SL960D Sync Issue

[TripletDad]

I apologize if this is a silly question, I'm aspiring to a beginner level and at this point just take pics for the fun of it and as memories. I just got an LS960D Strobe and I hooked it up to my Cannon S50 yesterday. I get the strobe to fire very consistently, no problems there but especially at higher powers only about 1 in 3 shots the strobe is in sync with the shutter, the rest of the time the photos are obviously way underexposed. Strangely at lower powers it doesn't seem to be an issue. Also I am waiting for the flash to fully cycle so I don't believe that is the issue and the batteries are fresh, but just Alkaline, not NiMH. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bladephotog]

If you're sure the flash is recycled fully, then my guess is it isn't firing, ie., the slave isn't seeing the camera flash firing. You're eye may be fooled by seeing the camera's flash fire but maybe the SL960 isn't firing. I had this problem with mine when I had one. It wouldn't consistantly fire.

 

[TripletDad]

I covered the master with my hand and can confirm (i.e. still seeing spots) that the slave is firing. Only did it once or twice that way but pretty darn sure the strobe is consistent.

 

[PhilEllis]

What setting is the preflash setting on in the flash housing? If you haven't done the setting test, I would suggest you do this next.

Phil Ellis

 

[TripletDad]

The focus light is a seperate light and I clearly see it go on and the strobe doesn't fire. The master only seems to fire once so as far as I can tell there is no pre-flash per-say on this camera.

 

[Fabulous]

The focus light is a seperate light and I clearly see it go on and the strobe doesn't fire. The master only seems to fire once so as far as I can tell there is no pre-flash per-say on this camera.

The way to test the pre-flash setting is to take pictures across the range from close-up to long range and even switch the SL960D to other settings to check the results.

Also do the shots that haven't worked so far have some common factor involved. You say some shots are dark but did the flash go at all. The SL960D power control setting does take some learning on how to use it.

Finally are you using the optical cable? If not what may be happening as you have described, on high settings or long shots it does not see that the cameras flash has gone off.

I have used the flash successfully on three cameras but have had to take into account each camera's abilities and settings to get the best result and ensuring the optical cable is against the cameras flash in exactly the right place..

 

[Peter Guy]

A "trick" I learned from SB last year on synching the strobe was to take a picture of the camera/strobe in a mirror (or a window). If you don't see the strobe flash in the picture, you know the strobe isn't synching properly. You can be fooled by the flash(es) from the camera and the strobe.

As I recall (and I'm too lazy to go get my strobe) you have a choice of 4 different "pre-flash" settings on this strobe. Try them all and see when the strobe really does synch with the camera.

Also, be REALLY careful about taking "the next shot"--my strobe takes 30 or more seconds to fully recharge and can fool me into thinking it has recharged.

It is a perfectly acceptable strobe and will help you get some good shots. And if you continue to take lots of UW pictures, you'll probably go ahead and spend WAY too much money to get a strobe that recycles in a second or two!

 

[TripletDad]

Dang, you guys are better than tech support! And I owe Phil a bit of an apology. In my newbieness I figured the pre-flash setting was to cancel out pre-flashes, focus flashes and the like. As soon as I changed the pre-flash setting in the strobe from 0 to 1 it seems to sync across the power range. I also learned while you can't completely trust the little red ready light, it's a pretty good indication.

Hot dang, only 4 more days until I can play with it for real. And I was really happy to hear there are others of you who are happy with this strobe. I felt like I was cheeping out but know it will make a huge difference and couldn't afford something really nice. Now I can play and learn and move up when I'm ready and can afford it.

Now if I can just get the spots to go away from all the flashes in the mirror I'll really be happy.

Thanks to everyone - Problem solved!