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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Flash Issue - Canon 580ex
Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 12:27 PM on 03.25.09 |
->> For some reason my canon 580 does not recycle very fast anymore. I put 4 new Energizers in it and still get a delay in recycle time. I thought it was the rechargeable batteries i was using.
Could i have messed with the settings on the actually flash. Whats the settings for auto?
I just need to have that rapid fire flash go off every once and a while. Currently its wait 5-10 seconds for just a 2nd flash to go off. |
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Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 11:51 AM on 03.30.09 |
| ->> anyone have any advise? Could it be time for a new bulb? |
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Rick Rowell, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Vista | CA | USA | Posted: 1:02 PM on 03.30.09 |
| ->> Jonathan, your not giving us much to go on. Under what circumstances are you shooting. Example: F5.6 at 100 iso trying to get the strobe light to travel 20 feet or more or f4.0 at iso 400 or ? If you force the strobe to use all of the power stored in the capacitor then it will take some time to recycle. Make sure your camera and strobe are talking to each other and have a good connection. The 580EX had a few problems that were fixed by Canon with the 580EXII. Understand also that if you force your strobe to rapid fire to much you can burn out the tube. First go back to your manual and reset everything on the camera body and strobe the way you want it. Then try it again and see what happens. Make sure the connection between camera and strobe is solid. Start out with a high iso like 200 or 400 outdoors with the subject back lit at f 4.0 or 2.8. AV mode and matrix metering. Set the strobe for high speed sync. If your recycle time is over 1 or 2 seconds on fresh batteries, then you may have a capacitor or some electrical problem. In other words, put your strobe in a situation were you know it should recycle quickly and see if it does. Also check to see if your exposures are correct and use the histogram on your monitor. Good luck. |
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Michael Granse, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 2:17 PM on 03.30.09 |
->> Check your camera. Have you accidently increased the flash exposure compensation to +1 or even +2?
As Rick Rowell pointed out, using more power per flash is going to cause longer recyle times. It seems that you have not done anything differently with the flash itself, so the problem may be the instructions that the flash is receiving from the camera. If you have accidently increased your flash compensation setting on your camera (or increased this and forgot to change it back), you would be using more power with each flash and thus have longer recycling times. If this is the case, changing the settings on the flash might not matter (unless you switch it to Manual) since the camera is giving the +1 or +2 instruction.
If you are finding yourself in situations that demand shorter flash recycling times, you might want to consider an external battery pack. I use Quantum Turbo batteries with my 580ex flashes and the recycling times are very fast, but speed comes at a price (roughly $400 for the Quantum Turbo and another $40 or so for a cable to connect to the 580ex). |
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Peter Wine, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Dayton | OH | USA | Posted: 4:48 PM on 03.30.09 |
->> How often has the flash been used since it was getting shorter recycle times?
Or should I say, how much time between uses?
Given that a 580 is getting a bit long in the tooth, perhaps the capacitor is taking longer to charge, and may soon fail.
I have heard, but haven't done any independent tests that rechargable batts work better because of the way they feed the flash.
I'll also second (or third) the idea of checking flash compensation on both the body and the flash.
About a year and a half ago, I had my 580 quit working, and sent it in for repair. I thought it was the flash tube, but they said they replaced a board.
Regardless, since it's been back, it doesn't seem as quick to recharge as it was before. Makes me wonder if they put in a board that had been sitting around a while. (Capacitors don't like sitting around, from what I've heard...)
Just my 2 cents. |
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Mike Burley, Photographer
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Honolulu | HI | USA | Posted: 5:15 PM on 03.30.09 |
| ->> When using Energizer rechargeable, the recycle time is half that of regular batteries from my experience ( when using a 580ex v1). They get a little hot, but have never caused any problems in the 5 years of using them. The last a really long time as well. I've used the same 16 or so batteries since '04, and they still hold a full charge. |
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Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 8:33 AM on 04.03.09 |
->> thanks everyone. So the flash works fine. Its the mount on the 20D. When i mount the flash, turn everything on. The flash does not fire. But if i grab with my hand the base of the flash and pull it back and down towards the back of the camera (sort of making it seem like its more flush against the surface of the camera) the flash fires as normal but only if you add that pressure to it.
I cleaned all my contacts but that does not help. The shoe mount of the 20D looks pretty normal compared to my other camera bodies. So what could be causing this?
thanks again!
-JON |
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Steve Violette, Photographer
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Gulf Breeze | FL | USA | Posted: 10:02 AM on 04.03.09 |
| ->> Make sure your hot shoe is tight on the 20D Sometimes the screws holding the hot shoe in place get loose - and you have just described this problem |
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Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 10:35 AM on 04.03.09 |
->> Thanks jeff. i use that link every time my mount gets lose. But even after tightening the flash down as tight as possible and tightening the small shoe screws is not enough to make it fit snug against all the contacts.
Still need to press it down with my hand.
the same flash works fine on other camera bodies so its defiantly something on the 20D. |
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