Skyports

Sure thing.

whiskaz wrote in post #6040132
Lon, I remember that being brought up in the other Skyports discussion. I could see that being the issue from time to time. However, here's an example from a recent shoot where this happened (at 1/160!):

I know this is still out of range according to the stated 1/125 spec but... it was kind of out of nowhere so I guess... I don't get the inconsistency of it all. The previous shot was 30 seconds earlier (no shutter creep)... The next shot (no shutter creep) was 1 second later, same shutter speed.

That looks quite severe for 1/160, IMO. I wonder if your shutter is starting to fail... (especially if this is inconsistent).

I would hope not! It's an (mostly) new 40D. I took a little over 300 shots and this happened twice. It's definately much worse than the usual shutter creep I get when shooting at 1/250 so I'm not exactly blaming the Skyports for this. I don't know what to blame, to be honest. This was just sort of packaged w/ the misfires, etc, that I do blame the Skyports for (mostly... still haven't tried a new battery in the Tx).

Out of curiosity, do you see the same amount of shutter curtain in landscape orientation?

whiskaz wrote in post #6041032
still haven't tried a new battery in the Tx).

Ah! A new battery might fix all your problems.

TMR Design wrote in post #6041135
Out of curiosity, do you see the same amount of shutter curtain in landscape orientation?

Robert, this time around, no. Why do you ask?

whiskaz wrote in post #6042732
Robert, this time around, no. Why do you ask?

Hi Jeremy,

I asked that because in another thread where we were discussing shutter sync speeds and the appearance of the curtain, the issue of camera orientation came up and it was noted that some shutter mechanisms respond slightly different based on camera orientation.

Interesting. Another thing that I've found, OT from this but in regard to camera orientation, is how the exposure seems to come out a little different depending on the camera's orientation (or the lens's I suppose). I'd never really noticed this until I started shooting in a studio setting. Unfortunately I don't have any examples of that on hand, in case I sound crazy.

That pic was also triggered with the 40Ds grip... just fyi.

Jeremy,

Before we start chasing ghosts, I think a fresh battery in the transmitter will help with the diagnosis. I've heard of far too many stories of new batteries fixing "broken" radio triggers to not take notice.

I thought my skyports where broken last week... A new battery fixed the problem.
I have had them since June 2007 and the battery was in the transmitter the whole time.

With regards to the loose fit. Yes I have had that problem too.
I have the 40D too, so maybe there is an issue there. It is a relatively snug fit, but a bump can dislodge it.
I have a solution that you can try. that doesn't look as unprofessional as gaffer tape, and is not as permanent as superglue.

Get a small rubber band (Black if you don't want it to show, and put that ofer the skyport and under the On camera flash where the logo Canon is written. If it is a small one then this works like a treat, You can even make hundreds of these by cutting up a racing bike inner tube.

As for shutter creep, I have only ever noticed it when I accidentially knock my shutter speed up to 1/350 or something.
Last week I did some photos at 1 /250th using my 40D, Skyports and D-Lites without any problems.
I will try to do some controlled tests next time I do a studio session and see where the limit is. I upped the shutter speed to knock out any ambient light as I was in a sunny room & was going for lowkey. It worked.

In the studio I nearly always use 1 /125 sec regardless of lens focal length.

Thanks akiwi, I may have to try the band solution to keep the thing snug.

I picked up a new battery today, will let you guys know how that goes.

As far as always shooting at 1/125. I guess, even though I know that using flash as the primary light source, the shutter speed doesn't matter until ambient enters the picture... I guess I thought somehow camera-shake may still be introduced w/ long focal lengths/longer shutter speeds. Obviously that's incorrect. The images from my last session where I shot mostly at 1/125|1/160 just seemed softer than usual. Maybe my form/focus was just off... more than usual. Heck, maybe I need to do some focus testing w/ the 40D/24-70 to make sure everything's in order there as well.

Jeremy,

If you're using long lenses and your ratio of flash to ambient is not primarily flash then you can introduce some camera shake but it has to be a significant disproportion for it to happen.

Once the level of ambient is high enough then you are recording light over the 1/125s rather than only recording during the fractional burst of light from a strobe.

Just an update. Had a shoot over the weekend and the new battery in the skyport Tx seemed to resolve some issues. I didn't do a ton of work in the studio this time but was able to shoot at 1/200 without any issues. The only time things mis-fired were when the 580ex was in the middle of recycling (I was using it along w/ 4 b800s so it wasn't quite keeping up and its job was to fire everything optically).

I guess I am lucky. I get 1/320 out of mine (or, as lon pointed out, maybe my 1/320 is actually 1/250.... yikes!)

And I am probably the ONLY fan of the Tx design with regards to its fit in the hot shoe. When I am shooting interiors, and tucking strobes around corners, behind couches, etc. I like being able to pull it off in a "flash" to walk around and test my lights, since the are mostly out of "eyeshot".

whiskaz wrote in post #6085833
Just an update. Had a shoot over the weekend and the new battery in the skyport Tx seemed to resolve some issues.

Good to hear!