Flash Sync Speed Reference Table

Cover Photo by insung yoon, free to use

Flash sync speed, also sometimes referred to as to as X-Sync, is the fastest shutter speed that will allow the camera to capture light on the whole sensor. Shooting at a faster shutter speed then a camera’s flash sync speed without using high-speed sync (aka HHS, which will be the subject of a future article) will result in a black band in your photos.

When photographing with studio strobes, it’s common to set the camera exactly at the sync speed to maximize the reduction of ambient light and allow to capture light from the strobes only.

When I find myself using a new camera body to shoot using strobes, I often have to search for its flash sync speed, and I’ve found myself struggling to find the info easily. So for this post I decided to compile the flash sync speed for many of today’s popular DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

I cover cameras from the 3 major manufacturers: Canon, Nikon and Sony.

Canon Bodies

Nikon Bodies

Most Nikon pro DSLRs have a flash sync speed of 1/250s, and the new mirrorless cameras from Nikon have a flash sync speed of 1/200s.

Sony Bodies

Even though most Sony bodies are rated at a flash sync speed of 1/250s, I’ve had a different experience using a Sony α7R III with a Godox strobe, where it turned out that 1/200s was what I found to be the maximum shutter speed I could really use.