Weird strobe triggering issue (Jinbei D-180 & ST-E2)

[mclaeys]

Hi Guys,

So I bought my first strobe, a Jinbei D-180; sometimes referred to as the Delicacy 180.

In the specs I saw that the strobe had an IR receiver, so I thought why not try to trigger it using my ST-E2.

This far everything went good, I am able to trigger the D-180 with my ST-E2.

Now comes the weird thing:

When taking a picture and triggering the strobe with my ST-E2, the strobe fires but the flash is not in the picture. It's very dark.

When I take a picture with the strobe and trigger it with a Cactus V2 hooked up with the sync cable all is fine, the flash is right there in the picture.

So as far as I can tell when using the ST-E2 my flash is triggered either to soon or to late, can't quite tell.

Is there anybody that has any clue as to what is happening here? Or what I could do to get the flash working fine with my ST-E2.

Thanks guys!

[PacAce]

The ST-E2 is sending out an IR command signal which ordinarily tells a compatible EX flash how to set up for wireless triggering. This command signal is sent out just before the camera shutters open. When the ST-E2 is used to trigger a "dump" optical slave flash or strobe, this command signal causes the slave flash or strobe to fire prematurely. That is why its light is not showing up in the pictures you take with them.

If you have to use the ST-E2 as the trigger for the optical slaves, you need to tape up the 4 smaller pins on the foot of the ST-E2 or use a hotshoe adapter similar to something like this: http://www.flashzebra.com/hotshoes-shoes/0064.shtml

[mclaeys]

The ST-E2 is sending out an IR command signal which ordinarily tells a compatible EX flash how to set up for wireless triggering. This command signal is sent out just before the camera shutters open. When the ST-E2 is used to trigger a "dump" optical slave flash or strobe, this command signal causes the slave flash or strobe to fire prematurely. That is why its light is not showing up in the pictures you take with them.

If you have to use the ST-E2 as the trigger for the optical slaves, you need to tape up the 4 smaller pins on the foot of the ST-E2 or use a hotshoe adapter similar to something like this: http://www.flashzebra.com/hotshoes-shoes/0064.shtml

So in other words when I'm using such an hot shoe adapter, I bypass all functionality of the st-e2 exept for the firing command?
And this will not cause any sort of damage to either my camera or st-e2?

[PacAce]

So in other words when I'm using such an hot shoe adapter, I bypass all functionality of the st-e2 exept for the firing command?
And this will not cause any sort of damage to either my camera or st-e2?

No, nothing is bypassed. The same sequence of command pulses are sent out by the ST-E2. The only difference is the timing of when they're sent out. When the ST-E2 is sitting directly in the hotshoe, the command pulses are sent out before the shutter opens. But when only the large, center pin is used to trigger the ST-E2, the command pulses are sent out when the shutters are fully open. And, no, you don't have to worry about damaging the camera or the ST-E2. SInce it's the first pulse that triggers an optical slave, the strobe will now fire when the shutter is fully open and thus contribute light to the shot.

[mclaeys]

Thanks man!