Do digital SLR camera flashes have a ‘life-span’?
Posted on Sep 26, 2008 under Digital news and reports |I was wondering if I could buy a good flash at a pawn shop but was afraid that if the flashes did have a life span that my flash would soon die. I also had a question about what type of lens would be better to use at night football game (high school).
September 26th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Well, yes… Measured in the 10’s or 100’s of thousands of flashes, unless something else goes wrong electronically..
If it works at the pawn shop, it more than likely has a good life in front of it and I would buy it if looking for a flash.
As to the lens tho.. Geeeeze, now we be talking a big ol’ bucket of money. For NIGHT games you will want the fastest lens money can buy and here we be talking thousands of bucks. There is not too many ways around this because you will want at least a 300mm or more in lens.
A 300mm f/2.8 is, at the cheapest new, around $1800 to $200. If you go Nikon or Canon, add another $1000 easy.. Want MORE telephoto, like a 400 or 600mm FAST lens..? Add a few more thousand..like up to 5 and 6 now easy..!
However, if your on the side lines you can still get a # of good shots with a fast 50mm or even 100mm (or near abouts) for well under a grand. Used, even better.. I have a 85mm 1.8 that on a digital equals almost a 130mm and at f/1.8. Man, this sucker almost sees in the dark at ISO 400.. Add a flash and I can take images WAY out there…!
So, here we go.. A lens for night games for a budget minded person.. Any lens 100mm or above with a 2.8 or faster f-stop and a TTL (thru the lens) flash metering electronic flash. This will get you started. If you find lenses in the f-4 range, like a 300mm f/4 or a 4.5.. well, they will work, but you may have to jack up your ISO speeds to make them work..
Your in a very low light environment and fast action. You need semi-special equipment. People who take pictures here, close up but yards away, have spent thousands to get what they get, but they get paid well too, or have a job that has the equipment to let them use..
Don’t let any of this get you down, use what you have and adapt and learn. Something many don’t want to do any more. Too many want it all, right now and not “pay their dues” doing it… Use what you got and learn…!Q
Bob - Tucson
September 26th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Yes, they do, but normally it is many, many years for the flash tube itself. The electronic circuit boards and mechanical components are more subject to failure. Rather than a pawn shop I’d suggest a retailer with a used department, they will stand behind it for at least a month. There are on-line retailers, too.
Night sports action photography, such as you see in a newspaper or SI means a (zoom) telephoto lens if what you want are the few players at the heart of the play. It means using the highest possible ISO setting on the camera to get a very short shutter speed. It means a lens with a wide aperture for the same reason. That kind of lens means money, much more real money, unfortunately.
However, you can take pictures within the limitations of your gear if you work with them. For instance, if you wait on the sidelines for a player to run at you, you can use a shorter focal-length lens that has a wider aperture (faster) & is a whole lot cheaper, and your on-camera flash would actually do some good.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Everything has a life span, flashes are rate for the expected mena number of flashes until something fails. Usually, the flash tube will get old with the next least reliable component, the capaciter, being the other weak component. However, that said, it is unlikely that you will find a flash unit that has ever been worked that hard.
An older flash can pose a real danger to your digital camera. There is something called the ‘tirgger voltage’ and most digital cameras can’t handle more than about 6 volts. Older flashes can have trigger voltages as high as 600 volts resulting in a fried camera. Also, your camera will not be able to control the flash using TTL (through the lens) flash metering, which means that you will have to use either the auto or manual exposure mode of the flash.
A good flash, automatic/manual, but stilll good and used by pros for years, is the Sunpack 283/383. Metz also makes very good flashes.
If you are lucky enough to find a flash for your camera in a pawnshop, then I would go for it after checking that it flashes with new batteries and checking how fast it cycles from a flash to full charge again.
You can look up shooting sports photography on the Web for recommendations on lenses, shutter speed and ISO settings.
Vance
September 26th, 2008 at 7:24 am
ok first off i’m still a dinosaur using film but i spent many years shooting football games at high school and comm college level using an old canon ae1 with a 80-210mm with i believe a f4 but i shot with 1600 to 3200iso and yes you get more grain or noise with your digital doodads but i never used a flash and got great shots for yearbook school newspaper and even had the local newspaper contact me for prints to use the thing to remember like someone else said not all the action takes place in the middle of the field if you can get on the sidelines and follow the action up and down the field you will find a lot of action coming right at you i once had a football player grab me and pull me out of the way because there was a big group commin right at me and i didn’t see them because my eye was in the eyepiece so make sure you look out for yourself on the field i was knock on my butt several times because i didn’t see them coming but like has been said before use what you got or what you can get and make it work you man not have any prize winning shots your first night out but you should get there just keep working at it and using what works
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