| Author | Thread |
|
|
03/15/2009 02:43:26 AM · #1 |
| So...we had a wedding to shoot yesterday and I get to the hotel with the bride etc...get all my gear out, turn on my flash which turned on fine, but no flash?? I have a canon 580ex....the flash will turn on and all the info etc, will come up on the screen fine, but the pilot light does not come on and there is no charging up getting ready to flash noise!! Has anyone else had this problem?? Is my Flash completely stuffed?? |
|
|
|
03/15/2009 05:48:55 AM · #2 |
| Thank god you had a backup flash eh? |
|
|
|
03/15/2009 06:16:10 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by -Bec-:
Is my Flash completely stuffed?? |
Impossible to say. Did you mean the flash-ready light doesn't come on, and no charging whistle/whine? Try new batts and the obvious if that flash has it, re-set the flash. Dump the batts out and check the contacts. Good luck. |
|
|
|
03/15/2009 07:55:20 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by FireBird:
Originally posted by -Bec-:
Is my Flash completely stuffed?? |
Impossible to say. Did you mean the flash-ready light doesn't come on, and no charging whistle/whine? Try new batts and the obvious if that flash has it, re-set the flash. Dump the batts out and check the contacts. Good luck. |
Yeah, thats right...no flash-ready light and no whistle/whine noise... Not the contacts, coz whether the flash is attached to the camera or not, it still doesn't flash.
and Simms, no I didn't have a back up flash, but the hotel room was full of light, so I was fine...I was on my own in the hotel, but Neil(who had a flash) and I were shooting together for the rest of the day, and it was nearly all outdoors on a nice bright sunny day!
Thanks guys |
|
|
|
03/15/2009 09:47:43 AM · #5 |
A week ago I shot a wedding. At the end of the wedding (B&G ready to come out the doors with guests throwing petals in the air), I changed my batteries ... put a "fresh" set into the flash ... just to be sure I would "get the shot". I took a picture to make sure it was okay. Yup, everything looked fine. And that was the last shot I got. I thought my flash had died! I tried a couple of quick things and when they failed, I pulled out another flash and put it on the camera. For a moment, I considered swapping the batteries across just to make sure the new flash had fresh "juice" but realizing I had already soaked up a lot of time "dulling the moment" with my technical difficulties, so I just took the flash and ran with it.
Later, after everyone was gone, I investigated. What I had thought were fresh batteries (I had marked them as such) apparently were not! The final flash I got must have been residual charge from the previous set of batteries because these batteries didn't have enough "oomph" to get the flash to a ready state.
So in the end, while I was sure it was not a battery problem at the time, it turns out that's all it really was. So don't discount the possibility. Put some truly fresh batteries in and try again.
|
|
|
|
03/15/2009 09:47:49 AM · #6 |
P.S.
I use a battery charger that has an LCD on it. It charges 8 batteries at a time and the LCD shows me the status of every battery. The good thing about this is that when a battery has completely failed, the LCD will let me know and I can just toss that battery (a necessity because one dead battery even combined with 3 good ones equals one dead system). |
|
|
|
03/15/2009 09:54:21 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by -Bec-:
Originally posted by FireBird:
Dump the batts out and check the contacts. Good luck. |
Not the contacts, coz whether the flash is attached to the camera or not, it still doesn't flash.
|
I think he meant check the battery contacts.
|
|
|
|
03/15/2009 11:38:51 AM · #8 |
You might have a dead battery in one of the set.... Fresh set of batteries work?? If you have a charger that will do individual cells (most don't) you could tell.
EDIT: Oops... Didn't refresh to see David already replied....
Message edited by author 2009-03-15 11:40:04. |
|
|
|
05/28/2009 09:40:21 AM · #9 |
| So - bec- did you find out what happened to your 580EX? |
|
|
|
05/28/2009 09:49:18 AM · #10 |
| I dropped my flash once and flash tube got cracked. All electronics worked but no flash was coming out. |
|
|
|
05/28/2009 09:59:46 AM · #11 |
| This is why we always use these at weddings. Fast recycle times, and no worries about dead batteries. |
|
|
|
05/28/2009 02:29:20 PM · #12 |
As Nikolai said. I think it is that issue rather than batteries... Reason I brought this up again was the same thing happened to my 580EX at an event yesterday. I was forced to use a Nikon flash unit off camera (and the result was much better... ;-) I got a quote from Canon to do a fix - out of warranty - $120. But I think it is possible the flash tube has pinged - even though I did not drop the unit. I am inclined to replace the tube and see what happens.
Message edited by author 2009-05-28 16:15:52. |
|
|
|
05/28/2009 05:01:16 PM · #13 |
| It's always good to have a battery tester in the camera bag. |
|
|
|
06/11/2009 03:46:56 PM · #14 |
I called Canon's parts number in the US (866 481 2569) today and ordered a new flash bulb unit, side covers, and tapes for my defunct 580EX Mk. I. Total was about US$45.00 including shipping. Very simple to order and nice service too. The quote from the Canon Service Center to fix this unit was US$120. If I can DIY I can save a little bit of green. Just in case anyone is every in the same situation. It is quite easy to take the unit apart - check the link above. But do be careful not to get zapped by the capacitor...
Message edited by author 2009-06-18 21:19:11. |
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Prints! -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 04/18/2024 02:22:50 AM EDT.
