Long Distance Flash ???

[BuckSkin]

popcorn's question about macro ring flash prompted me to ask this question from the opposite side of the coin.

Is there such a thing as a long reach flash ?

Reason I ask is that it is awful hard to hold a spotlight in one hand, manual focus a 500mm lens, and operate a DSLR all at the same time; the quality of my photography fails considerably.

On a number of occasions, in the middle of the night, I have stood on the porch and shined my unbelievably powerful hand-held spotlight over at the scrap pile in the edge of the woods, about fifty feet away, and spotted some interesting beast or other; working by myself, it is nigh impossible to get a picture.

I did manage to get a couple pictures of a polecat, but they are nothing to brag about and only serve as witness that, yes, I did see a polecat.

We occasionally are blessed with the aromatic evidence that one is in the vicinity and I keep expecting the wife to dart out in the darkness to pitch out the table scraps and step astraddle of one; I guess that is one occasion when I would lock her out.

If such a flash exists, what is it called so I will know what to search for ?

Thanks for reading and all help is appreciated.

[pontiac1940]

For what it's worth ... get an old manual flash with high guide number.  

I still use (including just yesterday inside) a 1990 Minolta 5200i with a high guide number. It works with an adapter on my Sony A7III .. after 30 years! But it is not for high speed action in that the exposure has to be set manually. The flash has several output levels, so between aperture, shutter speed, ISO and output level with some fiddling around, it  is easy to get good exposures. I use it a few times a year.  It is great for daytime fill flash in difficult conditions. Again it is fiddly get get the correct exposures. 

Focusing in critters a long way off in the dark is difficult...not sure how a modern flash and camera will focus in the dark a long way off. It sounds like you could easily determine some focus distances in daylight. Night focus is hard for sure.  

It just went outside and took this photo (and several not in focus) of the elusive, and wary, blue spruce tree across the road using the Sony A7III, with the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens and Minolta 52001 flash.  The treetop is ~ 180 feet from where I was standing.  Please note, there are LED street lights on our block but they contribute virtually no light to this tree in the dark park across the road. 

Click on the image to open in imgbb. 
 

[BuckSkin]

Oct 30, 2020 5:10:07 GMT pontiac1940 said:

For what it's worth ... get an old manual flash with high guide number. 

We have two of these; Neewer TT560 Manual Flash

www.amazon.com/dp/B004LEAYXY/?coliid=I32J7KLQBKSE1Z&colid=4JIZPW8VHQW5&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Down the page a bit is this:   Guide Number 38 (ISO 100) ; I don't yet know if that is a high number or not.

Seeing as how it hasn't been daylight since this thread began, I doubt that you were able to pre-focus; how did you manage it ?

Thanks for taking an interest and taking the test shots.


One more thing I noticed: (here I go derailing my own thread)  Shutter Speed 1/250; probably a difference between camera brands; but, with our Canons, if we go much quicker than 1/200, we start getting "curtain fall" shadows across the image (and sometimes completely dark strips)

It has been a while since I investigated this curtain business; maybe at the time I just decided 1/200 was "safe" and could go a bit faster before the problem started becoming evident.

I am not 100% certain; but, it seems like the camera will automatically limit speed to 1/200 or less, regardless of what is actually set, when using on-board or TTL flash.

[pontiac1940]

BuckSkin

Down the page a bit is this: Guide Number 38 (ISO 100) ; I don't yet know if that is a high number or not.

The GN for my old Minolta is 50 which is the theoretical max exposure distance at ISO 100, so it increases with ISO, but only to a point and this flash at ISO 2,000 will not reach 1,000 feet. 

Seeing as how it hasn't been daylight since this thread began, I doubt that you were able to pre-focus; how did you manage it ?

With difficulty. There was a truck parked on the street at about the same distance and it took a couple of shots to get right. However, if you use a tripod for the camera and have a free hand or assistant you should be able to use a powerful LED flashlight to shine on the subject to help focus. That might not work with spooky critters. 

Shutter Speed 1/250
Yes, the camera/flash combo has a max shutter speed of 1/250 second. I do not use flashes much so stick with this ancient flash, but it is possible a proper flash with the camera might allow fast speeds. However, regarding movement and slow shutter speed, remember the flash speed is super fast so animal movement will be frozen because of the short flash burst. 

Have fun. 

Clive

[pontiac1940]

BTW, if your camera has a popup flash you might be able to use off camera flashes placed closer to the target. There are elaborate off-camera flash setups, but I know nothing. Exposures and focus might be tricky at a far distance.  

[BuckSkin]

Oct 30, 2020 14:26:55 GMT pontiac1940 said:

BTW, if your camera has a popup flash you might be able to use off camera flashes placed closer to the target. There are elaborate off-camera flash setups, but I know nothing. Exposures and focus might be tricky at a far distance.  

I had already thought about that possibility; of course, I would have to place the remote flashes hours ahead of time and hope that we didn't then get one of our frequent surprise gully-washers in the mean time.

As for triggering the remote flash(es), we have several possibilities, including manual slave and radio control.

Don't let my amount of equipment mislead you into thinking that I have the slightest idea how to properly use any of it; proper use of flash is still a big mysterious void to me.

I bet an old possum would jump plumb out of his skin when he is nosing around amongst the supper leftovers and all-of-a-sudden four or five remote flashes fire off.

A friend has dozens of those game cameras that you buckle to a tree and capture nocturnal wildlife.
Those things have some sort of red flash that the animals he captures barely seem to notice, yet the images do not have a red cast to them; I have no idea how that all works.
It has to light things up pretty good; as, pictures taken in the deepest darkest night are very well lit.