A day of Misfires - Godox R2 System

I had a horrendous day. I was doing on site corporate quasi-headshots (assembly line - not custom). I’m running a godox AD-360II, 2 zoom-lion R2 Ettl with built in TX/RX, and two manual with the snap on 2.4 GHz receivers. I do not have the newest pro model TX, I’m using the X1 TC. Canon 5D MKIII.

I’ve used ALL COMPONENTS of this system for 2 years without fail - the ONLY time I’ve ever had a misfire was because it was a high power slow recycle and the flash wasn’t ready. No component is new, firmware hasn’t changed in any component. Today’s shoot was RIDDLED with misfires - literally every person required 3-6 shots just to have all 3 lights fire together. It was a total embarrassment. Not always the same light but most often the light closest to me. Which was on a stand up next to the drop ceiling so I’m guessing about 7-8ft. Originally Group C, and ended as group A with no change in performance.

I swapped the flash on that stand, changed it’s group, changed operating system channel, removed my transmitter and tried one of the zoom Lion R2’s as TX. All batteries were freshly charged. The powers were low, 1/128-1/32. I was NOT rapid firing.

Can fluorescent lighting, in ceiling wiring or wireless networks disrupt this system? I for the life of me could not get the system to function properly and it was driving me insane. I intend to test it when I get home (I’m still on site, but I suspect it’s environmental - in which case what the hell do I do?!

The misfires occurred on random channels leads me to believe it’s not dirty contacts or none would fire correct?

BTW I was running a key, rim, and background light - so 3 total.

Anyone have suggestions?

It seemed if I did turn off the TX and back in they would fire again.

Bummer. Seems like you got all the angle covered already, so it could be environmental interference. In that case, try the old optical slave?

I ran into wired misfire/full power firing couple times with the X1T and my older Canon camera, but didn't find out the cause until I got the Xpro with battery indicator. With one bar left on rechargeable batteries, the TX will cause misfire, lost ETTL ect, on both the X1T and the Xpro.

There is a custom function in the R2 to reduce its transmitting power and you could try that a next time.

This sounds like a channel issue. i.e. interference from corporate 2.4GHz devices. Or other RF interference.

If I'm going to be in an environment where I think there may be a problem I start by putting all the devices in the highest channel number. I don't remember where, but I think there is a frequency by channel chart somewhere. The goal is to get way to the edge, since LANs and similar tend to be scanning all channels to find the best throughput.

Being toward the edge improve likelihood you'll be in a quieter area of the spectrum.

Then test. If possible, also have someone show you where the closest antenni are relative to where you'll be shooting.

And, as mentioned, if you can't get reliable performance there is always optical slave.

dmward wrote in post #18516505
This sounds like a channel issue. i.e. interference from corporate 2.4GHz devices. Or other RF interference.

If I'm going to be in an environment where I think there may be a problem I start by putting all the devices in the highest channel number. I don't remember where, but I think there is a frequency by channel chart somewhere. The goal is to get way to the edge, since LANs and similar tend to be scanning all channels to find the best throughput.

Being toward the edge improve likelihood you'll be in a quieter area of the spectrum.

Then test. If possible, also have someone show you where the closest antenni are relative to where you'll be shooting.

And, as mentioned, if you can't get reliable performance there is always optical slave.

QFT

Change Chanels or optical. Always have options. I still pack an old Infrared Trigger.

mmmfotografie wrote in post #18516467
There is a custom function in the R2 to reduce its transmitting power and you could try that a next time.

Unless Godox has changed things, you enable this lower-power mode by powering off the X1T-C, then power on while holding down the Test button. The status light flashes twice to indicate the low-power mode. However, if your closest light was 7-8 feet away, it doesn't seem that likely to be the issue.

Owen.

So it’s definitely environmental. Are you guys saying go to channel 4? 1&2 yielded same results.

I came home - turned them on - rapid fire from 1’ to 12’ from each device and everyone fired every time without fail. Optical is not an option as one of the flashes is behind a wall.

I do have the phottix Odin system with 3 receivers but I wonder if I will have the same problem....

It was very discouraging because I switched out every factor I could think of!!!!

I believe there must be something overhead near the main light too as that seemed to be the Most frequent culprit.

Buchinger wrote in post #18516424
All batteries were freshly charged.

Did you have rechargeable batteries in the transmitter?

If there are any issues with radio I would change to alkaline batteries straight away because they generally provide a stronger signal.

(Personally I always use alkalines in radio gear).

This is the reason there's still a wad of sync cords and optical slaves in the bottom of my traveling case. I've only had to use them once since I started using RF triggering, but they saved the shoot. For your light behind a wall, a long sync cord with an optical slave (Wein brand) stuck on the end of it will allow you to place the slave somewhere it can see the other flashes pop if you're in a situation where one strobe can't see the others. In a situation like what you just had, I'd typically rig with a single sync cord between the camera and closest light, then try to get the rest of the lights to sync optically via their built-in slaves. If one of the lights isn't going off reliably, that's when you use a long sync cord with a Wein slave on the end to get the sensor somewhere it can see the rest of the shoot. For one shoot, I actually had to resort to putting the Wein inside the softbox on the fill light at the end of a 20' sync cord to get everything to work.

We survived for decades without RF triggers on wires and optical alone. Keep it as a fallback plan. RF triggering is nothing more than a convenience.

Buchinger wrote in post #18516525
So it’s definitely environmental. Are you guys saying go to channel 4? 1&2 yielded same results.

I came home - turned them on - rapid fire from 1’ to 12’ from each device and everyone fired every time without fail. Optical is not an option as one of the flashes is behind a wall.

I do have the phottix Odin system with 3 receivers but I wonder if I will have the same problem....

It was very discouraging because I switched out every factor I could think of!!!!

I believe there must be something overhead near the main light too as that seemed to be the Most frequent culprit.

Your experience coming home and checking them more or less confirms that there was some RF interference.

The key is to find a channel that is at a frequency segment that is least likely to be in the area dominated by the LAN.

I had this happen to me in October. Same gear that always behaves, and 1 out of every 3 or 4 shots was a misfire. In my case it was positively the connection between the 5D4 and the X1. Twisting the lock down several times did not seem to help until I the shoot was over.
Lock it down repeatedly, and you often still have wiggle.

IMHO it is the big weakness in the system that they have not copied Canon's modern locking mechanism.

dmward wrote in post #18516505
This sounds like a channel issue. i.e. interference from corporate 2.4GHz devices. Or other RF interference. ...

Do you think the new ID code feature (XPro) could help with this kind of RF interference as a sort of digital filter?

Buchinger wrote in post #18516525
So it’s definitely environmental. Are you guys saying go to channel 4? 1&2 yielded same results. ...

I think it's more like try Channel 32...

It's possible. They're 2.4GHz as well.

inkista wrote in post #18516700
I think it's more like try Channel 32...

It's possible. They're 2.4GHz as well.

Here is a link to a useful read: https://en.wikipedia.o​rg …List_of_2.4_GHz​_radio_use

One feature that the Canon EX600RT system has, which would be nice for Godox to emulate, was a means to look at the signal strength/interference per channel in the 2.4GHz band. The select the clearest channel.

From everything I have read, the issue seems to be with the channel. You mentioned to used the snap on 2.4 GHz receivers; I have the Godox AD 180 and Godox/Flashpoint 360II and use the snap on 2.4 GHz receivers for the AD 180. I had an issue where the AD 180 was not firing all the time and as I troubleshoot the problem I found the channel was not properly selected. It was off just a little. After I made sure it was on the channel I did not have an issue with it again. I now use the Xpro trigger and love it!