High Speed Drop Photography–Getting Started by Joseph Calev

There are many things in photography that if given enough time and financial resources, I’d probably try out. However the reality of my life is that I don’t have enough time or money to do cool things like High Speed Drop Photography. As a result, my friend Joseph Calev is here to guest blog again to tell you about his experience getting into this cool new world.

NOTE: The content that follows is Joe’s opinion. I have not made edits beyond fixing typos or sizing.

Ron

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Introduction

For quite some time I have been interested in high speed photography.  Last week I finally bit the bullet and picked up some gear to make this a lot easier.  In the following article I will discuss my setup and some of the decisions I have made thus far.  Keep in mind when reading this that I have been doing high speed photography (so far just drops) for only a week and I am still figuring a lot of things out.  Below is one of the first shots I took with my setup.

Water Drop by Joseph Calev

The basics of high speed photography

Some time ago I spent a great deal of effort photographing drops from melted ice.  I spent several hours outside with my camera in the exact position I needed it and continuously pressed the shutter at the right moment.  More often than not I missed my goal and out of every 100 shots I would wind up with about four or five in focus.  Of course, of the photos in focus many of them were quite uninteresting.  As you can imagine, it took quite a few shots and a lot of time to get something decent.

The real problem in high speed photography is improving the odds by making sure you have something in focus in the viewfinder with each shot.  This allows you to spend more of your time working on the most crucial part - making a photo that is actually interesting.  The key here is firing your camera and flash at the exact moment you need to.  There are really four parts to high speed photography.

The trigger - This is the thing that has to happen for some action to start.  For all of my water drops thus far this has been the act of pushing a button.  There are many types of triggers though.  You have infrared and laser triggers, microphones, and special triggers for ballistics.  The idea is something needs to happen to start the events in motion that will lead to your photo.

The flash - This is one case where it is better to have a small speedlight rather than a larger powered light.  You need your flash to freeze your subject as most cameras only go down to 1/8000 second - too slow for a lot of high speed work.  What many do not know about lights is that a 'more powerful' flash creates this by holding the light for a longer period.  Therefore for high speed photography you need to set your flash at the lowest setting.  I currently use two 580EX flashes set to 1/128 - which gives a duration of around 1/40,000 second.  At some point I hope to pick up the Microflash Pro.  This flash gives the same power as two 580EX flashes at full power at a speed of 1/28,000 second.  Alternatively it can go down to speeds of 35 microseconds.  However, at a price of £1800 it was too much to include in my initial setup.

The camera - As I previously mentioned it is the flash that illuminates the subject.  The camera doesn't do much in the equation except cause problems. :) The main issue is there exists a lag between when the camera is triggered and when it actually fires.  On Canon cameras, this lag actually varies unless you use mirror lock.  With mirror lock, I measures my 5D Mark II to have a shutter lag of 83.7 milliseconds.  For drops this is not much of an issue.  You simply need to factor your shutter lag into the equation.  However when photographing things that move invariably and quickly - such as insects - this will not work at all.  For this type of photography you need a special solenoid shutter that typically fits in front of your lens.  You then place your camera in bulb mode and trigger your solenoid.  A good solenoid shutter will have a lag of less than 5 milliseconds.  I currently do not have such a shutter but I anticipate having one by the summer.

The orchestrator - The most crucial piece of equipment you need is something that reacts to the trigger by firing the flash and the camera.  There are several triggers available on the market today.

• Hiviz - These are very simply hobbyist triggers that depend on the camera being placed in bulb mode in a dark room.  Given a particular trigger it then fires a flash.  Images from these triggers typically have dark backgrounds.  The triggers themselves are not very sophisticated compared to the other options.
• Mumford Time Machine - This is one of the first high speed devices I heard of and I almost purchased this model.  It is close to the Stopshot in functionality, but I found the specs of the Stopshot to be more flexible.  Stopshot offers more outputs and a lighted screen (add ons to the Time Machine) and it is possible to connect two Stopshots together.  The user interface of the Stopshot also appears to be better.
• Cognisys Stopshot - This is what I ended up purchasing.  I had a lot of questions about this device before I purchased it and they were very prompt and helpful in answering them.  They are also continuously innovating - unlike the other triggers which seem more like static products.
• Phototrap - While I am sure this trigger works just fine, from looking at the specs it appears to do less than the Stopshot.  I have the feeling this trigger is more geared towards wildlife photographers in the field, but they do seem to heavily push their system through wildlife photography classes.  Basically you take a wildlife photography class where a photographer shows you some of the great things you can do with the trigger and you wind up buying it before you are done.  From what I can tell though the Stopshot and Time Machine will do more for less money.

