Tom Reid
22nd of January 2009 (Thu), 11:20
Well panic set in early last evening while setting up for a grad portrait. My studio setup has been three Opus M100 lights (main, hair and background) and my Canon 580 as a fill light set up off camera using the Canon cord. I recently purchased the Canon Speedlight Transmitter to use at remote shoots for sports using two 580's. I thought to give her a try with the studio setup using the transmitter to fire the 580 which in turn would fire the Opus lights. Opus says their light will fire wireless using its photocell, which is triggered by another flash source.
So, last evening I set up all my lights and popped on the transmitter and took a couple of test shots only to discover the background had a big black shadow from the 580 fill light and I just couldn't hit the exposure right, even with using a light meter. It was like the only light source was from the 580 fill light. The Opus lights fired but it was obvious the camera didn’t capture it. There is obviously a delay in the Opus lights firing and the camera capturing the image. To look at the image one would guess the Opus lights didn’t fire but they did. After an hour of fiddling and questioning my intelligence level I gave up and went back to the old setup of using the off camera cord for the 580 and voila, the picture was perfect capturing all light sources including the background light.
As an experiment I removed the Canon transmitter from the camera and turned on only one Opus light. I hit the pilot button on the transmitter and it fired the Opus. It will fire it if pointing towards the Opus and the same if pointing away. I changed the channel on the transmitter with the same results. Next I cranked up all the Opus lights and popped the transmitter on the camera. I used my light meter to determine the correct exposure and without using the 580 fill light I took a photo and the Opus lights fired off however the image was grossly underexposed, again as if the lights didn’t fire off.
Is there anyone out there with a similar setup who can help? Oh, and BTW, purchasing another make of wireless transmitter is not an option. Simply trying to make what I have work. If there's no solution out there then I'll have to stick to the wire. I’ve gone through the custom settings in my 40D and for the life of me cannot see a solution.
So, last evening I set up all my lights and popped on the transmitter and took a couple of test shots only to discover the background had a big black shadow from the 580 fill light and I just couldn't hit the exposure right, even with using a light meter. It was like the only light source was from the 580 fill light. The Opus lights fired but it was obvious the camera didn’t capture it. There is obviously a delay in the Opus lights firing and the camera capturing the image. To look at the image one would guess the Opus lights didn’t fire but they did. After an hour of fiddling and questioning my intelligence level I gave up and went back to the old setup of using the off camera cord for the 580 and voila, the picture was perfect capturing all light sources including the background light.
As an experiment I removed the Canon transmitter from the camera and turned on only one Opus light. I hit the pilot button on the transmitter and it fired the Opus. It will fire it if pointing towards the Opus and the same if pointing away. I changed the channel on the transmitter with the same results. Next I cranked up all the Opus lights and popped the transmitter on the camera. I used my light meter to determine the correct exposure and without using the 580 fill light I took a photo and the Opus lights fired off however the image was grossly underexposed, again as if the lights didn’t fire off.
Is there anyone out there with a similar setup who can help? Oh, and BTW, purchasing another make of wireless transmitter is not an option. Simply trying to make what I have work. If there's no solution out there then I'll have to stick to the wire. I’ve gone through the custom settings in my 40D and for the life of me cannot see a solution.