Strobes & Rebel XT

[SHavard]

I started this conversation a while back and just now got what I thought was the right equipment...however, strobes aren't working so I guess I'm missing something.

Equipment:
Rebel XT
Canon Speedlite 420EX
Stroboframe
Canon Off-Camera Shoe Cord 2
Flashpoint Digipopper 200
PC Cord (came with strobe)

The last piece of equipment I was trying to buy was a PC cord adapter. I went to Camera Exchange in town and told the guy what I needed and he sold me a Wein Hot Shoe to Hot Shoe Safe Sync for $60.

Was this the wrong piece of equipment?

I have everything set up on my camera and here are my issues:

Both on-camera flash and the strobe fire when I use the test button on the Speedlite. Neither flash when I press the shutter or press the test button on the Hot Shoe Sync.

I have the Speedlite set to Slave mode (don't know if I have an option for a manual mode as was recommended in my last post about it)

HELP!

Thanks,
Sarah

[24Peter]

Hi Sarah - sorry to hear you still haven't worked this out. :( Let's see what we can do.

1. To fire your Diggipopper, you do need a PC hot shoe adapter (higher end cameras, like the 30D, 5D etc., have PC terminals built into the body.) This (or it's eqivalent) should be all you need:

http://www.adorama.com/FAHSPCA.html?searchinfo=pc%20hot%20shoe%20adapter&item_no=1

2. Someone else may know better (I don't use the 420EX Speedlite) but unless there's a way to disable the pre-flash on the on-camera flash, you won't be able to synch the Diggipopper with it. The optical slave on Diggipopper isn't digital flash savy so it's triggered by the on-camera flash's pre-flash. But this means it has already flashed by the time the main flash on the camera happens and the camera's shutter opens (it's only milliseconds between the pre-flash and main flash so it looks to your eye like they're synched - but they're not.)

3. The solution I've found to use an external flash with my on-camera flash (either the built in one or my 220EX Speedlite) is one of these:

http://www.adorama.com/MRDS1.html?searchinfo=ds-1&item_no=2

The DS-1 has a little switch on the back that you can set to trigger the attached flash on either the first or second flash of the on-camera flash (i.e., it can ignore the pre-flash and properly sync). You can put your 420EX in the DS-1 and then mount it on a light stand. BUT it's not gonna help you sync your 420EX on-camera with the Diggipopper. AFAIK, there's not gonna be any way to sync an on-camera flash (whether it's the built in or the 420EX) with the Diggipopper. You can sync multiple 420EX's I think (or you may need a 580EX or the ST thing Canon sells to act as the master) and you can sync the Diggipoper and 420EX OFF-CAMERA using the DS-1 and hot shoe adapter, but that's about it.

[SHavard]

Hi Sarah - sorry to hear you still haven't worked this out. :( Let's see what we can do.

1. To fire your Diggipopper, you do need a PC hot shoe adapter (higher end cameras, like the 30D, 5D etc., have PC terminals built into the body.) This (or it's eqivalent) should be all you need:

http://www.adorama.com/FAHSPCA.html?searchinfo=pc%20hot%20shoe%20adapter&item_no=1

2. Someone else may know better (I don't use the 420EX Speedlite) but unless there's a way to disable the pre-flash on the on-camera flash, you won't be able to synch the Diggipopper with it. The optical slave on Diggipopper isn't digital flash savy so it's triggered by the on-camera flash's pre-flash. But this means it has already flashed by the time the main flash on the camera happens and the camera's shutter opens (it's only milliseconds between the pre-flash and main flash so it looks to your eye like they're synched - but they're not.)

