I am using a strobe light with my D800. The strobe is firing with every shot, but only every other picture is lit.
I can't figure out what's going on. It was working great for a while. I'm thinking I must have changed a setting, but don't know what it is.
Please help!
Thanks

How are you triggering the remote strobe? Cable, built in flash or remote?

Cheers,
Bernard.

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frame4zoom for Nikonians

Hi,
I am using a wireless remote, flash trigger.
Thanks

The first thing to check would be the speed at which you are shooting. Above 1/160s you could have a syncing issue with the flash. Although this seems not to be the case if every other picture is ok...

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frame4zoom for Nikonians

Which frame isn't lite? Is it the first or second? Do the strobes go to standby? Nikon strobes have a standby setting. If they go to standby the first frame will not be lighted but the second will be fine after the wake-up call.

Pocket Wizards should synch up to 250th of a second.

Daniel McGowan
Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I'm having to shoot as low as 50th of a second to avoid the line in the middle, where the top half of photo is lit and bottom isn't. I was able to shoot at 125th of second in the past...not sure why I can't now.

I'm not using a nikon strobe or pocket wizard brand. But the strobe is firing each time, it recycles really quick. And the remote must be working because the strobe is firing.

There is no pattern as to which photos are lit and which ones aren't. Sometimes 5 in row will be lit, then 2 aren't, 1 is, etc..

Since everything was working perfect for me a few weeks ago, I'm afraid I changed a setting on my camera and I'm not sure what?

Thanks for your help!

Make sure the incamera red eye reduction is off

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Hi Kelly,

Could you provide:
1. The Brand Name and Model of the Wireless Remote trigger and receiver.
2. Brand Name and Model # of the strobes.

How are you setting the exposure and flash power?
What are your camera settings (Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO)?

What release mode are you using?

If you are shooting in Continuous mode how many FPS?

Is the remote trigger fully seated and locke in the hotshoe?

Did you try cleaning the electrical contacts on the hotshoe and the hot foot of the remote trigger?

What Flash mode is the camera set in?

Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

Here's a theory: You may be seeing a "pre-flash" firing to determine exposure before the "real" flash. So the pre-flash will fire the (optical) slave strobes before the exposure is actually made. You would have to make sure all units are in manual mode.
Dave Jolley

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Thank you all for trying to help me...

The red-eye reduction flash setting on my camera is turned off.

I don't think the strobe has a pre-flash setting (but I could be wrong), I just don't see any info. about that.

The strobe is a 300 watt pro studio strobe-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160907030852&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

This is the promaster transmitter I'm using-
http://www.amazon.com/Promaster-Studio-Flash-Receiver-Transmitter/dp/B002MUGG9U

I set my camera at about f2.5, ISO from L0.3 to 100 and was shooting at about 50-60th of a second. I had it set to 4fps on CH. I tried all the settings in my camera for the flash, but kept it on front curtain sync and I'm shooting in M.

I did not try cleaning the electrical things in the hot shoe because I assumed it was connected properly since the flash was firing.

Thank you!!!

Maybe I'm confused, I thought you were using the in-camera flash to trigger the strobe and it was emitting pre-flashes that are messing up your strobe. See page 301 of the D800 manual and try setting the in-camera flash to manual mode so that it does not emit pre-flashes.
Dave Jolley

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Hi Dave,
I'm not using my in camera(pop up) flash at all, but I will still try turing off the pre-flashes if you think it will help. I'll be at the studio Wed. to try it.
Any other ideas are welcome.
Thank you again!

>I set my camera at about f2.5, ISO from L0.3 to 100 and was
>shooting at about 50-60th of a second. I had it set to 4fps
>on CH.

Is this correct? You are shooting four frames per second? The specs on your flash indicate recycle time is 1 to 3 seconds.

Places We Have Been

www.peppermill-multimedia.com

Luke, that's what I had it set on, but I was defiantly not shooting 4 fps. I was consciously waiting several seconds between shots, hoping it would give the flash time to recycle, which it did.
The flash was firing, the photos are dark...
Do you think just having on that setting would affect it?
Thanks!

If you are only taking one shot at a time the CH 4FPS setting should have no effect. The specifications for your flash say it can take up to 3 seconds to recycle. The inconsistant exposures you are getting sounds like you are taking a shot before the flash fully recycles.

You might consider increasing the camera's ISO to see if you can reduce the flash output and get quicker recycle times. Try ISO 400 and see if that changes anything.

Places We Have Been

www.peppermill-multimedia.com

Thank you Luke, I will try that tomorrow when I am the studio.

>Thank you Luke, I will try that tomorrow when I am the
>studio.

If you can use *any* different strobe with the same camera/trigger setup, that might help determine if the problem is on the strobe or the camera/trigger end of the equation.

Kent

*** From the ebay listing ***

High Quality Photo Studio Flash/Strobe Light Holder

Holds 1 of 5600K 250W Circular Flash Tube and 1 of 50W Model Light
(Total 300W: 250W + 50W)


That tells me everything I need to know right there. These things may recycle once every 10 seconds. Who knows.

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Webpage: http://www.ptfphoto.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

The ad quotes 1-3s recharge time.

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frame4zoom for Nikonians

>The ad quotes 1-3s recharge time.

The Ad quotes a 300w light. Whatever THAT means. Anyone who'd add up the wattage of a modeling light, and the strobe light and label that as 300w is either:

A. Clueless
B. Intentionally Misleading
C. Praying on buyers who don't know any better
D. Some combination of the above.

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Webpage: http://www.ptfphoto.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>>The ad quotes 1-3s recharge time.
>
>The Ad quotes a 300w light. Whatever THAT means. Anyone
>who'd add up the wattage of a modeling light, and the strobe
>light and label that as 300w is either:
>
>A. Clueless
>B. Intentionally Misleading
>C. Praying on buyers who don't know any better
>D. Some combination of the above.
>
>

You're right. Incredibly, that's how the brand's website describes the specs. Not to disparage the OP's choice of equipment, but the price would indicate it's a low-end product. One has to wonder how reliable the circuitry is. It's possible the camera and wireless trigger are doing everything right, but the strobe is firing out of sync sporadically. Just speculating.

Kent