Wendy Mogul Photography Loc: Charleston SC

Hey everyone..I have been having flash troubles for as long as I've owned a DSLR some say it is because I kept my flash on all the time and ruined the hotshoe connection others say not..that it is the settings I am using..ETTL on my flash and using a low ISO at 100 and F stop around 5.6 or higher and a speed at about 1/125 or lower..for shooting night time events..does anyone have any answers for me..really need help here..right now my flash only works part of the time when shooting so losing valuable images..please help!..lol..thanks so much

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

My Nikon SB-600 speedlight is attached to my Nikon D5000 for several hours at a time, when I am in the field capturing macro-photography. I carry extra batteries because I leave both "on" so much. I have never had any problem with speedlight reliability.

I shoot manual flash for macro work, usually 1/1 output, sometimes 1/2 or 1/4, depending on subject color. I store both units separately, turned-off.

Pentony Loc: Earth Traveller

What is that ring flash?

Hector Loc: Victoria Harbour Ont

sounds like a cycling time issue

shooting at night puts high demands on your flashes capaciters

after each shot they are tapped out and need to recharge as you batteries fade cycle time gets longer

so either by a battery pack for flash or invest in a second flash

hope this helps

i use two flashs my self..less chance of burning out flash head..secondly having two comes in handy for portriats etc..

cheers

Hector Loc: Victoria Harbour Ont

P.S
dont be shy and kick up your iso to say 400-800
noise wont be to bad

Wendy Mogul Photography Loc: Charleston SC

Thanks Hector..do you think the high ISO will help..if it is the settings then I can work with that..

ronz Loc: Florida

Never heard of such a thing but it appears you are a Canon user and they have had some trouble with their hotshoe. There are two small metal bands, one on each side of the hotshoe. If they get bent down your flash will not make good contact and you will get intermittent flash or no flash. it's a simple thing to fix, use an eyeglass screwdriver and lift up each band just a tiny bit, replace your flash and see if it works. It is a good idea to remove your flash when not using it. You can send it back to Canon and they will replace the hotshoe but the same thing can happen again. Been there done that. Good luck

Hector Loc: Victoria Harbour Ont

a higher iso will take some pressure off of flash as well you can could proable get up your max sync speed of camera.. proably about 1/200 if using dlsr

well help freeze action

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Yes, higher ISO (400 or 800) means there's more camera sensitivity to light and less flash power is required. Your flash batteries won't be eaten up so quickly with higher ISO. Besides that, more of the ambient light of the shot will be recorded and the result won't look as blasted by flash.

You must also always be sure your "flash ready" light has come back before shooting again. If you have really scorched the grass with all the power the flash can muster, the recycle time is quite long (mine can exceed 4 seconds sometimes) and if you shoot before it's ready again your shot will be underexposed and not even close to what your eTTL was trying to achieve.

Also TTL has a hard time working at night because the camera must send out an IR light beam to detect how much flash to add when it finds a subject in your composition and it doesn't always work well at night. My flash, and maybe yours, will emit a much stronger version of that light beam to help the camera focus and calculate flash power and distance in very dark situations.

Hope any of that helps.

Wendy Mogul Photography Loc: Charleston SC

Yes thank you so much it does help and I will take all of that into consideration...I guess I still have much to learn..but I am getting there..lol..thanks so much again to everyone for all the great advice!..so much appreciated!