Bonehead drops another piece of equipment.

04/27/2006 08:30:21 AM · #1

Everyone will drop a lens in the lake from time to time, but LAST NIGHT I was playing with an idea of making a smoking glowing nuclear canister and BROKE my Sigma Flash. I played soccer in my youth for some time and I usually have good luck with catching something with my feet. Every now and then you wind up punting the object instead.

Make the room black and used my 50mm 1.8 in bulb mode while keeping my sigma in the hand with the remote for the camera, Light 3 matches, blow them out-drop them in the silver canister with a green glow stick and hope the smoke turns out.....IT DIDN'T!

Make a couple of changes and drop the flash - ligting 3 matches.

I did catch it, but it took a moderate shock. (Probaby about the same shock if dropped on a ream of paper from 1 foot) Not happy about it NOT taking the impact. That was not that violent... I do love the flash, and would look pretty cool for a doorstop....

I want to cry...

Oh, and I dropped my 70-300 Macro lens in the lake once, but I salvaged that!

Message edited by author 2006-04-27 08:34:50.

04/27/2006 08:36:30 AM · #2

I guess I put it in the tips section to ask....best way to make lots of smoke???? lol

Message edited by author 2006-04-27 08:36:42.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

04/27/2006 08:44:33 AM · #3

Heh. OOpS! I think there is significantly more electronics inside a flash. I wonder if perhaps it's still repairable. It may be that you just blew the bulb, especially if you had used the flash recently. Filaments can get quite hot and can become quite sensitive to impact. Did you check to see if the other functions work or is it just dead dead dead?

Additionally, you could check the manual to see if there are any troubleshooting steps like a reset or a second battery to remove (somewhat unlikely)...

If I were making smoke, I'd light something on fire that smokes a lot when put out. I find that many candles tend to smoke a lot if you gently blow them out. The smoke isn't terribly substantial though, you might try a handful of 'tea light' candles...

Leaves, even a salvaged cigarette butt if necessary (note, don't buy any actual cigarettes though, supporting those companies in any way is just wrong). Maybe you could bum one off someone you know that smokes. One less to pollute their lungs anyhow...

KaDi

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

04/27/2006 09:06:00 AM · #4

incense
incense cones make a fair abount of smoke
...isn't that why they say "He was so incensed when he dropped his flash on the floor you could see the smoke coming out of his ears!"...?
;-)

04/27/2006 09:24:07 AM · #5

It is as dead as a doornail. The flash was not hot, its just dead.

Everything looks ok, but I am just going to send it back...it was less than a year and it did not take a bump.. If they charge me, I will be pissed and will not buy from them again for my next flash.. If they do it, they will earn my respect. I think they will do the right thing....I can not believe that I broke from that.. It was not violent nor did it hit nothing but my foot... Not a bad impact in my book.

Hmmm... Here is the shot, but I could not get the smoke so I did it in photoshop to show you guys what the minimum I would have liked was.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

04/27/2006 09:34:54 AM · #6

That's pretty funky. Have you considered using a different light source? Maybe somethingmore diffuse? The biggest thing I notice about that example is that the light is not even as it moves down and is a bit overpowering.

The green light in the smoke looks great I am guessing that you got a small LED with a green filter and just inside the bottle? It seems to need a bit more light from in the bottle. Pushing the green a bit to a more lime color might give it a bit more 'Homer Simpson: In Rod We Trust' kind of look...?

MattO

Nikon D4

04/27/2006 10:53:53 AM · #7

Originally posted by Derf:

I find it very umm how do I say, unsettling that you admit that you (abused) dropped your flash and then your going to get pissed if someone doesnt cover the item for your own carelessness. To me this says more about you as a person then it does the vendor no matter how they decide to handle it. I personally wouldnt feel very good about myself to do this.

MattO

notonline

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/27/2006 10:57:10 AM · #8

Originally posted by Derf:

Every now and then you wind up punting the object instead.

lol I know exactly what your talking about. Usually ends up hitting an innocent bystander.

Spork99

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Canon EF-M 22mm STM Lens

04/27/2006 11:08:39 AM · #9

Originally posted by Derf:

I guess I put it in the tips section to ask....best way to make lots of smoke???? lol

Two Words: Smoke Machine

04/27/2006 11:17:04 AM · #10

Originally posted by MattO:

Originally posted by Derf:
It is as dead as a doornail. The flash was not hot, its just dead.

