Soooo tonights wedding.....Camera problems!

[heydjpa]

WOW, what a whole lot of camera problems I had tonight. First off, here is what I brought with me.

35 MM EOS 1 (Backup)
20D (Primary)
70-200 2.8 L IS
17-55 2.8 IS
50m 1.8
580EX II
430EX

so the 430ex was brand new tonight. First time outa the box and on a shoot, i was using it as a slave shot into an umbrella or bounced off the wall. Well I start shooting, during the ceremony I switched lenses to the 70-200, raise the camera to my face and I see something crawling across my view. I quickly blow on the front of the lens and than raise it to my eye again, yep, any or bug is still there!!!! So i quickly take off the lens and shake the lil bugger outa my camera. WOW, so than i go inside to the reception & I drop my 430EX on the concrete landing by the stairs (fell outa my pocket) Bing during the toasts my 580EX stop firing, than it fires randomly he and there with a mind of its own. After about 200 test shots and after switching flashes ect. I find out that it isn't sitting on the hot shoe correctly, and I find out that my 430EX is DEAD! completely dead, turns on, but not pilot and no firing. So I jame a folded up name/place sign and jam in in the front of my flash to make is sit on the hotshoe right, and i limp along the rest of the night with my 20D. (now i did have an assistant with me who had some extra digital equipment and we were covered, but dang.... )

The moral of the story - Bring Doubles if not TRIPLES!

Backup Backup Back........

so I'm thinking of the 1dMIII or the 40D, what should I get?

[jt168]

Yikes, sorry to hear that!

1DM3 if you can afford it!

[Woogie]

Wow sounds like you had one heck of a time. Good thing you brought spares and backups. The seasoned wedding photographers on this board are always stressing the absolute need for back up equipment. I can definitely see why.

If you're looking to keep the 17-55 2.8 IS, then you gotta stick with the 40D. Personally, I'd take the 1dmkIII for the proven lowlight performance, AF dependabilty/accuracy, reliability and durability, bigger sensor. Either the 1D mkIII w/ 20D as backup, or a pair of 40D.

[tim]

Another person learns the value of spare equipment with a relatively low pain lesson! Good to hear things worked out for you. I'd get the 40D, or two of them, still cheaper than a 1D3.

[Exit]

I had 2 CF cards go bad on me today at the wedding. I hope I can recover the pictures :)

[tim]

I had 2 CF cards go bad on me today at the wedding. I hope I can recover the pictures :)

The chances of that happening are so slim it must be related to something you did.

[Raymond Lin]

i'm going to take my point and shoot with me just in case my 2 SLR bodies dies! only have 1 flash though...

[Bobster]

your random flashes with the 580ex wasn't because you were pressing the DoF button on the side of the camera was it ?

[Exit]

The chances of that happening are so slim it must be related to something you did.

One of them was a Lexar card that I borrowed from a friend. I guess he hadn't sent it in to be replaced yet, but all is well. Got the pictures off the cards :D

[heydjpa]

your random flashes with the 580ex wasn't because you were pressing the DoF button on the side of the camera was it ?


No, I have a bad habit i must admit, I often pick up my camera by the flash and I think that bent the bracket a little bit with my new heaver lenses.

[JMW-Photo]

Must have been a bad night for equipment. My Quantum QB1 fully drained after shooting 5 shots during alter shots while it was hooked to my 580 10ft up in an umbrella!

So, pulled the 580 down, slapped in some AA's, mounted it on the MK2n with the Lightsphere.

Did the trick!

[black_z]

One of them was a Lexar card that I borrowed from a friend. I guess he hadn't sent it in to be replaced yet, but all is well. Got the pictures off the cards :D


Huh?

[davidfig]

The chances of that happening are so slim it must be related to something you did.

Bull the chances are great. I had one CF card fail on me. Could not read it in the camera, nor my laptop, nor my desktop.

I used some recovery software that came with one of my CF cards (don't remember the name) Not only did it recovery my pictures, but it also recovered may shots from a previous shoot.

Don't panic. Don't format. Get some recovery software. There are free ones out there.

[Woogie]

Bull the chances are great. I had one CF card fail on me. Could not read it in the camera, nor my laptop, nor my desktop.

I used some recovery software that came with one of my CF cards (don't remember the name) Not only did it recovery my pictures, but it also recovered may shots from a previous shoot.

Don't panic. Don't format. Get some recovery software. There are free ones out there.

I dont think tim was talking about the possiblity of recovery being slim.

I think he was talking about 2 cards failing in one night.

[Woogie]

I had 2 CF cards go bad on me today at the wedding. I hope I can recover the pictures :)

Do you use a battery grip?

I thought I had a card fail on me one time. Turns out that the battery grip came loose. I couldn't use that card any more until I brought it home and got the images off the card, then reformat. But luckily I had 5 other cards with me to use.

[canoned]

I feel your pain. I also had to fight my 20d all day at Saturdays wedding and the dang thing nearly one. I've been doing this over 30 years and went digital about 4 years ago. Had a heart attack last year, nearly died. Nuff said. What is with these tempremental cameras we have to use these days? The first 5 years I shot weddings I used one nikon f and one vivitar 283 and never thought anything of it. Now I have to take an arsenal and recite the rosary just to get through the day!

[RobKirkwood]

No, I have a bad habit i must admit, I often pick up my camera by the flash and I think that bent the bracket a little bit with my new heaver lenses.The hotshoes on 20Ds can work loose (we've had 2 do this), so I'd check whether this is the problem - easy enough to fix with a bit of care and a small screwdriver. Instructions and pictures here...
http://www.conraderb.com/flashrepair/

Rob

[heydjpa]

The hotshoes on 20Ds can work loose (we've had 2 do this), so I'd check whether this is the problem - easy enough to fix with a bit of care and a small screwdriver. Instructions and pictures here...
http://www.conraderb.com/flashrepair/

Rob


Rob I can't thank you enough for this~!

[Exit]

Do you use a battery grip?

I thought I had a card fail on me one time. Turns out that the battery grip came loose. I couldn't use that card any more until I brought it home and got the images off the card, then reformat. But luckily I had 5 other cards with me to use.

I do use a BG, but the one on my 5D has never come loose. It was just the lexar card problem that is known with Canon cameras. I had another 12GB's of CF + backup so I left the card in the car and used other cards for the rest of the day.