If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Why does my camera not see the slave flash?
Playing around with my new EOS 300D to see what my old equipment can
do; flash this evening. I have a Vivitar 283 and an old Vivitar slave (the little cylindrical one); fitted them up on a tripod and put some tissues over the built-in flash so it was just bright enough to trigger the slave. Sometimes the shot doesn't show the flash (well not the main one), sometimes it does. Why would that be? I took a series of shots at 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark, with just the effect of the built-in flash and the room lighting. Same exposure. And yes, I checked that the slave had fired: first I could see it out of the corner of my eye and also I could hear it re-charging. The only thing I can think of is a synch problem, but I can't imagine how it would happen. Light doesn't take an overly long time to get across my living room ... -- Henry Law Manchester, England |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Henry Law wrote: Playing around with my new EOS 300D to see what my old equipment can do; flash this evening. I have a Vivitar 283 and an old Vivitar slave (the little cylindrical one); fitted them up on a tripod and put some tissues over the built-in flash so it was just bright enough to trigger the slave. Sometimes the shot doesn't show the flash (well not the main one), sometimes it does. Why would that be? I took a series of shots at 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark, with just the effect of the built-in flash and the room lighting. Same exposure. And yes, I checked that the slave had fired: first I could see it out of the corner of my eye and also I could hear it re-charging. The only thing I can think of is a synch problem, but I can't imagine how it would happen. Light doesn't take an overly long time to get across my living room ... Hi Henry... I have (had) the same problem; gave up... Don't know your camera, but most fire a pre-flash; so close in time to the main flash that our eyes can't distinguish between the pre and main flash. This pre-flash is triggering your slave, so that the picture comes out much much worse than it would have had the slave not been used at all. Happy New Year Ken |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
The 300D is fireing a preflash.
If you hold the * button, he wil fire it only once. So when you press the shutter, he will fire one flash and the slaves will go off at the right time. Just hold the * button and you can take the next pictures whitout the preflash. That works very well, i use it with two flashes and a slavetrigger. You can test this by taking a picture of the slaveflash so you can see if it went off. Good luck, Edwin Bont, holland |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
The 300D is fireing a preflash.
If you hold the * button, he wil fire it only once. So when you press the shutter, he will fire one flash and the slaves will go off at the right time. Just hold the * button and you can take the next pictures whitout the preflash. That works very well, i use it with two flashes and a slavetrigger. You can test this by taking a picture of the slaveflash so you can see if it went off. Good luck, Edwin Bont, holland |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
I see that you have specific information for your camera...for others, and
maybe you too, often the manual mode will not fire a pre-flash. "Henry Law" wrote in message ... Playing around with my new EOS 300D to see what my old equipment can do; flash this evening. I have a Vivitar 283 and an old Vivitar slave (the little cylindrical one); fitted them up on a tripod and put some tissues over the built-in flash so it was just bright enough to trigger the slave. Sometimes the shot doesn't show the flash (well not the main one), sometimes it does. Why would that be? I took a series of shots at 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark, with just the effect of the built-in flash and the room lighting. Same exposure. And yes, I checked that the slave had fired: first I could see it out of the corner of my eye and also I could hear it re-charging. The only thing I can think of is a synch problem, but I can't imagine how it would happen. Light doesn't take an overly long time to get across my living room ... -- Henry Law Manchester, England |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
I see that you have specific information for your camera...for others, and
maybe you too, often the manual mode will not fire a pre-flash. "Henry Law" wrote in message ... Playing around with my new EOS 300D to see what my old equipment can do; flash this evening. I have a Vivitar 283 and an old Vivitar slave (the little cylindrical one); fitted them up on a tripod and put some tissues over the built-in flash so it was just bright enough to trigger the slave. Sometimes the shot doesn't show the flash (well not the main one), sometimes it does. Why would that be? I took a series of shots at 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark, with just the effect of the built-in flash and the room lighting. Same exposure. And yes, I checked that the slave had fired: first I could see it out of the corner of my eye and also I could hear it re-charging. The only thing I can think of is a