Flash synch and exposure control ???? Ideas Please

[Fido aka James Smith]

OK... I am a new member of this forum . I use a 300D for sports, location, and weddings. I am pleased with this system except for one thing, controlling my flash exposure. So far I have tried the following.
1. Vivitar 283 on the hot shoe mount . This will cause your studio lights to fire at the right time, but is not well suited to shooting verticals.
2. Canon 420 EX on hot shoe. This is hard to get right with a backlit subject, which just happens to be the way I like to photograph people outdoors.
3. Next I got a Wein Safe Synch and plugged my Metz 45 into it with a rotating bracket. Finally , some degree of control, but alas the flash is not firing on every frame. This gets worse when you are shooting faster.

I have previously used manual cameras only (Hassy) with the Metz flash. The Hassy will synch at all speeds, but shouldn't you be able to handle this at 1/200th with more flash and a smaller aperture? I like for my subject to 1 stop less on their face than the sunlight coming over their shoulders.

I sure hope someone here has this figured out .... If I could get the Metz to fire on every frame I would be happy. BTW the Metz recycles very fast because I am using a Turbo Battery. :?: :?: And I have tried other synch cords to no avail...

[robertwgross]

If you can provide more details, it helps. For one thing, it helps us to understand the problem. For another thing, it lets us know that you are looking at the details. Too many users just stick a flash unit on the hot shoe and start firing away.

(1) Describe exactly what settings you use, and exactly what results you got as a result. Shutter to 1/200, and that should sync.

(2) Using a 420EX on a hot shoe should work, but you may get better shadow results by placing it off the camera, but that probably isn't the problem at hand.

(3) I find a back-lit subject to be hard to flash and get right.

Maybe somebody else here is familiar with some of your non-Canon equipment.

---Bob Gross---

[Fido aka James Smith]

Robert, thanks for the response. First of all my settings are this:
Manual. 1/200th, f-stop to match exposure for ambient, then I set the metz for fill. I am using the Wein Safe synch to have a means of firing the Metz, simply because the 300D doesn't have an X jack on it. I just wonder if there is some kind of buffer in the Wein that is causing the signal not to hit every time......

[DaveG]

OK... I am a new member of this forum . I use a 300D for sports, location, and weddings. I am pleased with this system except for one thing, controlling my flash exposure. So far I have tried the following.
1. Vivitar 283 on the hot shoe mount . This will cause your studio lights to fire at the right time, but is not well suited to shooting verticals.
2. Canon 420 EX on hot shoe. This is hard to get right with a backlit subject, which just happens to be the way I like to photograph people outdoors.
3. Next I got a Wein Safe Synch and plugged my Metz 45 into it with a rotating bracket. Finally , some degree of control, but alas the flash is not firing on every frame. This gets worse when you are shooting faster.

I have previously used manual cameras only (Hassy) with the Metz flash. The Hassy will synch at all speeds, but shouldn't you be able to handle this at 1/200th with more flash and a smaller aperture? I like for my subject to 1 stop less on their face than the sunlight coming over their shoulders.

I sure hope someone here has this figured out .... If I could get the Metz to fire on every frame I would be happy. BTW the Metz recycles very fast because I am using a Turbo Battery. :?: :?: And I have tried other synch cords to no avail...

Get a synch cord for your Vivitar 283. Then you can slip it into the safe synch as kind of a docking station and take it out and hold it above the camera for verticals. This is how I made my living with Nikon FM2's and 283's. I would use the same type of plan with the 550EX except that the remote cord has no additional accessory shoe to dock the flash so you end up holding it for every shot.

If your Metz isn't working all of the time, I'd still suspect the synch cord. Get a new one and try that. Are the other batteries in the Turbo OK?

On manual exposure with a flash like the 283 you should be able to select the ambient light exposure (say 1/125 @ f8 ) and select f5.6 on the 283. That should give you the one stop under ambient light exposure that you're looking for. Of course what the Vivitar says it's going to do and what it actually DOES do, are two different things. But you should be able to glance at the review and figure out that the f5.6 that the 283 thinks it's putting out is f8 so you dial back some more.

[scottbergerphoto]

I don't know if this is an isssue for the Metz flash and Wein Safe Sync. There have been a number of reports of the 550 EX not working with the Wein Peanut Slave due to a voltage/recycling problem. You have to manually recycle the flash off/on after each shot.
Scott

[ootsk]

You might have a shutter problem. That Vivitar has a very high synch voltage. Try putting a voltmeter on it..I had a vivitar with 65 volts. I believe canon recommends less thatn 6 folts. This may have fried your contacts so that they only fire part of the time.

[Fido aka James Smith]

Thanks for the help. I will examine all the suggestions in depth and test it further this weekend.

[Fido aka James Smith]

Thanks again for all the help. Today I tried plugging my studio (Paul Buff Ultra) lights into the safe synch . They fire EVERY time, no failures . So then I tried different cords with the Metz and got less than 100%. Finally I tried another Metz flash and it fires 100% , so I guess it's the flash unit . I removed the covers and examined the flash , but did not find anything loose or not connected. I think it may be the switch or flash tube. Does anyone know the expexted life of a flash tube or how they act when they go? I have had the Metz for 5 or 6 years and used it a lot even though I am part time in photography. :)