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08/15/2006 12:05:41 AM · #1 |
Besides our home studio we also have a 580EX and a 420EX speedlite. I've been trying to fiddle with setting the 420EX up as a slave, which in itself is simple enough, but the problem is that the 420EX fires later than the 550EX. The shutter of the camera is well closed up by the time the 420EX fires. Has anyone ever encountered this or know of something that I may be doing wrong?
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08/15/2006 05:37:52 AM · #2 |
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08/15/2006 06:12:42 AM · #3 |
what speed are you shooting at?
the speedlight only goes up to 1/200 unless you have it set on high speed sync.
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08/15/2006 06:25:34 AM · #4 |
This is probably a stupid question but, have you tried putting new batteries in the 420? It may be somthing as simple as that.
June
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08/15/2006 07:09:41 AM · #5 |
| speaking o which... why does my camera settings im manual limit shutter speed to 1/200 when im using flash.. granted that the built in flash might be limited by that. but what if i wanna underexpose it buy shuttin faster ?.. |
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08/15/2006 07:14:50 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by rami:
speaking o which... why does my camera settings im manual limit shutter speed to 1/200 when im using flash.. granted that the built in flash might be limited by that. but what if i wanna underexpose it buy shuttin faster ?.. |
Because thet is the fast speed at which your camera and your flash can sync. If you use a faster shutter speed the shutter curtain will close before the flash has fully "flashed" and part of the sensor will not be exposed leaving a black band on the bottom of the picture.
June
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08/15/2006 07:22:00 AM · #7 |
are you sure ths is what's happening? Canon speedlites first fire a pre flash to determine proper exposure - then the normal flash immediately following. Are you sure you aren't confusing the pre flash and the actual flash?
Originally posted by Makka:
Besides our home studio we also have a 580EX and a 420EX speedlite. I've been trying to fiddle with setting the 420EX up as a slave, which in itself is simple enough, but the problem is that the 420EX fires later than the 550EX. The shutter of the camera is well closed up by the time the 420EX fires. Has anyone ever encountered this or know of something that I may be doing wrong? |
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08/15/2006 12:51:10 PM · #8 |
How are you triggering the flash? from the camera, or by pressing the test button on the 580?
If you press the test button on the 580, the slaves will flash in A B C order, with a 1 Second (IIRC) delay between each group.
What happens if you set the shutter to a very long time and turn the main flash off (that is, disable the master unit's flash firing)? |
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08/16/2006 07:55:39 AM · #9 |
That's pretty wild.
I doubt batteries would make a difference seeing as flashes work with pre-loading capacitors specifically to eliminate low battery issues.
Did you check which curtain flash you are using? I usually use second curtain flash myself, and haven't had any problems at all using a secondary flash off-camera...
Sounds like a trip down to the local Canon shop... I would run it by the guys at the front desk first... it could be either the commander or the secondary flash, so bring both. |
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08/16/2006 08:23:11 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by hankk:
How are you triggering the flash? from the camera, or by pressing the test button on the 580?
If you press the test button on the 580, the slaves will flash in A B C order, with a 1 Second (IIRC) delay between each group.
What happens if you set the shutter to a very long time and turn the main flash off (that is, disable the master unit's flash firing)? |
Thanks for all the tips guys. Turns out hankk here was right. I was just test firing them and that is why it was doing it. On camera all is good! That'll teach me to try it out properly before saying WTF is going on!
Thanks all!
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08/16/2006 10:02:47 AM · #11 |
I don't know if this is helpful or not, mostly because I haven't bought my proper external flash quite yet, but if you want to fire the flash as if it were being fired from the camera (or possibly in commander only mode) rather than test mode, you can manually cross the center post with the hotshoe mount contact with a simple peice of wire.
I have a spare hotshoe mount with a pc-sync wire that I cut and opened up. I can easily trigger it by hand like that.
Obviously this would only apply to special flash techniques. |
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08/16/2006 10:34:47 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by rami:
speaking o which... why does my camera settings im manual limit shutter speed to 1/200 when im using flash.. granted that the built in flash might be limited by that. but what if i wanna underexpose it buy shuttin faster ?.. |
I dont know about the other speedlite models but I do know you can set the 580EX for a high speed flash mode, this allows you to use a faster shutter speed than 1/200. You have to check the manual to see how to set that option, and I tested it, it does work. However, as was stated, the faster the shutter speed the darker the picture comes out since the flash has less time in which to fully fire off. |
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