Hypersync

I’ve used pocketwizards for a long time now and always loved them, however I’ve used them in a very rudimentary way and only with small flashes. Last summer I got some Elinchrom Quadra Rangers which came with the built in skyport transmitter/reciever so I put the picket wizards in a box and more or less forgot about them. I have always wanted to hypersync, so flash forward (no pun intended…) to the beginning of this summer and my new Pocket Wizard flex and mini were waiting for me in BC when I arrived back from Uzbekistan!

I had done some research and knew that setting up hypersync can be a time consuming exercise, which it was, but over a couple beers I dialed them to the point where I could shoot at 1/3000th with no banding. This is mind blowing stuff - up until very recently this kind of sync speed wasn’t possible and now they’re selling the capability for a couple hundred dollars - why isn’t every photographer doing this?!

Either way, my first real experience with hypersync was the 12 Hours of Cumberland, a 12 hour mountain bike race in Cumberland, BC, that I have established a habit of shooting every summer when I return home. Since the race itself is more or less the same every year, it’s a nice way to track my progress as a photographer as well as hang out with friends I haven’t seen in several months.

This shot is Jeff Reimer with just a touch of fill flash supplied by a bare Quadra A-Head. I shot without the flash and the difference is amazing. While I still have many kinks to work out, the ability to shoot at that speed is hopefully going to positively and significantly alter my use of flash!