My setup

Below is a shot of my current setup.  As I have already stated, keep in mind that I have only had this gear for a week and am still working on things.

One aspect in which I have deviated significantly from many drop photographers is I prefer to use store bought components rather than building things myself.  A quick search on the web will reveal a number of different ways to create a drop setup from wood.  However I wanted something that offered more flexibility.  I am also quite limited in time.  Therefore the following is what I put together.

• On the sides you can see two light stands.  It doesn't really matter which ones they are.  I tend to prefer taller air cushioned ones but I currently own four different light stands - none of them the same.
• At the top of the light stand I have a Bogen Clamp on either side.  Between the two light stands I then have a Bogen Arm.  Originally my plan was to attach a background stand holder to each clamp and then rest the arm on the holders.  However this allowed the arm to spin - which is very bad for precision scenarios.  Therefore I have the arm actually held by each clamp and the clamps screwed in to the top of the stands.  This is one great advantage of buying flexible parts as it allows me to improvise when necessary.  This setup allows me to easily vary the height of the siphon.
• On the top you can see the water siphon from Cognisys.  This comes as part of their water drop kit.  Here is a close-up.

The siphon is attached to Cognisys's tripod holder for the siphon.  I am not crazy about this holder but it works.  The most annoying thing is I have to unscrew it to take the siphon out.  I would have preferred some type of clamp and someday I may look into whether there is some type of bracket the will attach to a Bogen Clamp that will do a better job.  The tripod holder is screwed into another Bogen Clamp (can you tell I really like Bogen Clamps?!)  Immediately below the siphon is the water valve (with the red wires attached).  This connects to the Stopshot and releases the water.  Below the water valve is a small infrared trigger.  I am actually not using this right now as the trigger is a button push but this will factor in when I begin using multiple liquids.  To the left of the siphon I have another Bogen Clamp with a heavy duty Bogen Flexible Arm holding another tripod bracket.  In the future this will hold another siphon - which I already have.  This will allow me to work with multiple liquids at the same time.  On the far right of the shot is yet another Flexible Arm + Bogen Clamp for a third siphon.  The blue inside the siphon is from food coloring.  The upside down Sub-Zero box behind the setup is a fort my kids made (most expensive fort yet).

Here is a close-up of the bottom setup.

I am currently targeting the drops to a setup of brightly colored bowls I bought at a local store.  In the future I plan to also buy some straight pans and put a white background behind it.  I can then change the color of the background by modifying the flash illuminating it.  I am still playing with lighting setups but for now I have one 580EX on a small Gorillapod.  The other is held up by another Bogen Flexible Arm attached to another Bogen Clamp.  I have no preference for one way or the other but I only own one Gorillapod.  In this shot I have both flashes gelled with Rosco modifiers from the Color Effects kit (which comes in sheets that I cut to 3" x 5" gels).  In this particular shot IMHO I would have been better off without the gels.

In the corner of the table you can see the Stopshot.  The Stopshot is connected to the water valve above.  A special cable connects the Stopshot to my camera and I have both flashes connected to the same output via an RCA Y cable.  The camera itself is on my tripod that I previously discussed on Ron's blog [see Ron’s tripod & head recommendations].  It is a Gitzo 2541EX with an Acratech GP ball head and two Really Right Stuff macro rails.  It is the same tripod I typically use for macro photography.  On the camera itself is the 100mm 2.8 IS Macro.

Other miscellaneous items on the table are a ruler to measure the height of the water valve (to do calculations for the timing), a pencil I use for focusing, and a measuring glass I use for pouring liquids (don't tell my wife though - she still wonders where it went to...)

Below are some of my results so far.

