interfit eFlash

[evilenglishman]

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[evilenglishman]

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[robertwgross]

You might want to define "slave function", since there is optical slave function versus Canon wireless slave versus probably others, and they are mutually incompatible.

---Bob Gross---

[PrimoFelis]

Like it says on their website, I can envision them being particularly useful in macrophotography in the field.

How are these flashes powered? And approximate price range, if anyone knows?

[phidong]

http://www.owens-originals.com/interfit%20strobe/eFLASH.html

pricey.. i rather pitch in another 70-80 bucks and get a sigma ef500 super dg :/

[evilenglishman]

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[PrimoFelis]

This is a wild guess, but are you trying to trigger the eFlash off of the built-in flash of a 10D or 300D?

If so, I don't think it is going to work, because E-TTL's preflash would prematurely trigger the eFlash working as a slave before the shutter curtain actually opens.

Unrelated question: Is the flash powered by some AA batteries? Just curious. Thanks.

[evilenglishman]

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[PrimoFelis]

I hesitate to speculate because I'm not familiar with D60 at all, but a quick look at DPReview confirms that D60 uses E-TTL like 10D/300D. So I'd guess that the E-TTL's preflash is the likely culprit. (But you would want to get a second opinion from someone else. Anyone?)

I was trying to find a web site to refer you to on this, but couldn't find anything very good off hand. There are some descriptions of this problem on this page below. (See under the heading "Slaves", the third paragraph down.)

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/G1strobe.html

Sorry I can't be of more help right at this minute. But if it is E-TTL's pre-flash related, you are not alone in having this difficulty. If you search the forum maybe you will find related threads.

And thanks for the info on the power source.

Best regards,

[evilenglishman]

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[evilenglishman]

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[PrimoFelis]

evilenglishman wrote:
thanks for the info, but from what i have read the pre-flash doesn't fire in manual mode and i always use manual :(

I'd probably be wrong about this, but since the available information in this case seems to point strongly to preflash, you might want to run a quick experiment yourself before ruling it out completely and considering other causes.

With the D60 in the manual mode, with the on-board flash popped up, press the * button (the FEL button).

Wouldn't the pop-up flash fire a pre-flash? I would think that that would be a strong hint that E-TTL is at work in the M mode. (That's how it works with 300D, not that it is directly relevant to this case.)

Incidentally, if it is the preflash, use of FEL may be an acceptable workaround for you. Press * to trigger the preflash, wait a few seconds for the slave flash to charge up again, then release the shutter while "*" is still on the viewfinder display. This way, the preflash shouldn't fire again to interfere with the final shot. (You would want to use a shutter speed of 1/200 sec. or longer for a proper flash sync for this camera.)

This seems to be the standard workaround among people who have to occasionally use optical slaves and flash meters with Canon E-TTL's preflash. Use of a small non-ETTL external flash in place of the pop-up flash may be another. Your mileage may vary.

Sorry if I turn out to be wrong about this. It wouldn't be the first time. :) Good luck!

Another unrelated question about the eFalsh itself: Does this flash employ standard xenon flash lamp(s)? Or does it use something new/different/"high-tech" to light up? Just curious again.

[PrimoFelis]

PS. to my previous post.

Another solution/workaround for the E-TTL preflash slave problem in general may be the use of one of the newer anti-preflash slave trigger units. I understand that they can be set to ignore one or more preflashes (depending on the needs). I have no personal experience. Wein makes some.

http://www.omegasatter.com/v2/products/displaycategory.cfm?CatID=495
http://www.weinproducts.com/news.htm (Just skip to the bottom and read the ShutterBug article.)


FYI, in case anyone reading this thread is interested.

[evilenglishman]

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