# External flash not firing?



## Lmphotos

It seems that my external flash does not fire at full power all the time? Maybe one out of 5 shots is full power I usually use it in manual apeture around 3.8 and Shutter speed 1/250. Is this a user error or a device error. I fully wait for it to recharge each cycle so no I am not just continuously bursting and it not firing every time. Any help appreciated!


----------



## 412 Burgh

1. What camera are you using?

2. What flash is it?

3. How are you triggering it?


----------



## ronlane

Have you changed the batteries lately? I was having a similar problem and new batteries fixed it right up.


----------



## Lmphotos

Camera t2i 
flash rps power zoom (camera store told me it was equivalent to the 430 ex) 
Mounting it on hot shoe and then I adjust the ev value on the flash it doesn't matter if I crank it all the way up it never fires full power until about 4 shots later. 
It has brand new rechargeable batteries in it the I took out and fully charge again just to make sure that was the problem. 
It does use TTL 
i should also mention I am always bouncing it off walls when using it never just straight on


----------



## pixmedic

Lmphotos said:


> Camera t2i
> flash rps power zoom (camera store told me it was equivalent to the 430 ex)
> Mounting it on hot shoe and then I adjust the ev value on the flash it doesn't matter if I crank it all the way up it never fires full power until about 4 shots later.
> It has brand new rechargeable batteries in it the I took out and fully charge again just to make sure that was the problem.
> It does use TTL
> i should also mention I am always bouncing it off walls when using it never just straight on



just for future flash purchases....
third party flashes, and especially cheaper versions, are rarely (if not "never") "equivalent" to their OEM counterparts. 
they are usually lacking in some feature(s) or some of their features are not 100% compatible with the camera. whereas with  a Canon speedlight, ALL of its features are compatible with your camera. third party flashes are good for extras and off cameras, but you should have at least one OEM flash for your camera.


----------



## Lmphotos

That really ticks me off considering the guy tried to thoroughly convince me they were the exact same and he even thinks the same people make them......and he is a professional. Could there be any other answers?


----------



## Awiserbud

Lmphotos said:


> That really ticks me off considering the guy tried to thoroughly convince me they were the exact same and he even thinks the same people make them......and he is a professional. Could there be any other answers?



yes....perhaps he was fibbing.


----------



## Lmphotos

Yes Perhaps regardless I am now 200.00 deep in this flash and it only works 20% of the time so could anybody think of any thing else that would cause this or any more trouble shooting I could do?


----------



## Awiserbud

sorry i cant help you more, but my suggestion would be to take it back and get a refund, I honestly think you get what you pay for with strobes, I have a few "cheaper" units and rarely use them because they are so unreliable, the extra money for a speedlight is money well spent in my opinion.


----------



## Patriot

What time of day and what lighting conditions were you trying to us it in? My D7000 had the same problem with the sb-910, but that was because the D7000 didn't auto focus well at night so the flash would never fire.


----------



## Lmphotos

Using it inside mostly with natural light through windows. I have no trouble visualizing and focusing on subjects. Sometimes it seems is I get a full power shot if I stay in the same spot wait for it to recharge I will maybe get two or three more full power shots and then when I move or recompose its back to it not firing correctly


----------



## Patriot

Maybe your batteries are taking too long to recharge the capacitor. What brand of batteries do you have? I believe that there are two types of rechargeables, a quick discharge and a not so quick discharge. I use eneloop by sanyo.


----------



## KmH

It is indeed likely that the main capacitor is not fully charging between shots.
NiMH batteries usually re-charge the main capacitor the quickest.

If you are using something other than NiMH batteries, it can take many seconds  before the main capacitor can recharge after a full power flash.
My inexpensive Vivitar 285HV's might take as long as 20 seconds to fully recharge the main capacitor when not using NiMH batteries. 

There are several kinds of rechargeable AA batteries, and there the 2 kinds of NiMH batteries mentioned above.
Here, slow discharge and fast discahrge refers to how long the batteries hold a charge when not in use. Slow discharge NiMH batteries may have as much as 85% of a full charge after setting unused for several months, while the Fast discharge NiMH batteries may only have 85% of a full charge by the next day.

The slow discharge NiMH batteries have a lower power rating than the fast discharge NiMH batteries.

While one can expect that the fast discharge batteries will need to be recharged just before use, how much charge remains in slow discharge NiMH batteries after a period on non-use is less certain.

When it comes to being a consumer, a certain amount of due diligence is required to be an informed buyer.

3rd party camera gear has to be 'reverse engineered'. In order to produce 3rd party gear that can be sold for less than the camera maker equivalent, some sacrifice of features, quality of materials, and attention to quality assurance has to be done.

In short, you usually get what you pay for, and you usually get less if you pay less.


----------



## Lmphotos

Took it to the shop it is indeed defective got my money back.


----------



## tirediron

Good news!


----------