Drop Monster by Joseph Calev

Water Man by Joseph Calev

Overall I am very pleased with the Stopshot thus far.  Once you figure it out it works quite well - though this is definitely one piece of equipment where you need to read the manual.  It also provides a good lesson in cable organization as I counted exactly 30 cables in the box with my kit.  I now have a rack in my garage just for cables.  I still have a lot of things to learn.  For example I have not dealt with the following yet.

• Different liquids provide different types of drops.  I have yet to work with milk are additives to water other than food coloring (rinse aid, guar gum).
• As previously stated I want to try setting the background color via a white background and a gelled flash.
• I currently own three siphons, but am only working with one thus far.  In the future I want to use multiple drops of different liquids.  With a single siphon multiple drops are supported but are obviously of the same liquid.
• I also own the cross laser trigger.  In the future I will use this for insects but it has other uses I haven't had time to investigate yet.
• I also own a microphone trigger, but haven't played with that yet either.

Disclosure

Joe approached me about his excitement getting these products, so I extended an offer for him to blog about his experience. Neither Joe nor I have any known direct affiliation with most of the companies mentioned on this blog. In the limited cases where I do (i.e., Amazon, Adorama, & B&H), I may make a commission if you make a purchase from their site.

Tripod Ball Heads–Alternatives to the RRS BH-55

Acratech GP, Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 sp, Benro B3,
Kirk BH-1, Oben BB-2 & Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ballheads

In my tripod recommendations article I threw down the gauntlet and stated that the Really Right Stuff BH-55 tripod head is “the” head to own. It’s the one I’ve seen most pros and serious prosumers recommend, and for good reason – it’s a great head. It’s also the one I’ve used for the past few years and I’ve only regretted the cost, not the purchase, during all that time.

Of course when I make a claim like that on my blog, I get a long list of people who will tell me about product X that they think is just as good and that I’m full of crap. I try hard to listen to my readers, so in the spirit of being fair and unbiased, I decided to take a look at the top 5 recommended heads from my readers and compare them to my Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head. It’s a ball-head shootout where the likes of Arca-Swiss vs. Really Right Stuff made for a fun comparison.

Long-Exposure Head Test

The primary reason why I have my tripod recommendations and encourage people to buy the best tripod head is because any place you’ve cut corners becomes obvious when you do a long exposure. Vibrations from the ground, the wind, or gravity can all come in to play and make your image a little softer than it should be.

Test Camera and Lens Combo on a Really Right Stuff BH-55

For this test I used a Canon 1D Mark IV (41.6 oz. (1180g) ) with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM ( 3.28 lb. (1.49kg) ) using the Really Right Stuff L84 lens plate on the lens (about 6 pounds total). Autofocus (AF) and Image Stabilization (IS) were disabled. I used Live View to do a 10x manual focus. The camera settings were f/16 for 30 seconds at ISO 160 with a 200mm focal length in one shot mode with mirror lockup used to take the shot after a 10 second timer.

A modified view of the target subject taken in very low light

To test these heads I used the same tripod in the exact same position and simply changed the head for each shot. I would use the built-in bubble level to get what the head was said to be level, and then I used the camera hot shoe bubble level for the final adjustments. Only the Oben and Benro needed additional adjustments as the others all read level with the hot shoe bubble level when the head bubble indicated it was level.

Unprocessed In-Camera JPEG Test Image from the Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 sp

I’m pleased to say that (as expected) all of the heads in this test did a decent job. At a quick glance it is hard to tell the differences of one over the other, but when you look carefully at the details you start to see subtle hints of softness from some heads more than others. I did two shots each to make sure that I had at least one good shot. In all cases the 2nd shot was slightly better than the first, so that’s what I used for my comparisons.

Here’s how I rank them based on massive pixel peeping with sharpness being the key test point here:

1. Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 sp – I could even see when using Live View and focusing that this was going to be my winner as this is one seriously solid head. At 200mm (260mm effective) with 10x Live View enabled, focusing is a challenge because everything shakes so much. You really appreciate what things can go wrong when you do an exercise like this and why stability is so important. However, the Z1 was by far the easiest to focus as the head was just rock solid. The others were all focused well also, but it took a few seconds longer.
   
2. Really Right Stuff BH-55 – Yes, the gold standard in heads came in second here as even it couldn’t top the performance I got from the Z1.
   
