are shooting at a very dark location with little or no lights about you can usually keep the shutter open for as long as you like. I usually tell people to start off with an aperture of f5.6, if the strikes appear to be blowing out, increase your aperture to 6 or 8. Using the aperture as a brightness filter. The closer the lightning you might have to increase it more, but usually start off at 5.6 and go from there. Exposure times in dark areas can be as long as you want , but as soon as the strike happens (For single strikes on the frame) release the shutter. For multiple strikes you can leave the shutter open, but clouds move so you may get cloud ghosting (where it looks like more cloud lines) For city shooting, I tend to expose for the scene ie. Test shoot your scene, make the scene a part of the picture. If you have a building, try and expose the shot so the building is clearly visible, then when the strike happens adjust the aperture so both building and lighting are well exposed.

This is all trial and error with a bit of luck and a bit of technical guide along the way. I have just given you a little guide now you just need luck and and have fun trialling it out.

The above guide is no hard and fast rule of thumb, it is the way I have helped many people take the first steps into lightning photography and many surpass my Lightning Photography. The idea is to give it a go and if the guides I have written help along the way then I am happy. Go out have fun, be safe.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 05-02-2013, 02:04 PM
leon's Avatar
leon
Registered User

leon is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Warrnambool
Posts: 12,430
Thank you Andrew, very informative response.

Leon
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 04:49 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement