Canon A570IS + Ikelite Substrobe S = Dark Pics

[Tommy2tone_1999]

I recently upgraded from my Hanimex 35mm to a Canon A570IS (added CHDK too), and decided to try using the Ikelite Substrobe S (optical firing) from the old camera as an external plash with the new camera. There appears to be a sync. problem. All photos taken with the Substrobe are too dark. It's as if there is a delay in the Substrobe firing. Can I adjust to camera in some way, or will it be easier just to upgrade the strobe?

 

[Hetland]

Turn off red-eye reduction.

Is your A570 flash only firing once per photo, or are there multiple strobes? That could be the issue. Also, turn off the focus assist lamp, as I suppose that might prematurely fire the Ike as well.

What mode are you shooting (Auto, AV, TV, etc.)?

 

[Tommy2tone_1999]

No lamps turned on. The preflash has been disabled. I should have said that first. The slave fires when triggered by the internal flash. I've tried shooting in auto, AV and TV. I've also adjusted the ISO from 100 to 1600. I then tried different shutter speeds from 1/30 to 1/1000. I also tried different f stops from 2.5 - 5.6. This is why I believe that there is a delay from the time the sensor senses the internal flash firing to the time the slave actually fires. I could be totally wrong though. I am getting some light (I'm shooting photos in a dark room), but not enough.

 

[Hetland]

Nothing else seems like a cause of the problem. Your suspicions may be correct.

 

[scottfiji]

>> The preflash has been disabled.

Did you disable the preflash on the Canon A570? If so, how? Issues like this are often due to the strobe slaving off the camera's pre-flash.

 

[Tommy2tone_1999]

Yep no preflash on the Canon

 

[herman]

Might be a dumb question but are you sure the Ike is firing at all? Got to ask, if it is then it is either a timing problem or an aiming problem. A timing test you can do is to set the strobe a few feet away from the camera with the sensor in line with the camera flash, take a photo of the strobe while you are looking at the strobe to make sure it fires, everything setting on a table works well. If you see the strobe fire and it is not shown firing in the photo there is a timing issue. I downloaded a copy of the 570 manual, is the flash set to manual- see page 55? If not that is likely you problem. Mode, shutter speed and f-stop don't matter at this point so it's not any of those.

 

[Nemrod]

Yep no preflash on the Canon

Actually the A570IS has preflash. There are settings that can disable the preflash. Standard settings:

Auto/Program--the 570 preflashes
Av/Tv---the A570 can be set to preflash or NOT to preflash
Manual----no preflash

Whenever you set the flash to manual in a compatible expousre mode such as Av/Tv the camera does not preflash.

I know nothing about that particular strobe, I suspect it is looking for the camera to preflash and you have in one fashion or another altered the preflash settings.

N

 

[Tommy2tone_1999]

The strobe does fire when the internal flash fires. There is only one setting on the flash - "on". It was an entry level slave strobe made before digital cameras. I'm still thinking it may be a timing issue.

 

[Nemrod]

The strobe does fire when the internal flash fires. There is only one setting on the flash - "on". It was an entry level slave strobe made before digital cameras. I'm still thinking it may be a timing issue.

Like I said, you need to alter the camera settings to match the strobe or as you suspect, the strobe is not firing when it should, when the shutter is open. The A570 has both preflash and no preflash capability in several modes. If your strobe requires a preflash then you will need to set the A570 to preflash in the mode you are using. It will always preflash in Auto and Program. If your strobe does not need a preflash then you can only shoot the the A570 in Tv/Av or Manaul and go into the camera menu and set the camera strobe to manual and probably lowest power. This will cancel the preflash.

I do not believe your strobe expects a preflash. You will need to set your A570 internal strobe to manual, set power to 1/3 or 2/3 as needed to trigger the external strobe, use your A570 only in Av/Tv or Manual.

If, however, it turns out that it does expect a preflash, set the A570 to Auto or Program modes or set the camera to Av or Tv and set the camera strobe to Auto under the Menu button. I don't think you can use the camera Manual exposure setting since this mode never preflashes as I understand it.

To repeat, the strobe manual/auto choice is under the Menu button, the manual strobe power level is under the Func Set button.

If this does not help, well, hope somebody else steps up for you or just buy a better strobe I guess. Good luck, it would be nice if it would work for you.

N