What is going wrong here?

LRussoPhoto · June 24, 2013

Can someone please tell me what is going on here? Doesnt happen with every shot, but I would say one out of 3 come out like this. This the setup, d90 in manual using pocket wizards to fire an sb900 and an sb700 in su-4 mode. Narrowed it down to be coming from the sb900. I tried a different body and it had the same results. turned off the sb700 and still had the same results. I did find the f stop on the camera did not match the f stop on the flash? Also the zoom and the camera and flash with not set the same, would either of those things matter?

LRussoPhoto · June 24, 2013

I just noticed that when i use the sb900 in commander modest shoots fine.

ZBlack · June 24, 2013

It looks like a sync speed issue, but you're shooting at 1/160th which shouldn't be an issue. That is strange.

LRussoPhoto · June 24, 2013

does it matter that the camera is a set to commander mode? The on camera flash is closed so i would think it doesnt matter right?

ziggy53 · June 25, 2013

If you still have the D300s body, see if it exhibits the same problem.

LRussoPhoto · June 25, 2013

I tried it with my D 3000 body because it was handy and it still did the same thing

LRussoPhoto · June 25, 2013

Ok, so Ive tried my d300, d90 and d300s. All seem to work fine with the sb700 firing with the pocket wizard but the sb900 is when it blacks out part of the image. On the d3000 and d90 it blacks out the bottom half, on the d300s the top half. Im looking at both strobes but cant seem to find any differences in settings. wth!

pathfinder · June 25, 2013

Is your firmware up to date with your Pocket Wizards? This is definitely a synch issue, as the shadow you are seeing is the shutter border as it is closing, I believe.

I had issues with a failing, sticky shutter curtain, that looked kind of like this, but had nothing to do with electronic flash.

I did get an email recently from Pocket Wizard encouraging me to update the firmware in my Pocket Wizard gear. Not sure that will help, but it does seem like the most recent strobe is where your synch is failing, and it does not occur, apparently, with Commander mode, but only with your PWs. Worth a try, at least.

Try a longer shutter speed, say 1/125th and see if the issue still occurs, too. With PWs you should be able to use a much shorter shutter speed than 1/160th. PW is very proud of how short the shutter speed can be and still synch properly also, that is why I wonder if your PWs need updated.

LRussoPhoto · June 25, 2013

I agree it is a sync issue. It is defenately not the camera as it does it with 3 different bodies. Weird thing is it only happens with the sb900 but the sb700 is fine. I called pocket wizard and they dont seem to know what the problem is but said they would replace them with a new set.
How do I know if the firmware is up to date? Wouldnt they have the most recent firmware be on the pocket wizards since i just purchased them last week.

pathfinder · June 25, 2013

I would never just assume recently purchased electronic goods have the most recent firmware, as my experience, has been all too often that they need updating as they leave the store. You may be more fortunate than I have been however.

Here is the link for updating PW firmware, -- http://www.pocketwizard.com/support/downloads/ -

Once you have the update software installed, it can read the firmware in your pWs, and tell you if it needs updating.

It is easy to do, and pretty straight forward.

LRussoPhoto · June 25, 2013

Thanks, Im sending the pocket wizards back for replacements, once I get the new ones I will check the firmware and post an update.
In the mean time if anyone has any other thoughts on what the problem could be please let me know. Im not 100% its the pocket wizards but ill try replacements and see how it goes.

JL Photo · July 19, 2013

rear curtain sync
Check to make sure none of the cameras are set to rear curtain sync or anything other than normal. It is probably not the problem, but one more thing to check

LRussoPhoto · July 20, 2013

Still seem to have an issue, have a new set of pocket wizards. As far as i know the d90 and the d300s have a sync speed of 1/200. It happens in consistently when i use 160 and 200 ss. I know its a sync issue but when does it happen once out of ever 5 shots as apposed to every time??

time2smile · August 9, 2013

I know I'm late on this...
Did you check for firmware update on the sb900
could it be that the 900 did not fully cycle and is giving a weaker output and hence a shorter strobe.

LRussoPhoto · August 9, 2013

Time, no I haven't. How do I check that?
Still happening but only when I get close to sync speed. Happens a lot at 200ss and sometimes at 160ss. I mean it shouldn't right? If im below sync speed there shouldnt be a problem.

time2smile · August 9, 2013

Check here....good luck....
https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16174

LRussoPhoto · August 9, 2013

Accourding the the info on the flash my firmware is up to date. What can this possible be?

JL Photo · August 9, 2013

The pocket wizard hotshoe models have been buggy since they were introduced. A few things to remember about radio slaves in general.

Fresh batteries are a must. strange things start to happen as the batteries get depleted.

Other radio frequencies can interfere with sync WiFi, cell phones, Police Radios Wireless microphones ect.

The advertised flash sync speed is for flash on camera, not radio synced flash or external studio strobes.

You can clean all of the flash, hotshoe, radio slave, electrical contacts with a pencil eraser.
( do not clean lens to body contacts this way)

Test your setup without the Pocketwizards using the Nikon infared TTL sync. If the setup works that way, then it is not the flashes or camera settings.

LRussoPhoto · August 9, 2013

I have never had this issue when using the commander mode. Issue only happens with the pocket wizards and only with the sb900. Never had an issue with my sb700. Even sent the pocket wizards back and had them replaced. So strange.

LRussoPhoto · August 29, 2013

Ok, i cant say i figured out what the problem is. But ive figured out how to avoid it. The problem only happens when the flashes go into standby mode. To avoid the sync issue, i hit the test button on the pw when i start framing up my shot and after 3 differnt shoots plus testing at home, not one problem.
Can someone please explain why that happens??

ziggy53 · August 29, 2013

LRussoPhoto wrote: »

Ok, i cant say i figured out what the problem is. But ive figured out how to avoid it. The problem only happens when the flashes go into standby mode. To avoid the sync issue, i hit the test button on the pw when i start framing up my shot and after 3 differnt shoots plus testing at home, not one problem.
Can someone please explain why that happens??

When a flash goes into "standby mode", the control circuits are turned off to save power and only a "watchdog" circuit remains powered to watch for activity from the camera. After activity from the camera is sensed, the control circuits are again energized, but that takes a tiny bit of time to energize those circuits. That time delay is apparently causing your sync issues, which makes perfect sense.

Depending on the flash, it may be possible to turn off the power-save function of the flash, which should avoid the sync problem, but that will run your batteries down much faster.

LRussoPhoto · August 29, 2013

As long as I know how to prevent it, ill leave it as is to save the batteries.

pathfinder · August 29, 2013

Glad that got sorted out.

What is going wrong here?

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