Camera Labs

Hi,
I don't really understand what the flat sych speed is and what effect it has on images, but I keep reading that one of the major differences between the D40 and the D40x is that although the D40x has 10mp, the flash sync speed has been reduced to 1/200 as opposed to 1/500 with the D40.

Does the flash sync speed make a big difference? Is it important?

Thanks,
Mark

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Flash Sync speed is how fast the flash fires after you press the shutter button, so naturally you would want one that responds faster , for instance if you had a flash that was gauged at 1/10 of a second (unrealistic) then it would be firing the flash a good deal later then when the photo was taken

The flash sync speed on the D40x is less than the D40 because the D40x borrows its internals from the D80. The D80 has a mechanical shutter which limits the shutter speed to 1/4000s and the flash sync speed to 1/200s. The D40 has a combined mechanical and CCD electrical shutter. The electrical shutter is used to simulate high shutter and flash sync speeds which are not possible with the mechanical shutter design used in these cameras.

The D80 and D40x both have an ISO 100 setting. The lowest ISO in the D40 is 200. Since 1/200 at ISO 100 is the same as 1/400 at ISO 200, there is really only 1/3 of a stop slower flash sync speed on the D80/D40x than on the D40 (thanks to Thom Hogan for the last bit).

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug

Thanks Michael, Phil and Thom Hogan:) I understand perfectly now.

_________________
Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China