Flash mode on Nikon D80

Chronicle · 27 May 2007 at 16:47

Hi,
I am not too sure what it is called, but i want to be able to take a photo like this --

shutter opens
waits however long shutter should be open for
and just before it should close, it fires a flash of light from the flash

I thought this was called "rear", but when i set it to rear in manual mode, it seems to flash at the start of the exposure, too

is there any way to do what iwant?

thanks

robertgilbert86 · 27 May 2007 at 16:55

I'd really like to know this too. My research suggested manual mode with a fairly long shutter, but I have had no luck yet...

reddeathdrinker · 27 May 2007 at 16:55

You're correct. Rear curtain fires the flash at the end of the exposure - the effect you're looking is plain-old, bog-standard normal flash (often called Front-Curtain sync), when the flash fires at the start of the exposure.

I quote shamelessly

....Front-Curtain Sync fires the flash at the beginning of the exposure, with every shot. Red-Eye Reduction mode fires the (very bright) AF-assist light before the main flash exposure, to reduce the Red-Eye Effect in shots of people. Red-Eye Reduction with Slow Sync works in a similar fashion, but combines the flash with a slower shutter speed for night portraits. (This reduces the harsh effect of nighttime flash shots, allowing more of the ambient illumination into the picture.) Slow Sync mode works with shutter speeds as slow as 30 seconds to preserve color in night shots. Finally, Rear-Curtain Sync fires the flash at the end of the exposure, producing light trails that appear to follow (rather than precede) moving subjects. In all flash modes, the flash fires with every exposure.

Chronicle · 27 May 2007 at 17:12

reddeathdrinker said:
Finally, Rear-Curtain Sync fires the flash at the end of the exposure, producing light trails that appear to follow (rather than precede) moving subjects. In all flash modes, the flash fires with every exposure.

So are you saying (with the last bit, in bold) that even in Rear curtain mode (REAR on the display), it will fire a flash at the start of the exposure and then at the end? You can't just make it at the end? It seems when you have it in this mode it does 2 flashes...

rpstewart · 27 May 2007 at 17:38

I'm no Nikon expert but if it's anything like Canon ETTL then the first flash isn't during the exposure time, it's a metering flash fired just before the shutter opens to determine the correct flash power for the main burst.

reddeathdrinker · 27 May 2007 at 17:40

Chronicle said:
So are you saying (with the last bit, in bold) that even in Rear curtain mode (REAR on the display), it will fire a flash at the start of the exposure and then at the end? You can't just make it at the end? It seems when you have it in this mode it does 2 flashes...

Just checked it with my D80 - front curtain mode only flashes at the end of the exposure (did a 3-second manual exposure). Wierd. Time to delve more deeply into the Nikon manual, methinks....

Chronicle · 27 May 2007 at 17:45

rpstewart said:
I'm no Nikon expert but if it's anything like Canon ETTL then the first flash isn't during the exposure time, it's a metering flash fired just before the shutter opens to determine the correct flash power for the main burst.

Ah maybe that is what it is doing

[OZ] · 27 May 2007 at 18:05

Rear curtain on the Nikon fires just before the curtain closes, it fires what is called pre flash at the start to meter for the correct amount of flash.

divine` · 27 May 2007 at 19:02

[OZ] said:
Rear curtain on the Nikon fires just before the curtain closes, it fires what is called pre flash at the start to meter for the correct amount of flash.

I'm not sure it does, I was testing it when I saw the thread.

Pointed it at a box, started exposure with which came a flash, turned round so it was pointing at the sofa and it finished with a flash.

There were quite clearly 'ghosts' of both the box and the sofa in the image, along with the blur of me turning round.

However, in addition to that, whenever I select 'Rear' in either Aperture Priority or Program Auto it changes to display 'Slow Rear' which I assume is why it fires both times. Shutter Priority and Manual it only says 'Rear', and functions as rear curtain should.