Everything looks ok, but I am just going to send it back...it was less than a year and it did not take a bump.. If they charge me, I will be pissed and will not buy from them again for my next flash.. If they do it, they will earn my respect. I think they will do the right thing....I can not believe that I broke from that.. It was not violent nor did it hit nothing but my foot... Not a bad impact in my book.

I find it very umm how do I say, unsettling that you admit that you (abused) dropped your flash and then your going to get pissed if someone doesnt cover the item for your own carelessness. To me this says more about you as a person then it does the vendor no matter how they decide to handle it. I personally wouldnt feel very good about myself to do this.

MattO

It was my carelessness that put me in this situation BUT, I do not feel that the flash was put together properly or there was another fault of some kind....

"IF" it fell 1/8 inch on to a wood desk, it would have been more of an impact then what happened. I am upset that it did not take more of a hit before breaking, My Camera, Lens's and laptop can take a minumum of 10X the impact. If it was a kitchen glass, it would not have broken.... The flash is Great flash and I do not wan to badmouth it because they would have to take a much greater impact than what happened to mine, or there would be LOTS of angry posts on this site!
Therefore I think there was something not right.

04/27/2006 11:19:56 AM · #11

Originally posted by eschelar:

I just took a few shots with different lighting...Just playing because I felt I should take a few hundred with all different colors and angles...then I dropped the flash and got bummed....

THERE WAS NO SMOKE... or at least not captured in the image (THIS SMOKE IS ALL PHOTOSHOP!) It is to show you.

P.S. The LED did not fit, its a glowstick lolol

04/27/2006 11:24:31 AM · #12

Originally posted by notonline:

Originally posted by Derf:
Every now and then you wind up punting the object instead.

lol I know exactly what your talking about. Usually ends up hitting an innocent bystander.

I am pretty good, I had a friend drop is 70-300 and got it ligher with my foot than if he dropped it on a pile of pillows, and shot it straight up and cought it lefty. He was very impressed. NO IMPACT incident.

On the flip side, watch out for bricks....they suprize the hell out of you if you do not realize it is a brick!!! Yes I have children!!;)

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

04/28/2006 10:33:57 AM · #13

Yes, I realize that the smoke was photoshopped. I am merely stating that it seems like the picture is intended to have a 'radioactive material in the bottle' look. In your example, it appears as though the flash light has overpowered the light coming from inside. The green light seems a bit dull.

I like the idea of a glowstick. It's probably a perfect green.

Tea light candles might be a fair bit too large for such a canister.

One thing that might help you to both get more light and more smoke, as well as smoother lines on the edges, yet retaining the look of the scene would be shooting in RAW, and using a longer shutter speed. Don't use flash, but use more even lighting, albeit VERY diffuse and VERY dim. 30 seconds to 2 minutes would be where I would start. Use PS to slice off the bottom end of the shadow areas to keep the BG black. This will also eliminate the flash glare.

Experiment with different lighting temperatures... Remember, if you want, you could selectively desaturate the picture and keep your green smoke...

Just an idea.

David.C

04/28/2006 02:54:03 PM · #14

A bit of dry-ice would create a good deal of fog.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

05/17/2006 10:02:36 PM · #15

I just got back from Sigma and I have to say....OUTSTANDING!

I went in and told the guy exactly what happened. He took the flash
and left for about 5 minutes and came back with a smile and said all
done. Then he gave me a free lens cloth keychain and gave my son a pen!

I will buy there product even if I have a bad experience in the future,

he was professional and one of the nicest guys I have met. After the
fact, he asked for the receipt (he had only previously asked when it
was purchased). He did the work on faith that I was telling the truth
and then he said I did not need to fill out the work order. We chatted
for a few minutes and then he asked "How hard was this impact?". I
grabbed my son's large action figure and dropped it from about 5 feet
and got it with my foot....OK, and told him it was about the same for
the flash but without sneakers on. He agreed that it should have taken
much more and then held my flash up 5 feet.....and I almost hit the
floor.....He did not let it go, but that was funny as hell! I AM
SOLD! NICE JOB, GREAT GUYS..... I now am talking to wifie about
getting another Sigma flash for Christmas and one for my birthday!!! I
need some more Len's and was only going Canon. I need to test some
more Sigma Stuff!!! I can not believe the service, that was the best
service experience of my life and I work in IT and deal with Technology
issues all the time! Hats off Sigma!