synch problem, but I can't imagine how it would happen. Light doesn't take an overly long time to get across my living room ... -- Henry Law Manchester, England |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Henry Law wrote: Playing around with my new EOS 300D to see what my old equipment can do; flash this evening. I have a Vivitar 283 and an old Vivitar slave (the little cylindrical one); fitted them up on a tripod and put some tissues over the built-in flash so it was just bright enough to trigger the slave. Sometimes the shot doesn't show the flash (well not the main one), sometimes it does. Why would that be? I took a series of shots at 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark, with just the effect of the built-in flash and the room lighting. Same exposure. And yes, I checked that the slave had fired: first I could see it out of the corner of my eye and also I could hear it re-charging. The only thing I can think of is a synch problem, but I can't imagine how it would happen. Light doesn't take an overly long time to get across my living room ... Many digicams (Perhaps the 300D) give a preflash in addition to the main flash. Since you "desensitized" the slave, you may be firing on the Main flash when the slave is farther away or off to one side. When the slave is closer and in a more direct line with your camera, it is probably firing on the Preflash. :-( Put a few more thicknesses of tissue over the slave when it is up close or in a more direct line to the camera and see what happens Bob Williams |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 02:31:48 -0800, Bob Williams
wrote: Henry Law wrote: 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark Many digicams (Perhaps the 300D) give a preflash in addition to the main flash. Since you "desensitized" the slave, you may be firing on the Main flash when the slave is farther away or off to one side. When the slave is closer and in a more direct line with your camera, it is probably firing on the Preflash. :-( A good hypothesis which fits the facts observed to date. And now that various posts have suggested it I did some research: "The built-in pop-up flash unit uses Canon's E-TTL system to meter flash output. It does this by firing a low power pre-flash just milliseconds before the main flash." (From DPReview's evaluation of the 300D) I'll make some more careful tests and see what happens. Thanks! -- Henry Law Manchester, England |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 02:31:48 -0800, Bob Williams
wrote: Henry Law wrote: 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark Many digicams (Perhaps the 300D) give a preflash in addition to the main flash. Since you "desensitized" the slave, you may be firing on the Main flash when the slave is farther away or off to one side. When the slave is closer and in a more direct line with your camera, it is probably firing on the Preflash. :-( A good hypothesis which fits the facts observed to date. And now that various posts have suggested it I did some research: "The built-in pop-up flash unit uses Canon's E-TTL system to meter flash output. It does this by firing a low power pre-flash just milliseconds before the main flash." (From DPReview's evaluation of the 300D) I'll make some more careful tests and see what happens. Thanks! -- Henry Law Manchester, England |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
There are digital slaves that fire with the main flash.
"Henry Law" wrote in message ... Playing around with my new EOS 300D to see what my old equipment can do; flash this evening. I have a Vivitar 283 and an old Vivitar slave (the little cylindrical one); fitted them up on a tripod and put some tissues over the built-in flash so it was just bright enough to trigger the slave. Sometimes the shot doesn't show the flash (well not the main one), sometimes it does. Why would that be? I took a series of shots at 1/60 f/5.6 (chosen by the camera on "P" setting) and 200ASA. If the slaved 283 is above the subject to my right, or at 90deg to the subject over to my left the shot comes out properly exposed, i.e. I can see the effects of the slave flash. But if the 283 is closer in to the line of shot (on a table down slightly to my left and in front of me, out of view) then the shot is dark, with just the effect of the built-in flash and the room lighting. Same exposure. And yes, I checked that the slave had fired: first I could see it out of the corner of my eye and also I could hear it re-charging. The only thing I can think of is a synch problem, but I can't imagine how it would happen. Light doesn't take an overly long time to get across my living room ... -- Henry Law Manchester, England |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Fill Flash with the Canon 20D? | Ryadia | Digital Photography | 14 | December 17th 04 10:46 PM |
Looking for external flash recommendations for Nikon Coolpix 5700 camera | All Things Mopar | Digital Photography | 12 | December 13th 04 05:01 PM |
AF illuminator on the Maxxum 7D | Alan Browne | Digital Photography | 90 | October 20th 04 02:01 AM |
Another nail in the view camera coffin? | Robert Feinman | Large Format Photography Equipment | 108 | August 4th 04 03:37 PM |
FA: Ricoh KR-10 35mm Camera, lenses, flash extras | jon | Other Photographic Equipment | 1 | February 8th 04 11:10 PM |