Speedlite Guru's - HSS & dark half of frame/synce issues ??

Body: 5dmkii
Flash: 430EXII

I have the flash set on HSS, and while im in ETTL mode, I can shoot all the way up to 1/8000 shutter speed with no sync issues.

BUT - As soon as I put the flash in Manual mode, and shoot anything above 1/250 I get a dark bottom of the frame. (mind you, the flash is still in HSS mode).

I thought that as long as you kept the flash in HSS mode, you could go ETTL or Manual without sync issues.

I tried manual zoom on the Speedlight and Auto - still having the same issue....

Is this normal?

I just popped two flashes with my 5DII, 580EXII in the hot shoe. No problem at 1/800 in both manual flash and ETTl. Manual Camera settings.

What are you using to trigger your flash?

s2kennyc wrote in post #12305736
What are you using to trigger your flash?

Good point to bring up, I assumed he would be shooting with an ETTL cable or in the hot shoe.
Even the 7D flash commander won't do HSS.

this was attached to the hot shoe of the camera.

i'm experiencing very weird issues.

what I described above happened, having the camera in AV mode.

I put the camera in M mode and set all the settings the same as they were in AV and when in M mode, no more sync issue.

so i said hmmm.... let me put it back into AV mode and see what happens.

issue gone. now it works fine.

so just by simply changing the camera from Av to M back to Av took care of the issue...
electronics - can't live with em', cant live without em'.

Glad it resolved itself.

BTW, your Strangers Project photographs are great.

^ thanks.

Now I'm trying everything with my pocketwizards (MiniTT1 & FlexTT5) and everything is working perfectly

except

on the very bottom of the frame, there is an ever so slight dark cut off.... very slight, only a wisper, but its in every shot I take....

anyone know what i need to do in the Pocket Wizard Utility to fix this?

Is this at the 1/200 sync speed?

I have a similar problem with my RF602s. 1/200 and I get a slight dark line at the bottom of the image, but at 1/160th no problem - all this when zoomed at 24mm. I recall reading in here that some had issues and some did not.

m.shalaby wrote in post #12305954
^ thanks.

Now I'm trying everything with my pocketwizards (MiniTT1 & FlexTT5) and everything is working perfectly

except

on the very bottom of the frame, there is an ever so slight dark cut off.... very slight, only a wisper, but its in every shot I take....

anyone know what i need to do in the Pocket Wizard Utility to fix this?

^ i'm getting this at basically all SS

Oh.

I read somewhere on here that may happen if the batteries are not up to speed (trigger batteries).

Anyway, here's an article on the 5D2 and sync speed at strobist site. One responder talks about having sync issues with the pocket wizard. It might help some. Based on this article, I have a slow sync camera, but I don't recall having an issue with the flash on the camera, so I chalk it up to the 602s. Keep the thread updated with you results. Also, just in case, check the sync speed custom function to make sure it's in auto.

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com/2010/01/know-your-sync.html

Here's another thread: https://photography-on-the.net …light=5d+mk+ii+​sync+speed

m.shalaby wrote in post #12306042
^ i'm getting this at basically all SS

Update to the latest PW utility. 1.35 I think it was.

Are you using the beta firmware for both the mini(if ya have one) and the Flex?

Grab the beta F/W for both. You might have to adjust the offset on syncing the shutter with the HSS option.

Darkness at the bottom of the frame suggests the flash is going off too soon, or the first curtain is running slow (for speeds slower than 1/200th).

That it's happening with the pocket wizards I'm surprised because if anything they should increase latency and be cut off by the second curtain (darker at the top as the second curtain is shading the sensor while the flash pops)

Could you have a sticky shutter???

^ i got the issue fixed guys, but thanks.

What was the problem?

m.shalaby wrote in post #12313625
^ i got the issue fixed guys, but thanks.

No idea.... i threw the camera into M mode, then back into AV mode and it all of the sudden worked fine.

weird.