Very frustrated w my lighting...

[JennTut]

Hello everyone...

I have 2 strobe soft boxes... I started having an issue with the sync cord so I ditched it and got wireless sync... sometimes everything works GREAT... then other times (like yesterday) the strobes kept going off all on their own causing me to miss the shot!!! They would go off right before I needed to click for the childs smile and the image turned out almost pitch black because the lights didnt have enough recovery time! GRRR! Very embarrassing and unprofessional! Luckily the shoot was for a fam friend who understood.

I am hoping todays shoot the lights decide to behave!

Im wondering... is something in my house possibly causing the remotes to trigger the flash? I tried changing the batteries... and changing the channels on the equipment... no luck!! Im so frustrated!

Anybody else have this happen to them?

[TMR Design]

The first thing to always check and/or replace are batteries and any connecting cables. Make sure that any battery compartments are free of debris and the springs or contacts are exposed, not corroded and are making good contact with the batteries.

Swap the cord connecting the wireless trigger to the strobe with another one.

Using the test button on the transmitter, see if you can trigger the strobes reliably when used off camera. Perhaps there is a problem with the contacts on the camera's flash shoe.

If you have a flash and your strobes have optical slave triggers you can try mounting a flash to the camera, put it in manual, turn down the power all the way and point it backwards. Enable the optical slaves on the strobes and see if they fire when they 'see' the flash from the flash. At minimum power, pointing away from the scene, the flash shouldn't be contributing any light to the scene but should trigger the optical slaves.

If you do all these things it should give you a better idea of where the problem is and perhaps give you a way to shoot and not lose clients or money while you repair or replace gear or cables.

[bobbyz]

Didn't catch the brand of triggers that you are using.

[Titus213]

Didn't catch the brand of triggers that you are using.

Bet I know what they are....:lol:

[tfizzle]

cactus...? lol

Also, what strobes are you using?

[Psychobiker]

I'll make another bet on the Cactus. I found mine 75% reliable-ish.
But when you miss a shot, that is immensely annoying.

[slivr]

Jenn - I've been shooting in a studio located adjacent to a Sports-Bar. Their dozen TV's, electronic equipment, microwaves, etc. all throw out electronic "noise" that can interfere with radio triggers. Depending on the brand ... something in your house such as microwave, wireless networking, etc. could be using the same frequency and either interrupts your light from firing, and more often than not cause the trigger to flash your lights without warning.

I found the cheap ebay style triggers were the worst for picking up the interference as they're usually a single-frequency trigger. In fact, my lights went off like in multiple firings as soon as they'd recharge in some cases up to 5 - 6 - 7 times in a row regardless which of 4 "channels" I selected. Totally unusable!!! Those were brand RPC at a local camera store though I believe they were the same or similar guts to a dozen triggers you can find on e-bay. Then I tried my friend's older pocket wizards on a shoot and still had an "occasional" misfire but considered them fully acceptable after using the first triggers. Ultimately I purchased some Elinchrom Skyports because of their multiple frequency settings and have NEVER had a misfire after that in 5 months. Unfortunately I didn't have cybersyncs or the newest Pocket Wizard transceivers to try so can't speak to them but hear they're both great.

It really makes a difference what trigger you're using, and what noise is being generated in your surrounding environment.

[hawk911]

I want nice triggers. I use the Interfits; and I'm generally pretty happy with them. Maybe one shoot where I had to switch 1 light to optical trigger but the other light was fine. Could have been batteries too.

[tfizzle]

cybersyncs :) very happy, no problems at all

[JennTut]

ahhh yes hit that one right on the head... they are cheap syncs... says Francier on them? I just bought them real fast... didnt do any research on syncs... blah! Well I guess its time to look into getting some newer better stuff YAY :)

How much am I lookin at for a better sync set up?

[Curtis N]

GRRR! Very embarrassing and unprofessional!There was a time when most all studio flash gear was designed for professionals. Now, in the digital age, the world is full of amateurs looking for something cheap to play around with. The market has responded to this demand. Buyer beware.

But the market is also more competitive today, with more reasonably priced choices. A decent transmitter + receiver will set you back about $130 plus shipping.

Check 'em out:
http://alienbees.com/remotes.html