3. Acratech GP Ballhead & Kirk BH-1 performed seemingly identical. They had only a slight edge over the others in the test.
   
4. The rest – All of the other heads performed very well but slightly below the GP and BH-1 at some point in the test image. To be fair, given the margin of error for all of the variables involved, it could be easily argued that they are statistically identical. In fact the photo below shows the worst performance which is going to seem identical until you really start to pixel peep.

Unprocessed In-Camera JPEG Test Image from the Oben BB-2

When paired with solid legs in good conditions, all of these heads should perform very well. The real question is how would they perform over time?

I’d love reader comments from those with 6 months or longer regular use of these heads.

Usability Observations

In this section I’ll basically share my notes and thoughts on each of these heads based on my experiences using them. These go beyond stats and focus on how practical/usable the head was in field testing.

Acratech GP

Acratech GP - Photo Courtesy of B&H

The manual for this was pretty funny as they go on about it being usable as a gimbal on lenses up to 600mm f/4, but honestly that’s pure bullshit. This is a ball head like all the others in this test, and it has no magical gimbal abilities beyond other ball heads. It’s design might suggest otherwise, but I didn’t find it to be the case.

This head performed well and felt like the lightest of the bunch, but the neck between the ball and the base was pretty tall as shown in the side-by-side comparison photo at the top of this article. This had me a bit concerned, but in my limited testing it was fine. I’d probably worry if I started to near the max load, but I suspect few will ever do that as a gimbal head makes more sense at the 20lbs and up range.

Here’s my field observations:

• Came with 1/4" stud adapter (good for tripods like the Velbon GEO E540 4-Section Carbon Fiber Tripod that only support 1/4”)
• Felt like it sat a little high because of the long neck
• Felt lighter than the others but also a little cheaper feel
• Not even close to a gimbal head
• Accurate level - was easy to read but the circle was too big which makes it harder to level with its small bubble
• Expensive enough that I’d choose the superior Arca-Swiss Z1 instead
• The most annoying to use knobs of the group

Price: $399.95 (8/1/11 at B&H)
Weight: 0.99 lb. (0.45 kg)
Max Load Capacity: 25 lbs. (11.4 kg)

Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 sp (Single Pan)

Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 sp - Photo Courtesy of B&H

Arca-Swiss is the brand that defined high quality pro photography performance heads, and its mark on the industry is still felt. Every head in this article uses the Arca-Swiss invented plate design to provide a snug fit and quick on and off access.

I immediately fell in love with this head for its precision and stability, but I quickly came to appreciate its simplicity as well. Everything is well engineered and tested like you’d expect from a Swiss watch or German Luxury Car. I love this head and wish I owned one!

Compared to the BH-55 ($415 as of 7/27/11), it’s price is actually amazing to think that it is actually $26 cheaper! The reason why so many other brands exist was because photographers couldn’t afford Arca-Swiss heads and needed something cheaper, but these days Arca-Swiss has lowered its prices to compete with the other pro heads featured in this article.

Here’s my field observations:

• Easy to understand and use knobs with a wonderful precision feel
• No variable tension knob as it simply isn’t needed
• Very solid performance was super obvious when focusing in live view (much better than even the mighty RRS BH-55)
• The built-in polished metal colored level is accurate and looks sexy but a little harder to see than the more green kind you find on the others
• Very solid feel
• The bottom knob to lock the rotation works very well and is not as obtrusive as some of the others
• Insane max load support, but it feels like it can really handle the load

Price: $388.99 (8/1/11 at B&H)
Weight: 1.4 lb. (635 g)
Max Load Capacity: 130 lbs. (59 kg)

Benro B3 Double Action

Benro B3 – Photo Courtesy of B&H

This was the biggest surprise in this line up because its build felt very similar to the Arca-Swiss, but its value was fantastic. I suspect it might not look pretty for a long period of time as you can see in the full-size version of the side-by-side comparison photo that it already started to show some marks in the paint on the ball. However, many (including myself) will argue that looks are irrelevant if the product performs well, so I’d really enjoy hearing from readers about how these heads perform after 6 months or more of heavy duty use.

