G1 not recognizing external flash

[kenrbnsn]

I've been using my G1 since Feb. 2001 (approachine 8900 pictures). It has performed very well during this time.

Yesterday, I as at an event taking pictures with my external flash (Canon Speedlite 380 (I think, I don't have it with me now)) when the G1 suddenly stopped recognizing the external flash. :( The internal flash worked fine, but I was taking pictures in a school gym. The flash would fire, but it was not in sync with the camera and since the camera didn't see the flash, it set itself to a slow shutter and the shots came out either overexposed, blurry or both.

You can see the results at http://63.247.85.58/~smile/disp_pics.php?which_area=nnjsda&next_level=minifes tival&dir=20041114. The pictures labeled "20041114-1938-09" and "20041114-1938-18" were taken with the external flash working. The pictures "20041114-1948-59" through "20041114-1952-44", "20041114-2035-13", "20041114-2038-56", and "20041114-2039-24" show the results when the flash didn't sync correctly.

I am now trying to figure out whether there is a problem in the flash or the G1.

I also tried the flash with my older Canon Rebel X and it seemed to function ok, but I won't really know until I get the film developed. :)

BTW, I created the http://www.smilesontheweb.com/ site to display the pictures I have taken over the years. Any pictures after Feb. 2001 were taken with the G1.

[Roumen]

Hi Ken,

It is difficult to comment your pictures without EXIF information. Check your pictures full Exif information in order to investigate the problem.

It seems to me that your pictures have different problems.
1) 20041114 1952 44 is taken too far from the object at long shutter speed and without tripod. The flash did not fire.
2) You should wait for the green LED before taking the pictures (20041114 2035 13, 20041114-2038-56, and 20041114-2039-24) - half pressing the shutter button and after the green LED comes - taking the picture.

General comments:

You could check that the firmware version of your camera is the latest one.

It is important to pay attention to the WB setting or to use custom WB in mix-light sources conditions. The best is using only Raw format (with possibility later to change the WB setting during the Raw coversion).

I would recommend to try internal flash shots from 2.5-3m at Tv mode around 1/10 sec (stable handling to get the background light) with flash exposure compensation -1 or -1 1/3 (it depends indeed from the available light).

Greetings,
Roumen
P.S. My G1 has more than 39 000 shots.

[kenrbnsn]

Ok, I've posted all the pictures I took on Sunday when I had this problem to http://63.247.85.58/~smile/holdpics/. A click on the thumbnail picture will get to the full size picture with a dump of the EXIF information. This is a quick program I wrote in PHP.

As to your answers/suggestions:
20041114 1952 44 is taken too far from the object at long shutter speed and without tripod. The flash did not fire.
Actually, the flash DID fire, but the camera didn't see the flash, so it didn't set any exposures correctly. I have other pictures taken with this flash in the same setting that worked fine.

You could check that the firmware version of your camera is the latest one.
I did notice that I'm at version 1.2 and the latest is 1.3 ... I guess I'll upgrade and see if it makes a difference.

Thanks
Ken

[Roumen]

Ken,

Now I can see the EXIF information from your photos (your previous photos were resized without EXIF info).
I would make the following comments:

1) Change your camera AF mode: Continuous AF to Single AF.
This is important, because Continuous AF mode is not precise and as a result most of the photos would be out of focus. Continuous AF is the default after firmware upgrade 1.02, 1.03.
You could see that many photos have Subject distance: 23m or 66m and the focusing is not precise.
Nevertheless, pay attention to the half pressing the shutter button and after the LED comes up - full pressing. Otherwise the pictures come without proper focusing and exposure.

2) I see that your White balance is Flash, while the best would be Cloudy (for pictures inside). You could also try custom WB from your camera with proper white/grey subject in case of mixture of light sources.
Also you could change the WB from PS or other editing software later using white/grey object on the picture (the best is to do that on Raw format and to shoot only Raw. Raw format also would have not the famous magenta cast problem - for Canon G1. You could also change the Saturation parameter from BreezeBrowser for both Raw/Jpeg photos and improve colourless pictures in cloudy conditions).

3) When the flash did fire I can see:
Shutter speed: 1/60 sec
Flash: Built-in + Red eye reduction
or for External Flash:
Shutter speed: 1/60 sec
Flash: External E-TTL
For the pictures without flash I see (example 20041114-1951-01.jpg)
Exposure mode: Program
Shutter speed: 1/10 sec
Subject distance: 18.0 m
AF mode: Continuous AF
White balance: Flash
If you decide to work without flash, change the mode to Tv and shutter speed between 1/10 - 1/30, AF mode: Single AF, White balance: Cloudy and stable handling (or make more photos).
With this setting you could add weak internal flash (flash compensation -1 or -1 1/3) from distance around 3 m. You would see the improvement.

4) Firmware 1.03 has faster AF specially in low light conditions.

Regarding the External Flash problem - it is not clear what is the cause for that. You may check the flash contacts, flash batteries. It could be also the camera internal date/time cell battery.

Greetings,
Roumen

[kenrbnsn]

Thanks for the hints.

I think the problem might be with the flash. :(

When I put it on the camera (turned on and ready) the camera does not see it (the little red arrow that indicates that a flash is attached doesn't appear). If I hold the camera with one hand and move the flash slightly the arrow does appear (this is with the mounting ring on the flash turned to the "L" position).

So it appears that the contacts are not making contact. :(

I guess I could take the camera and flash to a camera store to try each on a new device to see which is causing the problem.

Thanks again.
Ken