Tygerr

Nikon D7000

06/20/2006 06:05:57 AM · #16

I had almost exactly the same experience last night working in the dark on my "30 seconds or more" challenge.

Dropped the Nikon SB-600 from about 5ft, off a coffee table onto a carpeted - but firm - floor.
The flash was dead. No LED, no power light.

But, when I pressed down on the battery compartment cover, it came back to life. But the cover didn't seem broken - just wasn't making contact.
So I popped open the battery cover, got out some tweezers, and bent the contacts up a bit.
The batteries now extended out of their tubes a bit higher.
Snapped the cover back into place, and voila!
Flash working again - took about 100 more exposures after that last night, no hassles.

So maybe that's what your Sigma technician had to do in his backroom? (Given that it took him only 5 minutes to fix).

Unfortunately I didn't get a lens cloth or pen out of the experience... :-(

06/20/2006 07:11:17 AM · #17

glad to hear all is well...

I would have guessed a fault in the bulb which tripped a fuse or something, but I like the Tyger's idea better. Definitely could have happened that way...

Good to know as I will probably be picking up a Sigma flash before too long...

06/20/2006 08:39:29 AM · #18

I was out on the ramp taking pictures of the last flights of the F-14
on Long Island was was looking forward to taking these shots

Bigger version

When the flash stopped working as the flash was in my big pants pocket
and was gently tapping against my leg as I walked back to the camera.
I brought it back to Sigma and he explained that the contacts by the
battery were not aligned up from a hit and that caused the problem both
times. I am not to happy as both times the impact was so light that it
should not have affected anything. I am now worried that I need to
treat my lens with more care than a crystal flute... I asked if there
was anything that could be changed that would help, like the $2.00
plastic case or maybe crazy glue some of the parts into place as this
flash has not worked about 30% of the times I used it.... VERY WORRIED

(I am anal about my equipment and have my blood pressure go over the
top if my wife is using the camera in front of me.... NOBODY ELSE WILL
EVER TOUCH MY BABY!!!)

This was the only shot I got with the flash....And it is a bad angle
on the aircraft and not usable as far as I am concerned.
LOOK AT THE TIRES!

Bigger Version

06/20/2006 08:54:34 AM · #19

Dude, serious bummer. If it were me, I'd invest in some fine needle nose pliers that I could get in there and take care of that with...

Also, I'd consider asking for a replacement for that peice of metal. Obviously it's fatigued...

It's been a month since your last post on the issue, so I'm guessing that if you act now, you can prevent headaches even if you have to leave it with them for a few weeks.

It shouldn't be a major difficulty to get that peice of metal replaced... Sounds like a bad unit rather than a major equipment fault... A new bit of metal might solve things well... Definitely keep the receipt and a written record of why it was taken in... I'd also maybe consider trying to replicate the problem myself...

Then, with the same problem having occured once more, I'd go back, get them to bend it back, go to my car, drive away, replicate the problem (out of sight), go grab a coffee and come back an hour later with a polite, but concerned look on my face...

Then I would ask to have the metal peice replaced as it is obviously fatigued....

Remember to be polite and use questions like: So how could this be fixed? What will be a good way to prevent this from happening again and bringing me back here a week from now? I read that metal gets weaker as it fatigues... is this going to happen more often and with less movement?

Play their games and you might feel icky, but you will probably win.. If they can't replace that metal thingy, just do the return trip a few times in a week, keeping all your receipts... you shouldn't have to wait too long before you get a new unit.. Some places in America apparently have a '6 times in 30 days' clause in their local law that entitles you to a new one...

Message edited by author 2006-06-20 09:00:19.

06/20/2006 09:12:12 AM · #20

The flash is 6 months old and has about 500 fires, 50% on the hot-shoe
and 50% were slave! I will give it one more try....and use it allot
more. Next time I will demand that something more then a adjustment is
done. I Love my flash but can not trust it at all...that is a bad bad
thing!!!

Note: It could be that I just got a bad case for the flash or it could
be a hundred other different things that I can not think of....Like I
said, I love the flash and think that I just got the bum flash out of
the lot.... Sigma has been good to me so far soooo....I guess we will
see!

06/20/2006 09:13:35 AM · #21

Oh, and both time I took it to Sigma (10 min away from my home) I had it fixed in 10 min and was out the door.