HyperSync

For more technical info. on the MiniTT1^® & FlexTT5^® ControlTL^® System and HyperSync^®, go to the PocketWizard Wiki.

PocketWizard’s HyperSync feature throws x-sync out the window, allowing never before possible shutter speeds with full power flash – any full power flash. With some camera and flash combinations even 1/8000th second is possible. Now you can shoot in bright sun with flash and wide open apertures and use your shutter speed to cut the ambient light; great news for portrait and wedding shooters. Action shooters can use that extra speed to freeze just about anything that moves. Regardless of how you use it, HyperSync changes the game completely and opens up entirely new creative possibilities.

HyperSync is simply the ControlTL system’s unique ability to adjust the timing of the flash burst so that you can use as much of the light output as possible as the shutter opening passes over your sensor. With the systems “through-the-shoe” communication, a ControlTL transmitter with HyperSync can automatically detect the camera type connected to it as well as the shutter speed. On the receiving end, a ControlTL receiver with HyperSync will further improve the results. The ControlTL system contains specific profiles for many camera and flashes that allow it to adjust the flash trigger point to get the maximum light coverage over the sensor as possible. No other system that can come close to this capability.

Sensor size and flash duration are the two biggest factors in how well a system will perform. DSLR's with smaller sensors, combined with flashes with longer durations will provide the best HyperSync performance, although other variables also play a part. System performance will vary depending on the exact combination of gear.

HyperSync Automation
To make this feature as easy as possible to use, a significant enhancement to the system’s sync control was added - HyperSync Automation (firmware versions 3.0 for Nikon and 6.0 for Canon or later). Now you can achieve the best possible results for your particular camera and flash set-up with minimal, if any, set-up. HyperSync timing is now set in two separate places - on the transmitter and on the receiver – and when possible, these settings are determined automatically and even adjusted as you change shutter speeds. The user no longer has to go through a lengthy process to fine-tune the flash timing.

Getting Started
If you already own ControlTL radios, you just need to make sure you’re running the firmware with the HyperSync Automation feature to get started. HyperSync works with both speedlights and studio flash and works best when working in MANUAL at full power*. When working with the PowerMC2 or Nikon Speedlights, the system is completely automated. When working with the PowerST4 or FlexTT5 with AC9 and their respective lights, the set-up is very simple via some drop down selections in the PocketWizard Utility. With Canon Speedlights, full HyperSync automation is achieved when a AC3 ZoneController or Speedlite in master mode is used at camera position to put remotes into manual mode.

Even without a receiving ControlTL radio, you can still benefit greatly from HyperSync when your HyperSync capable transmitter is paired with a Plus® II or MultiMAX on the receiving end.

X-Sync, High Speed Sync and HyperSync
Since the beginning of flash photography there have been limitations placed on photographers with the maximum usable shutter speed (aka x-sync). X-sync is the shutter speed at which the shutter of a DSLR (and older SLRs) is completely opened up. After that speed, the second curtain of the shutter must begin to close before the first curtain has completely opened. Over time the maximum x-sync speed has gotten a bit faster, with many of today’s top cameras using 1/250th. But that still leaves a bit to be desired when maximum shutter speeds have advanced to 1/8000th of a second.

Camera and speedlight flash companies circumvented this limitation with High Speed Sync flash (also known as FP Sync or HSS). This is simply a high speed strobe light emitting a pulsating burst of light over a longer period of time. This works well with speedlights but it operates at an overall lower level light output and uses lots of battery power. It does nothing for photographers using larger flash or those needing lots of power.

HyperSync is very different than High Speed Sync. HSS works only with certain speedlights and reduces the power output to pulse the light over a longer period. HyperSync works with any flash allowing you to use it with speedlights or the far more powerful studio lights.

Find more on HSS and HyperSync here.

Find more on configuring HyperSync here.

Check out this video on x-sync and HSS here.

Click here to read Rob Galbraith's explanation of HyperSync (written prior to HyperSync Automation)

General notes about HyperSync:

• Every camera/flash system performance will be different.

• Flash with longer duration bursts matched with cameras with fast shutter systems will provide the best results.

• The crossover shutter speed from HyperSync to FP/HSS Mode may be adjusted with the PocketWizard Utility.

• FP/HSS may be disengaged entirely with the Utility.

• You can use either full manual exposure settings (recommended) or shutter-priority mode.

• With most flashes, full power usually yields the longest flash duration.

• HyperSync images may see gradations or variations in exposure across the frame.

LPA Design | PocketWizard

HyperSync