UNLEASH YOUR FLASH! Sony a9 III Global Shutter vs Leaf Shutter vs HSS

Tony Northrup tests the new Sony a9 III's global shutter for flash sync. All examples include manually adjusting the flash timing for optimum output. He compares it against the traditional focal plane shutter in a Sony a7R V (using true sync and high-speed sync/HSS) and the amazing leaf shutter in a Hasselblad X2D 100C with the 90V f/2.5 lens.



And... it works! Global shutter works! But it's complicated. With both the leaf shutter and the global shutter, wireless triggers didn't work effectively above about 1/1600th. At that point, we had to switch to a wired trigger to get more consistent syncing.

That was enough to get the Hasselblad's leaf shutter to sync to its maximum speed of 1/4000th. But to get the Sony to sync higher required MORE work. It required switching to a faster strobe with a shorter t.1 flash duration. That produced reliable results up to 1/16,000th.