Newbees studio flash problems

[waynehowes]

Hi all, i'm new here and to studio photography, i'm wondering if any body can answer a very basic problem.

I own an Alpha 200 and have just purchased a portaflash studio kit. According to all the paper work and specs the 200 should sync with the flash head at a shutter speed of 1/160. This however dosn't appear to be working.

The head does flash, but does not register on the image produced. I have tried various shutter speeds to no avail. Help!hiccup! I think I am missing something very simple but really can't find what, any ideas?

You help is going to be very much appriacted.

[Dr. Harout]

I'm pretty much sure you'll get all the help and advice you need on this forum. So be the most welcome Wayne.

[David Kilpatrick]

The Portaflash will not sync with *any* digital SLR using pre-flash TTL, e-TTL, i-TTL or any other mode involving a multiple flash burst. It will only sync with manual flash, and the A200 does not offer this (only the KM D7D and the Alpha 700 have manual power control of the internal flash). Most other brands of camera also do not offer manual flash with the internal flash unit. The Portaflash and its instructions date back to the era of film cameras without any functions like red eye or pre-flash TTL. To sync cordlessly with your camera, the only current choice is the Elinchrom BXri flash which costs about three times as much as the Portaflash.

What you need to do is obtain an FS-1100 type adaptor from eBay, and use the cord supplied to connect one Portaflash to the camera - the others will then sync with the first one.

It will not cost much and you get it very quickly:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Flash-Slave-Trigger ... 1|294%3A50

David

[Dr. Harout]

You see, I told you you'll get the best answers here.

[aachen96]

Am I right in thinking you can now buy an adapter FA-ST1AM to fit in the camera hotshoe and it will then synch with studio flash on all alpha models except the a300. It costs £149.

[David Kilpatrick]

Yes, it's a total waste of money. It will sync with the A300/350 but then again, nothing will allow proper live view sync on these cameras except one triggering method only - a Minolta or Sony gun with adjustable manual power, at minimum power.

After the A350 was launched, I persuaded Ian Cartwright (underwater babies and nudes photographer) to switch to it. He needed the angled live view screen to composed his subjects. I guess Ian can now move on to the Nikon D5000. But he needed to trigger flash mounted in the swimming pool above the water. We found that even if a trigger could be attached, it was vital to use Manual mode to get the right sync speed, as none of the adaptors made supply the 5v 'flash ready' signal which sets the A350 to 1/60-1/160th range, and makes the LV work with auto gain so you can view in any lighting conditions. Manual mode disables auto gain - so you get a black LV screen.

I bought one of the FA-ST1AM modules for £80 - special Focus Show Offer - finally hoping that because it includes a battery and has a switch, it would send the correct signal to the A300/A350 to allow live view studio flash. But it does not, and it is even missing the necessary connection pin so it can not be modified.

For the money it is not only grossly - extremely, ridiculously - overpriced it is also something not really designed for the system which fails to deliver a basic requirement.

So, go buy a passive Chinese made FS-1100 type adapter instead - they have PC connection sockets, and work fine with PocketWizard or Skyport (and other cheaper triggers).

David

[Alain]

Hi

After (or while) buying the FS-1100 clone you can either buy a radio trigger or a infrared trigger. I strongly suggest using radio and there a cheap ones that do work, esp. inside a studio setting. They have special receivers using mains supply, but I think it could be more versatile to use one on battery.

The skyports are very small and have an advantage if you should start using specific elinchrom flashes.