Topic: RANT - flash and lighting sync issues with Mamiya 645

[lharby]

Urggh.

I have a Mamiya 645, a fairly basic lighting rig (two softboxes with IR sensor) also a Nikon Speedlight (I have 3 Nikon 35mm cameras).

Generally the Mamiya works mounting the IR sensor onto the hotshoe. I find 7 to 8 out of 10 shots trigger the flash fine. I found that depressing the shutter very slowly helps to make sure it fires I assume some sort of contact issue. But last week it was hopeless. Not firing at all. Although pressing the little manual trigger button with my finger always works (so not a battery issue with the sensor).

I then thought about mounting the Speedlight on the side of the Mamiya. Normally I wire up a sync cable and trigger it that way (only to trigger the softboxes). The flash is now playing up so my assumption is that I have fried it (although I have seen conflicting advice about this about voltage and so on). I think I had the flash in the wrong mode. Afterwards I also tried again with the sync cable, but the flash was cranky/patchy and turning itself off.

I am happy to buy a new flash (although I think I would rather go with non dedicated than replace the SL). Of course I will need one if the SL is kaput.

I also own a Cactus V5 TX/RX which I completely forgot I had, so I can try that next of course.

If anyone has any sage advice I would love to hear it, but I also just needed to vent 

(things were compounded as I had left the camera in Multi exposure mode and it took me far too long to work this out, I was worried the winders on the film backs weren't working properly).

[Francois]

Malfunctionning flash units are definitely a pain... so I hear you there.

Depending on if you're working with a live subject or still life, you can always save the day working with an open flash trick (camera on B and trigger the flash with the other hand). Tried it once and if the overall light is low, you can get away with it even when shooting live subjects.

As for flash units, I've heard good things from the cheap Amazon Essentials units. They have variable exposure and don't cost much. There's also Godox that produces some really good stuff...

[lharby]

Thanks Francois, do you mean Godox for TX/RX or for flash units?

Maybe I can get the Cactus to do the job.

[Francois]

Godox is very good at just about everything they make. I've even read that people are starting to ditch Profoto gear to go to Godox.

Amazon Essentials is Amazon's house brand. I don't know who makes their flash units but I heard that they are good. They are regular on camera flash units without TTL, so they work on anything. But they have variable power, so it makes them easier to use. When you have many of them, you can set them and adjust their power using a flash meter. Not too hard to do but it requires some visualization.

There is another company that makes some good transmitters, it's a Chinese outfit that I can't remember the name right now... Their transmitters have an unusual design in that they work as both receiver when they detect that a flash is plugged into them and as a transmitter when they detect that they are plugged in a camera. Pretty neat design.

[Francois]

I finally found the name I was looking for, it's Yongnuo!
They make pretty darn good stuff for quite cheap.

[cs1]

I can really recommend Yongnuo, you can even use some of their radio flash control units as radio shutter triggers for cameras that have electronic shutter releases (this is mostly useful for digital cameras though).

[lharby]

ah yes, I have heard good press about them also. Well I have a few options to investigate now, so I really appreciate the feedback.

[Francois]

You're welcome.
I sometimes think we should change the name of the site to"camera geeks central" 

[Pete_R]

Bit confused regarding your setup but it does sound like there may be an issue with the camera flash contacts so I would check that out. Do you have any other flash you can connect to the camera? If not, I would get a cheap flash of ebay (I got one for 99p the other day) just to check the camera with.

[Francois]

Or just use a continuity tester or ohm meter.
When in bulb, the camera should keep the contacts closed (unless they opted for some electronic wizardry).
If stuck, a simple LED and a battery will do the job.

[lharby]

I do have a couple of other flashes I can use to test. If the contacts are bad what's next, can I replace that part or would it need to be serviced?

[Francois]

Depends on what the problem is. I always try the easy things first, like shooting some contact cleaner in the flash socket to see if it helps.
If it doesn't, then it means some repair job...

[Pete_R]

Yes, always worth cleaning the flash connector. They tend to get oxidised and dirty, especially if there's no cap over them. If it's not the connector then probably the flash contacts which will be part of the shutter so needs someone who knows what they are doing to get inside and fix it.

[Francois]

I was thinking about that last night and was wondering if your Mamiya has an electronic control for the shutter?
I was also wondering if your flash setup uses a high voltage synch?
If that's the case there's the possibility of frying the camera's circuits....

You can check the flash using a voltmeter on the flash terminal.

[lharby]

Thanks Francois, I am hoping to test this out tomorrow.

I don't have a voltmeter, I have a battery tester like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/272466705212?chn=ps&adgroupid=53506753673&rlsatarget=pla-414494173137&abcId=1133956&adtype=pla&merchantid=113501034&poi=&googleloc=9046154&device=c&campaignid=1058853793&crdt=0 maybe I will invest in one.

But I realise I've never actually cleaned the contacts and it would explain alot of they're dirty.

[Francois]

Try and get a cheap multimeter. I got mine at a low cost auto parts store when they came on sale for less than 20 bucks. There's really no need to invest in a high end one like a Fluke.

[lharby]

YAY!

It was just dirty contacts, so the old eraser trick did it.

I feel like such a chowderhead.

Thank you all. Much appreciated.

[Pete_R]

Great you got it sorted. Always check the easy things first (no, I don't always follow my own advice  )

[Francois]

I'm happy to hear it's just oxidation. If it was something else, it would have been such a pain in the....