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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Canon 580exII flash fire rate with CP-E4
Daniel Goncalves, Photographer
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Jacksonville | FL | USA | Posted: 2:56 PM on 03.29.11 |
->> I was shooting the St. Pete Grand Prix this weekend and when I was shooting with the flash attached to the 40D I noticed that every 3rd or 4th photo the flash didn't fire.
I did have the external battery pack attached and had fresh eneloops in the flash and pack.
I was shooting:
-Continuous 3-5 shot bursts
-High speed synch as we were in bright daylight
-pre and post race ceremonies
I know that the high speed synch can put extra strain and am wondering if that would be the cause and if this would be expected behavior.
Is something wrong or is the flash limited?
Thanks in advance.
Daniel |
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Will Powers, Photographer
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Denver | CO | USA | Posted: 3:29 PM on 03.29.11 |
| ->> If you have the flash set on auto, it fires a full power flash. Try setting it in a manual setting at 1/4 power for example. |
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Daniel Goncalves, Photographer
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Jacksonville | FL | USA | Posted: 7:20 PM on 03.30.11 |
| ->> It's set on ETTL it shouldn't be firing at full power I would think. |
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Colin Hackley, Photographer
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Tallahassee | FL | USA | Posted: 8:55 PM on 03.30.11 |
->> High speed sync takes more power than a standard ETTL because the flash tube actually "burns" longer than a standard sync flash exposure. If your exposure settings were, say, f8 or higher, that coupled with the multi-frame bursts could be too much for the CP-E4 to keep up with.
Also, ETTL will fire at full power if that is what it thinks is needed to make a proper exposure. |
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Curtis Clegg, Photographer
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Sycamore | IL | USA | Posted: 8:00 AM on 03.31.11 |
| ->> Under those circumstances I think you were putting too much strain on the flash system. Try bumping your ISO up a couple stops so the flash doesn't have to put out as much light. |
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Chris Wood, Photographer
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San Diego | CA | US | Posted: 5:34 PM on 03.31.11 |
->> Flash capacity (ability to recycle) is pretty tough to say under the conditions you were shooting. At full power (no HSS) I can get a steady 1 flash every second (approximately) until the batteries deplete. From what you are describing I am impressed with how well it did perform.
You will get significantly less light out of your flash using HSS (the flash strobes instead of just popping) so you may want to consider just using your camera's sync speed. If that does not work for you - you can also consider picking up some Pocket Wizard TT5's so you can push the sync speed on your camera up to 1/500 or so (maybe higher). Pocket Wizard's ControlTL allows you to set the timing on the first and second curtain of the shutter. |
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