Here’s my field observations:

• Came with plate
• Adapter stud
• Level not accurate - sexy like Arca
• Easy to dial in like the Oben
• Great knobs including quick release (QR) knob
• Included PU-70 plate requires regular screwdriver, pocket knife or coin
• One direction only in portrait mode. This means if the QR knob is up, you are good, but if the knob is down it collides on the base.

I think bargain hunters will really like this one and pat themselves on the back pretty hard for the money they saved.

Price: $217 (8/1/11 at B&H)
Weight: 1.5 lb. (0.7 kg)
Max Load Capacity: 66 lbs. (30 kg)

Kirk BH-1

Kirk BH-1 - Photo Courtesy of B&H

I’m sad to say that this was the most disappointing head of the bunch. For years I’ve heard people sing the praises of Kirk heads, but the new unit I tested was the most stiff and clunky feeling of all the heads featured in this article. For its price, I expected much more but it didn’t wow me in any way. Even the fact that it includes a plate didn’t impress me as the plate was the most tiny of all the ones tested.

Here’s my field observations:

• Rotating the base was way too firm even when loosened all the way. Made add/remove harder too. Unless my unit was defective, I found its performance to be unacceptable.
• Very stiff plate release knob
• The level was very accurate and easy to read
• Ball head knobs felt very good
• Perplexed as to why it is 0.4lbs (215kg) heavier than the Arca-Swiss, yet can only hold < 40% of the load of the lighter Arca-Swiss

I know I’ll catch heat for this, but this was the head I expected to love the most but I ended up liking the least in this bunch. While I think it is a competent product (i.e., it’ll get the job done), I’d honestly take the Benro B3 or Oben BB-2 over this one to save both money and weight.

I was very disappointed in this product after comparing it closely to the others featured in this article.

Price: $375.00 (8/1/11 at B&H)
Weight: 1.9 lb. (850g)
Max Load Capacity: 50 lbs. (22.6 kg)

Oben BB-2

Oben BB-2 - Photo Courtesy of B&H

This was the value leader of the bunch as well as the 2nd lightest head. However, it has a larger load capacity than the lighter Acratech GP for a fraction of the price. This was another surprise like the Benro, yet this head seemed to feel just as solid and well made – only a smaller. Like the Benro it also included a quick release plate which made it an exceptional value.

Here’s my field observations:

• Came with quick release (QR) plate
• Solid feel (preferred it over Kirk)
• Close to Arca-Swiss feel and operation
• Lower knobs were super smooth and great
• Adapter stud included
• Dark green level hard to read and obscured by the QR plate
• Includes plate with no-tools required mount (much like Bogen-Manfrotto heads)
• Level was not as accurate as the others
• It was easier than the RRS BH-55 to dial in small adjustments
• QR knob not as smooth and solid as other knobs
• One direction only in portrait mode. This means if the QR knob is up, you are good, but if the knob is down it collides on the base.

While this head may have done the worst on the long exposure test, I don’t think that most people would find fault in the quality of results it achieved. In short, this is my ultimate bargain hunters recommendation to pair with a value set of legs like the Slik 700dx. 

Price: $169.95 (8/1/11 at B&H)
Weight: 1.1 lb. (0.5 kg)
Max Load Capacity: 33.1 lbs. (15 kg)

Really Right Stuff BH-55 Pro

This is the head that most pros I know today swear by. I own this head and love it, but after putting the heads in this test through their paces I’m even more convinced that the folks at Really Right Stuff have gotten rather snobby and overpriced.

• Love the size and grip on the knobs, but they have more of a loose feel with less drag than the others
• Ball sits low in the head so a tall stud on the tripod can damage the ball head (as I discovered when testing the Induro CT014 tripod
• Heavy pig like the Kirk that doesn’t have the load capacity to support its heft
• Insane price and RRS nickels and dimes you to death with custom plates that are product specific – plan to spend a few hundred dollars more on plates with this head
• Outstanding 360 rotational performance – best of the group

It’s a great product, for sure, and I still highly recommend it, but I can no longer say it is so much better than the other heads here that it warrants the highest price. That simply isn’t true. In fact, if I were starting over again today I’d probably get the Arca-Swiss Z1 instead if I could afford it, or the Benro B3 if I was on a budget.

