How can I drag the shutter on a Canon 50D (or any Canon body)?

Question

I want to drag the shutter (second curtain sync) on my Canon 50D using either a speedlight, or via a wireless remote flash.

The 580 EX/EXII will trigger when the shutter opens, and again when it closes. I only want the second flash before the shutter closes, I don't want the first (e-TTL?) flash.

Secondly, I can't find a method of setting second curtain with a Pocketwizard attached.

Any suggestions?

Asked by Chris

Answer

Unfortunately there is no way to get a Canon DSLR to actually send the flash signal when the shutter is about to close! Canon flashes know the shutter speed so they can delay the firing. When using a flash that doesn't talk to the camera you can't get second curtain sync. However, when using a Pocketwizard, you can set the Pocketwizard to add the appropriate delay to get the flash to fire with the second curtain (I think only some models e.g. Pocketwizard multimax allow this).

When set to second curtain sync the first flash is actually before the shutter opens and is for metering purposes (e-TTL as you suggest). To turn this off you'll have to use the flash in manual mode.

Answered by Matt Grum

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Why does my Canon 50D only have a max burst of 8?

Question

I got my Canon 50D over the summer, and it's been absolutely amazing! When I started taking pictures with it, I seem to recall the max burst number being relatively high in the display. However, for quite a while now, it has been saying 8. It seems to take many more pictures than just 8 before the buffer fills up, though. Is there a problem with the firmware? Am I the only one that's come across this problem here? I shoot only JPEG on high quality, no RAW. I also tend to shoot either using Program, aperture priority, shutter priority, or full manual. Other than this "problem," the camera hasn't given me any trouble. Thanks!

Kyle

EDIT: Just for clarification, I can take many more than 8 pictures on max burst. Also, the 8 only shows up on the Program, Av, Tv, and manual modes.

Answer

I just looked at my 5DmkII. If I set it to 'RAW' it says I have 13 shots, if I set it to 'RAW+JPEG L' it says I have 8 shots. I imagine that number must depend on what setting you have it on.

This was with a SanDisk Extreme 32GB 60MB/s UDMA card.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/eos5dm2/specifications.html

"JPEG Large/Fine: Approx. 78 shots (Approx. 310 shots),
RAW: Approx. 13 shots (Approx. 14 shots),
RAW+JPEG Large/Fine: Approx. 8 shots (Approx. 8 shots)"

After some digging I found similar info for the 50D:

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/tech/report/200809/table1.html

It shows 60/16/10 for bursts of JPEG/RAW/RAW+JPEG so its odd that yours says 8...

More info from BobAtkins (http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/canon_eos_50D_review_6.html):

So your card must not be UDMA.

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Which camera has the best features for still photography: Canon 60D, 50D or 7D?

Question

Now that the 60D specs are released.

When choosing a camera for still photography (no movies) which one of Canon 50D, 60D and 7D has an edge over the others and why?

What still photography features does each camera, respectively, have that the others don't?

Answer

There is a very good feature comparison on dpReview site

To give you some summary:

In terms of picture quality I would say that you would not spot a difference between results achieved from all the camera on the list, and I would say that the choice would be more related to handling and the way you are planning to use the camera.

7D is pro grade body, with magnesium body and environmental sealing. It has an excellent pro grade autofocus and offers 100% view viewfinder. So it will have an edge when it come to shooting sports, birds and in rough conditions. Those features come at price though.

50D has pretty similar body to 7D (magnesium) but it is not that well sealed and the autofocus is a bit lower quality as well.

60D has plastic body, same autofocus as 50D and similar sensor to 7D. It offers swivel LCD which can come handy in some situation, and its lower weight and size can be considered an advantage by some (me included).

So you need to handle the cameras, consider your budget a see which one works best for you.

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