wireless SB900 would not flash when pointed at camera

babygodzilla

so i was just playing around with a wireless SB900 with an SB800 as the master. I had my friend, who was sitting directly in front of me, hold the SB900 in her hands and point it directly at the camera. we were separated by the width of the table, maybe about a foot or so. i hit the shutter, and the SB900 would not flash. I thought "OK maybe the sensor did not see the master or something." So I flipped it over every which way, to no avail... No idea what I did wrong. Batteries are fine. When I held the flash in my own hands and held it camera left or right, it worked fine.

Anyone can explain what I did wrong?

Thanks

angevin1

babygodzilla wrote:

so i was just playing around with a wireless SB900 with an SB800 as the master. I had my friend, who was sitting directly in front of me, hold the SB900 in her hands and point it directly at the camera. we were separated by the width of the table, maybe about a foot or so. i hit the shutter, and the SB900 would not flash. I thought "OK maybe the sensor did not see the master or something." So I flipped it over every which way, to no avail... No idea what I did wrong. Batteries are fine. When I held the flash in my own hands and held it camera left or right, it worked fine.

Anyone can explain what I did wrong?

Thanks

Set the slave and the master to Manual, and report back~ In iTTL, it is probably sensing a problem, hence no flash~

babygodzilla

i'll give that a try later. what problem could it possibly be?

kd2

By any chance, did your friend inadvertently have her finger over the sensor?

Wil Davis

What is the camera?

Did it work when the SB800 & SB900 were not facing each other?

Did it work with the built-in flash set as commander (assuming the camera has BIF)?

- Wil

babygodzilla

kd2 wrote:

By any chance, did your friend inadvertently have her finger over the sensor?

so I just tried the same setup as last night here at home... and it worked...

i am not sure why. same SB800 commander, same SB900 slave. same distance and direction.

not sure about her finger on the sensor. Like i said we turned it every which way and it still didn't fire, but that doesn't prove anything i suppose. where IS the sensor?

kd2

babygodzilla wrote:

not sure about her finger on the sensor. Like i said we turned it every which way and it still didn't fire, but that doesn't prove anything i suppose. where IS the sensor?

I'm not sure where it is on the SB900 (I have a couple of SB800s, and on those the little red sensor is on the right hand side). Whenever I have a problem with one of them not going off, the first thing I check is if my assistant hand her hand or a finger covering the sensor.

Art Scott

good to hear that it is now working as I had my SB 900 on top of a Stroboframe flash bracket approx 13 inches above cam and in bright day light and it would flash with out problem..........the little sensor is a small red round window on the right side of the flash near the bottom, right below the battery compartment door hinge.......it would be very easy to conceal with a hand or finger..............................

kevinpw

Art Scott wrote:

good to hear that it is now working as I had my SB 900 on top of a Stroboframe flash bracket approx 13 inches above cam and in bright day light and it would flash with out problem..........the little sensor is a small red round window on the right side of the flash near the bottom, right below the battery compartment door hinge.......it would be very easy to conceal with a hand or finger..............................

thanks for that info, thats good to know. i will remember that next time!