D30 and studio flash

[thebigdishman]

I do hope someone can help me with this. I have a D30 and small studio flash set-up (two heads, two brollies) and a simple backdrop system, which I want to use to photograph my show dogs, and those of other members of the club. I am using two Portaflsh VM336.

I want to fire the flash using a sync lead and with the camera at 1/60 sec (because dogs move on longer exposures), but no matter how I set up the camera the camera top flash pops up and fires producing an irritating shadow to the right of the subject on the backdrop when I am in portrait mode. There is a small button on the camera body with a flash symbol that doesn't seem to do anything, and is not referenced in the book other than in the diagram at the front.

What am I doing wrong? How should I set the camera up to get 1/60 (or faster), and just the studio flash firing without the camera top pop-up flash?

Thank you to all in advance.:confused:

[manipula]

What mode are you using the camera in? The flash would pop when in any of the more automatic modes normally...

[thebigdishman]

Thank you for your response. I'm sure I have tried everything - program, portrait, aperture and shutter priority, manual. Either I can get the right shutter / aperture setting and nothing fires, or the camera sets the aperture / shutter and everything fires. It's very frustrating.

[Sgt.]

Try putting duct tape over the flash??!!!!! To block the light.

[thebigdishman]

I thought of that one, but then the camera seems to get confused. Does anyone know of an attachment that takes the flash from the camera top flash and passes it through a diffuser that surrounds the lens?

[Jim M]

If the camera flash pops up when the camera is in manual mode, then something is wrong. What do you mean by "Either I can get the right shutter / aperture setting and nothing fires, or the camera sets the aperture / shutter and everything fires." Why are you shooting at shutter speeds that allow the dog's movement to be recorded? Are you trying to use the camera's light meter in some way?

I think the most likely fault is that the PC connection is not good. Bad PC cords are very, very common. If the Portaflash is the kind of flash I think it is, it has a light sensitive slave that cannot be switched off. If the on-camera flash fires, then it fires, although it might not be at the right time since the ETTL system fires a pre-flash that probably sets off the Portaflash before the shutter opens. If the PC cord is bad, then the Portaflash would only fire when the camera flash fires. It wouldn't fire at all when there is no flash to trigger it. Try using another PC cord or a radio remote trigger. Also, please be aware that if anyone else takes a flash picture around your Portaflash, it will fire the Portaflash and you will have to wait until the capacitor charges again before you can take your picture.

When you use the camera's PC socket, the camera doesn't know it has a flash attached. If you use one of the automatic modes, it tries to add light by using the built in flash if there isn't enough ambient light. In the "creative" modes, this doesn't happen, or it shouldn't happen. I would think in your situation, you should be only be using manual mode and using an external flash meter to measure the light, then setting the camera for what the external flash meter tells you. You can also "chimp" the histogram, but I won't get into that.

[FlashZebra]

1) Set the camera to manual
2) Set the f# to F/8
3) Set the ISO to 200
4) Set the shutter speed to 1/160 second
4) Do not activate the pop up flash.

Take an exposure. If the flash not fire attend to the connections on the sync cord.

If there is to much expouse move the F number to F/11. If there is tool little exposure move the F number to F/5.6.

Report back.

Enjoy! Lon

[thebigdishman]

Hi

Thank you to everyone who has come up with suggestions.

I think I have the answer.

When the camera top flash fires, the studio flash is late using the sync lead and that is why I'm getting the shadow, because the shutter is closed before the studio flash fires. On slave I'm not sure.

I'm working on the solution.

Barry

[trancerem]

the solutions is pretty simple : get a pc sync cable or an infrared beamer.

[ootsk]

If you really mean d30 and NOT 30d, there might be other problems. The d30 was Canon's first DSLR, and it had problems with sync voltage. It required less than 4volts. Any more and you risked frying the contatcs on the shutter.

[thebigdishman]

Hi everyone - and here is the solution.

Courtesy of Sussex Camera Centre, the only dealer I have ever personally dealt with that knew what they were talking about every time. (That's no sleight on any other respected dealer).

The D30 has limitations working with studio flash, and is not recommended for use therewith.

Solution - trade it in for a 350D and get an infra red trigger.

Irony was that the 350D proved to have an Error 99 fault, so they have lent me a 300D while it's being fixed.

Thank you to everyone.

[manipula]

See, I'd be interested in knowing if that's true or rubbish, as me and a colleague used a D30 for going on three years with studio flash with great effect when digital files for clients were beginning to become mainstream. Never once missed a beat or misfired.

[ootsk]

From what I understand, it's not the flash itself, it's the trigger voltage. Some are very low voltage, and some are VERY high. I tested a small 2AA flash at over 100 volts trigger voltage. Most of the monolights are low, while a lot of the older "packs" were high. Good excuse to use wireless triggers anyways....