MiniTT1/FlexTT5 ETTL Metering?

[Redfire_Cobra]

Are these suppose to fire a preflash like Canon's IR system does? I am having very erratic results at times and have not seen it fire a preflash. If it does not use a preflash to meter the shot how does it work?

[k_strecker]

It does use a pre-flash to meter just like every TTL system.

If you're noticing less flashing before the exposure compared to a 580EX as master on camera, it's because the Mini/Flex system suppresses the flashes that are normally used for communication between master and slave. Saves battery power and cuts down on the flashes than can cause more blinking for those extra-quick-reflex people . . .

What sort of erratic results are you having?

Camera model?

Flash model?

[Redfire_Cobra]

50D & 430EX. The expose was all over the place and very unpredictable. Here is an example with the settings on the camera untouched:

[k_strecker]

430EXII, right?

[Redfire_Cobra]

No it's the original, I was thinking it was a II when I put it in my signature. I should change that.

[k_strecker]

Gotcha, and you're just mounting the flash straight on the Flex then?

If so, that's the source of your problems. It's the RF-Noisiest of the canon flashes.

If you haven't done so, switch to using Channel 20, and mount the flash in such a way so that the antenna is *above* the flash.

[Hermes]

Gotcha, and you're just mounting the flash straight on the Flex then?

If so, that's the source of your problems. It's the RF-Noisiest of the canon flashes.

If you haven't done so, switch to using Channel 20, and mount the flash in such a way so that the antenna is *above* the flash.

Pretty sure 550ex and the original 430ex are RF-noise free according to PW.

[k_strecker]

Pretty sure 550ex and the original 430ex are RF-noise free according to PW.

550EX, noise free

430EXII, noise free

430EX - problem child

http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirations/technology/range/

"Solutions for improved range performance with the Canon 430EX, 580EX and 580EX II flashes.
- These flashes emit high levels of RF interference.
- The Canon 430EX II, 550EX, 420EX and 270EX have excellent range because they do not have high RF noise emissions."

Wonder if these exposure difficulties exhibit themselves with his 550EX?

[Hermes]

OK, thanks. I remember reading it the other way round somewhere but maybe I was daydreaming.

Could this be the problem where the flash on the receiver end can't communicate ETTL data properly because of range/interference and so just dumb fires at full-power?

I second trying the 550ex off-camera and seeing if that helps.

[kouasupra]

550EX, noise free

430EXII, noise free

430EX - problem child

http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirations/technology/range/

"Solutions for improved range performance with the Canon 430EX, 580EX and 580EX II flashes.
- These flashes emit high levels of RF interference.
- The Canon 430EX II, 550EX, 420EX and 270EX have excellent range because they do not have high RF noise emissions."

Wonder if these exposure difficulties exhibit themselves with his 550EX?

Testing the 430ex I find that it's very usable up to 50 feet. I usually use only about 30 feet at most. That's with the camera off cord thou. For those pictures above the 430EX would work fine.
The first picture, it would seem that your connection is bad, or isn't properly fitted in.

[k_strecker]

Testing the 430ex I find that it's very usable up to 50 feet. I usually use only about 30 feet at most. That's with the camera off cord thou. For those pictures above the 430EX would work fine.
The first picture, it would seem that your connection is bad, or isn't properly fitted in.

The problem is, due to the variability of the levels of RF within different flashes *of the same model* . . . 50 feet of range for you doesn't mean anything when comparing it to the performance of other people's 430EX. You could have an extrodinarily clean flash, and his could be off the charts . . .

There's no way to know for sure, but it's important to keep in mind.

[Redfire_Cobra]

Thanks for the suggestions, it does work a lot better with the 550, unfortunately I dropped it right before those pictures and busted the bulb..... The first time I used it with the 430 it worked perfectly, you see the results above from the second time. I was playing around with it earlier and it was very erratic with firing even at 10 feet.

I did not realize there was a problem with ETTL do to interference, I figured if the flash worked it worked....

I guess I will dig out my old cord and see if that fixes the problem.

[k_strecker]

it's just a problem if the mini and the flex sort've half-communicate.

The flash gets information telling it to fire . . . but misses more specific details about power and such . . .

Simply re-orienting the flash and flex as seen in Figure 3 of the link above can do wonders. Also, seriously switch to channel 20 if you're not using it already. Chanel 20's frequency is further away from the RF noise than the lower channel. those two combined can more than double your performance without having to resort to cords and more hardware.

[mattograph]

I use the radiopoppers, and when I shoot in ETTL, I always have a few garbage frames where the meter picks up something different, or the system just fails. When you consider everything thats going on with an ETTL exposure, its amazing it EVER works.

With that in mind, are your results with standard ettl different the the PWs?

[tenoverthenose]

I would strongly recommend using the 550ex instead ofthe 430ex. I have used the 550ex at a couple of hundred feet with ettl (at which point ettl is useless with my current lens lineup) whereas I could not get the 430ex to work consistently at 10 feet.

[Redfire_Cobra]

it's just a problem if the mini and the flex sort've half-communicate.

The flash gets information telling it to fire . . . but misses more specific details about power and such . . .

Simply re-orienting the flash and flex as seen in Figure 3 of the link above can do wonders. Also, seriously switch to channel 20 if you're not using it already. Chanel 20's frequency is further away from the RF noise than the lower channel. those two combined can more than double your performance without having to resort to cords and more hardware.

I switched to channel 20 earlier and it did not seem to help any, I am also still not getting a preflash at all, I don't recall ever seeing one using the 550 either but I was not really paying that much attention.

I use the radiopoppers, and when I shoot in ETTL, I always have a few garbage frames where the meter picks up something different, or the system just fails. When you consider everything thats going on with an ETTL exposure, its amazing it EVER works.

With that in mind, are your results with standard ettl different the the PWs?

I made 1 or 2 attempts with the 550 as master and 430 as slave with and had decent results but was frustrated by the range so I ran across a good deal on these and knew there were no problems with the 550EX and 430EXII so I picked them up. I was also thinking I had a 430EXII instead of the original.

I was really enjoying these until this started. I don't have any pics using Canon's IR system but here are some from the PW's before I encountered problems.

430EX: (The first day I had them)
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=723386
550EX:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=725122

[mattograph]

As long as you had some experience with the ETTL system prior to the PWs, you have a feel for what happens when the system sometimes goes wonky. Some folks have never shot ETTl with off camera, so they don't have a frame of reference.

Good luck!

[1danny]

kurt kurt.
ya posted some info that caught my eye.
go channel 20, and i might not need the oce3 cord & ferrite core?
do tell more of your findings on this? i know you are ultra beta testing the mess out of these things. and not having to add more to my would be great for me.

im using a 580ex1 (2) & a 5d2 setup. using tt5s and tt1

im that rnkevents guy on the flickr group. i still owe you that shot.

[k_strecker]

Sup man!

No new discoveries I'm afraid.

I plan on getting the AC7 shield when it comes out. But keeping the OC-E3 plus ferrite chokes around will be necessary for things like speedlights in Ezyboxes and such where the size and orientation of the AC7 won't be very workable.

[kouasupra]

I would strongly recommend using the 550ex instead ofthe 430ex. I have used the 550ex at a couple of hundred feet with ettl (at which point ettl is useless with my current lens lineup) whereas I could not get the 430ex to work consistently at 10 feet.

My 430ex isn't that bad, but I'm sure if it isn't that bad then the 550ex/430exII must be GOLD!