3. The solution I've found to use an external flash with my on-camera flash (either the built in one or my 220EX Speedlite) is one of these:

http://www.adorama.com/MRDS1.html?searchinfo=ds-1&item_no=2

The DS-1 has a little switch on the back that you can set to trigger the attached flash on either the first or second flash of the on-camera flash (i.e., it can ignore the pre-flash and properly sync). You can put your 420EX in the DS-1 and then mount it on a light stand. BUT it's not gonna help you sync your 420EX on-camera with the Diggipopper. AFAIK, there's not gonna be any way to sync an on-camera flash (whether it's the built in or the 420EX) with the Diggipopper. You can sync multiple 420EX's I think (or you may need a 580EX or the ST thing Canon sells to act as the master) and you can sync the Diggipoper and 420EX OFF-CAMERA using the DS-1 and hot shoe adapter, but that's about it.

I think it just comes down to the guy sold me the wrong part. I've got the idea of the setup right...he just got confused when I said I needed to connect to my strobes I guess he thought I meant Flash.

The parts were all behind the counter so I wasn't able to argue with him once he went on this selling rant about the safe sync. Anyway, I'll drop by there tonight and see if I can get the right part!

Thanks,
Sarah

[24Peter]

Also Sarah, just to confuse you further :D , if you want to cut the cord completely between the camera and the Digipopper, I recently went wireless. I've only had it a few days but so far so good. No more worrying about the cord!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7609341892&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT

[jamison55]

Hey, I bought one of those cheap radio slave kits as well, and like it quite a bit. So my vote goes there!

[24Peter]

Hey, I bought one of those cheap radio slave kits as well, and like it quite a bit. So my vote goes there!
Jamie - how many receivers are you using? Right now I only have the one the kit comes with. I'm relying on the optical slaves on the other strobes to link them. For the most part it seems fine but with certain flashes I notice there's a tiny delay using the optical slave. That means I have to reduce my shutter speed a bit to get properly lit images. I normally shoot at 1/200th on my XT with all my strobes but sometimes need to go to 1/160th or 1/125th with those flashes or else I see the shutter closing (darkening part of the image.) But it's only on these two cheap Sunpak flashes I have. With my Digipopper, JTL monolight and Alien Bee it works fine with the optical slaves.

[SHavard]

Also Sarah, just to confuse you further :D , if you want to cut the cord completely between the camera and the Digipopper, I recently went wireless. I've only had it a few days but so far so good. No more worrying about the cord!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7609341892&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_IT


Thanks guys...that sounds great. I'd love to get rid of that cord!

Thanks,
Sarah

[aparmley]

Bad news about the 420EX. Your strobes are going to be fooled by the preflash of the 420EX's E-TTL mode and you can't disable it on the 420. However there are work arounds - And you may be totally aware of this as Pete brought it up and you may have taken the necessary precautions already. I'm adding this because I am currently reading about flashes to learn more and I stumbled upon this information and remembered this thread.

From the EOS Flash bible found here (http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/)



"There are times when TTL metering may be more desirable than E-TTL. A common example is a studio setting where analogue optical slave units can be fooled by the E-TTL preflash. The 550EX, 580EX, MR-14EX and MT-24EX let you disable E-TTL via a custom function, but they’re the only Canon Speedlites with this ability. All other EX flash units (220EX, 380EX, 420EX, 430EX) will always operate in E-TTL mode when mounted to an E-TTL-capable camera, even if the camera is also capable of supporting TTL and even though they’ll work in TTL mode just fine on a type B camera. (though the 430EX can also be used in manual mode if you wish)

One way around this is to buy Canon’s Hot Shoe Adapter for wired multiple-unit flash. This adapter works only in TTL mode, so putting an E-TTL flash unit onto an HSA will force it to work in TTL only. This is a pretty expensive approach, however. Another option is to tape over one of the data contacts in the hotshoe. Covering the lower left contact (the left contact out of the hotshoe’s group of four that’s closest to the back of the camera when looking at the camera from the top) will disable all E-TTL functionality. (though it’ll also disable second-curtain sync along with FP flash and FEL) For more details have a look at this article on EOSDoc (http://www.eosdoc.com/manuals/?q=EX-M-TTL). "

If nothing else this will be a useful find if someone does a search - who knows it might be me in a few months! LOL:D