Question about mis fired flashes

First off, i want to say im new to OCF and im still learning.

Anyways, was taking some baby shots using my 430EXII using some cheap ebay triggers.

Now i've never had a problem before but this time i "think" i was having issues.

a lot of my pics had a black bar at the bottom of the pic, kinda like if you were shooting at speeds higher than 1/200 sec but i was shooting at 1/180 sec. now not all had them at that speed, but a lot did.

does this sound like a typical flash misfire? or am i dreading the all mighty shutter failure? i was using my 5D. Not sure of the condition of the shutter as i bought it used, but its in mint condition and i believe the mirror fix has been done. (theres pics of the mirror fix but none with out the mirror fix so i cant compare, lol)

sry, but im at work atm and dont have access to my pics so i can upload a sample. I will later though when i get home.

Lower end triggers can sometimes cause the need to drop the shutter speed even a tad lower than max sync. Try 1/160 or 1/125 and see what you get.

Despite being RF, there can be a delay involved.

The 430EX put out a lot of radio frequency interference. What is happening is the receiver can't hear the transmitted signal well enough but eventually it gets through. The interference problem is one reason most new radio triggers are going to 2.4GHz instead of the 433MHz used by your ebay slaves.

One possible solution is to use a cable between the receiver and the flash to get some seperation between the moisy flash and the receiver. Or go to a better trigger that uses a higher frequency. (eg Cactus V5, or Yongnuo RF-602)

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11678948
Lower end triggers can sometimes cause the need to drop the shutter speed even a tad lower than max sync. Try 1/160 or 1/125 and see what you get.

Despite being RF, there can be a delay involved.

Since the OP says there was a black bar - that is a common sync speed sign. I think this is the culprit - I have some cheap triggers too and tried them out to see what the fastest I could sync with. I never got them to workfaster than 1/160 - otherwise I had the black bar.

While I suppose it could be radio interference, I never had problem with that. It would seem that interference would be associated more with the flash not firing at all and less with delays that are close enough to cause the black bars. but I'm just guessing on that.

My suggestion is to try them at 1/160. Might be all that is needed to avoid the black bars.

im starting to think its just my cheap triggers. im still learning and someday i plan on upgradding to radio poppers. but for now, 1/160sec and under it shall be. lol

Yeah, news flash. The "true" safe sync speed of the 5D is 1/160th. =)

A couple of things can influence or cause the shutter shadow.. Naturally flash sync speed but also the flash used.. I can easily get 250th second with my 430EX/RF-602 and 50D/20D.. Using my Nissin Di866 I can only get 200th second..

Battery state in the triggers/receivers.. Somehow, if the batteries are low you can get a bit of banding.. I always have a couple of trigger batteries handy and only use Eneloop rechargables in my receivers.

rudy_216 wrote in post #11682563
The 430EX put out a lot of radio frequency interference. What is happening is the receiver can't hear the transmitted signal well enough but eventually it gets through. The interference problem is one reason most new radio triggers are going to 2.4GHz instead of the 433MHz used by your ebay slaves.

No. Just no.

In fact, the 430EXII has virtually no RF interference at all (which is why it's one of the best choices to use with the Pocketwizard Flex/Mini system, which is very picky about RF interference).

Perhaps you're thinking of the 430EX??

To the OP, if you're using cheaper triggers, be prepared to have your maximum sync speed come down to 1/200 or less.

The 430ex did not like early versions of the cactus triggers at all. Random firing, missed firing, and slow firing. Same triggers worked well with the 580exII and vivitar flashes.

There's your problem. And like Gonzo said, there were problems with the 430EX and the cheep triggers. Been there, done that.
If you are serious about your hobby, get some reliable equipment. Even the RF-602's have proven to be pretty reliable.

My opinion is that if you own thousands of dollars of good camera equipment, why cheep out on the radio triggers?

MT Stringer wrote in post #11686245
My opinion is that if you own thousands of dollars of good camera equipment, why cheep out on the radio triggers?

It's not a case of cheaping out but putting your money where your priorities lie.. Many photographers don't do a lot of off camera flash or possibly hardly any flash at all.. In this case, cheaper triggers are there for just those occasions you may want to do some flash work..

Even if you only use them a couple of time a year, they have already paid for themselves..