What are the flash durations at the various power levels for the 600EX-RT?

[JohnGerlach]

Most flash makers publish the flash durations for the various power levels in the manual, but Canon does not.  When photographing very high speed action, such as hummingbird wings, it is important to have the flash durations quite close to avoid ghosting.  It would be nice to be able to mix various flashes, so it would be helpful to know the flash durations.  Anyone know where this info is published?  I am curious to know if the flash durations for the 430, 600, and perhaps even the 580 II are close enough.  I could try it, but sometimes I must mix Canon speedlites with other flash brands.  Here is a male rufous hummingbird using 1/32nd power on manual.  Five 600's were used.

[JohnGerlach]

There are many ways to photograph hummers.  I like all of the ways.  Allowing the wings to blur does look more natural, but I find freezing the wings produces interesting shapes with the various places the wings show up in the image.

[RobertTheFat]

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@JohnGerlach wrote:

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You must have spent a lot of time befriending your subjects, or I'd expect them to be terrified of that rig, with all its flashes and tripods. How did they react when they first saw it?

[JohnGerlach]

Most hummingbirds are quite tolerant of humans and our stuff.  They reacted by perching on the Speedlites and taking a dump.  When I used wires to link the flashes, they always perched on the wires for their small feet handle the wire better.  If you hold still, these hummers will perch on you finger if you hold it in front of the feeding tube, and I have had them perch on my shoulder.  Most hummingbirds I have worked with in the US and Ecuador are quite tolerant of people, but they don't like quick movements!

[Waddizzle]

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@JohnGerlach wrote:

Most hummingbirds are quite tolerant of humans and our stuff.  They reacted by perching on the Speedlites and taking a dump.  When I used wires to link the flashes, they always perched on the wires for their small feet handle the wire better.  If you hold still, these hummers will perch on you finger if you hold it in front of the feeding tube, and I have had them perch on my shoulder.  Most hummingbirds I have worked with in the US and Ecuador are quite tolerant of people, but they don't like quick movements!

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They're that tolerant?  That's amazing.  But, if they don't like quick movements, what happens when the flashes fire?  ZOOM?

[JohnGerlach]

Hummers new to the setup may back up when the flashes fire, and then return, but not sure if it is the flash or the shutter noise.  After a visit or two, they ignore everything.  Slow zooming isn't a problem, normally I zoom by simply switching the 1.4x converter on my Canon 200-400 which is built-in.  After awhile, you could have the University of Michigan marching band stampeding through the set and they would not care.

[JohnGerlach]

You do notice the Male Rufous Hummingbird at the end of the feeding tube.  We now prefer using Hum-buttons as the sugar water container because it is easier to hide and you get better gorget colors and better poses.  I made a Flickr page for my hummer workshop clients that shows many more images and offers some flash advice in the discussion section.  Just look for Bull River Hummingbird Photo Workshops.  It is private for posting to clients only, but anyone can view it.

[JohnGerlach]

Most hummingbirds are quite tolerant of humans and our stuff.  They reacted by perching on the Speedlites and taking a dump.  When I used wires to link the flashes, they always perched on the wires for their small feet handle the wire better.  If you hold still, these hummers will perch on you finger if you hold it in front of the feeding tube, and I have had them perch on my shoulder.  Most hummingbirds I have worked with in the US and Ecuador are quite tolerant of people, but they don't like quick movements!

I do have a quite detailed article on using Canon Speedlites to photograph hummers, but I don't know where would be the best place to post it so folks can find it.  Any advice?  Although I have earned an excellent living at outdoor photography for forty years, I am compute challenged.  I just learned how to post an image on the Internet a month ago, so a lot to learn about the web.  At least cameras and their accessories are super easy for me.