Price: $415 (8/1/11 at ReallyRightStuff.com)
Weight: 1.8 lb. / 816 g
Max Load Capacity: 50 lbs. / 23 kg

Comparison Table

Here’s a table that compares the key specs (taken from B&H on 8/1/11 for all but RRS BH-55):

	Acratech GP	Arca-Swiss Z1 sp	Benro B3	Kirk BH-1	Oben BB-2	Really Right Stuff BH-55 Pro
Price	$           399.95	$       388.99	$           217.00	$           375.00	$           169.95	$           415.00
Weight	0.99 lb (0.45 kg)	1.4 lb (635 g)	1.5 lb (0.7 kg)	1.9 lb (850 g)	1.1 lb (0.5 kg)	1.8 lb (816 g)
Load Capacity	25 lbs (11.4 kg)	130 lbs (59 kg)	66 lbs (30 kg)	50 lbs (22.6 kg)	33.1 lbs (15 kg)	50 lbs (23 kg)

Best in class is shown in green, and worst in class is shown in red. Heads in blue are my recommendations for reasons discussed in the previous section.

Major Hidden Costs – A Word About Plates

One topic I was unable to cover due to time considerations was the cost of those Arca-Swiss plates that all of the products featured in this article require. While half (the Kirk, Benro and Oben) included a starter plate (which is a great value), the other half did not and they will cost you dearly. In fact, if you go with a L-bracket design like my B1DMkIII-L from Really Right Stuff (for my 1D Mark IV and previous 1D Mark III) you’ll find yourself out $183 (as of 8/1/11) plus you still need plates for your telephoto lenses. I ended up getting the Really Right Stuff L84 lens plate which set me back another $55 (plus $6.24 for USPS shipping to my house) and the $55 B5D2 plate for my 5D Mark II since it can’t use the L-Bracket.

I’ve spent nearly another $300 in plates on top of the tripod head, and it only goes up from there if you have multiple telephoto lenses. Arca-Swiss is actually higher so be sure to compare shopping carts with your full configuration before placing your order to make sure you have the best choice for your budget.

I do strongly advise you not to be stupid and use one plate for both your camera and telephoto lenses (the ones with tripod rings like a 70-200mm) because you will get very poor long exposure performance out of your good head and expensive tripod legs by creating significant instability at the camera from too much weight hanging over the end.

Conclusion

All of the heads featured in this article are good enough to serve you well when paired with one of my tripod recommendations. A good head is important, but good legs are even more important. As a result, I’d say that if you have to cut corners then you should either go with one of the cheaper heads featured in this article like the Benro B3. If the Benro B3 or Oben BB-2 is still out of your budget, then I’d recommend that you don’t use a head at all (yes, you can mount your camera or long lenses to your tripods stud mount directly. I don’t recommend buying a crappy head that doesn’t work well, nor do I recommend photographers try to use videographers pan and tilt heads – as I personally think that they suck for photography (yes, I owned them before too).

If you can afford it, go for the Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1. That’s what I’d buy today if I was buying again, and its huge 130lbs load capacity means it will be rock solid for whatever you would reasonably put on a ball head. Personally, anything over 20 lbs. means you should be using a gimbal head in my opinion (unless you have space considerations), so the overbuilt design of all the heads in this article will mean your lightweight gear won’t stress it in the slightest.

For those with the deepest pockets, I’d still say that the Really Right Stuff BH-55 head will not disappoint. But I recant my prior statement that it’s the only head you should consider.

Why didn’t you cover brand X?

Despite my best effort here, I’m sure I’ll get questions about why I didn’t cover other heads like those from Markins, etc…

The reality is that I didn’t have time, and those that are not sold by B&H mean that I’d have to purchase them (rather than borrow them) in order to review them. Like most of my readers, I don’t have the cash to buy all of these expensive heads, so I thank B&H for them fulfilling my request and loaning me all of the heads I reviewed.

Disclaimer

I do not get a commission of any sort from Really Right Stuff. I cover their products because they are good and I have had great success with them. I may get a commission if you make a purchase from any of the B&H links from the other products mentioned in the article, so please show your appreciation of this blog by visiting here and clicking my links before making your purchase – THANKS!