photo:diy_flash
troubleshooting flash not firing or exposing correctly
flash not firing
make sure flash is turned on and ready light comes on
if ready light does not come on, the batteries are too flat, inserted incorrectly, or terminals are corroded, or flash is faulty.
you should be able to press a button on the flash to do a test fire to confirm the batteries and flash are OK
make sure flash is connected properly to the camera
hotshoe mounted:
ensure flash is mounted secured in hotshoe and hotshoe contacts of both flash and camera are not dirty
ensure flash is compatible with hotshoe
PC sync cord connection:
sync cord connections can be problematic at either end or within the cable itself
if connections seem OK, you may need to try another cable
optical wireless remote control:
you will need a master controller flash connected to the camera
the camera will generally need to be set to optical RC (eg. on Olympus cameras, RC mode = ON)
the compatible remote flash will need to be in line of sight of the master flash and within its range and its RC group set to the same group as on the camera or master flash controller (see instruction manual)
it will probably not work in bright sunlight
radio wireless remote control:
you will need a compatible master radio wireless controller flash connected to the camera (some cameras, such as latest Canon and Nikon have thus built-in to their cameras but this requires brand-specific radio wireless flashes - alternatives include
Godox and
Cactus)
ensure camera optical RC is turned OFF
the compatible remote flash will need to be in range of the master controller and its remote group/channel and perhaps radio ID PIN set to the same as on the camera or master controller (see instruction manual)
water including water pipes tends to block radio signals
make sure the camera is set to fire the flash
on many cameras, including Olympus, if the flash mode in the menu is set to OFF or even perhaps AUTO, the flash may not fire - you may need to set it to FILL IN to ensure it fires
on many cameras, if you choose a shutter speed faster than the flash sync speed, the camera will not fire the flash unless you put flash into high speed sync or Super FP mode
on some cameras, choosing silent electronic shutter mode will stop the flash firing
a band on one of the sides of the image is dark
this indicates you are using a shutter speed faster than the flash sync for that set up, either:
use a slower shutter speed, or,
change the flash mode to high speed sync or Super FP mode
if using a film camera, this may also mean you are using the incorrect sync setting - for most SLRs, it should be X mode not FP mode
image is too dark
check that the flash fired by watching it fire during shutter release (if not, see above)
check that the flash is aimed at subject (or bounced onto subject)
check that the flash is powerful enough to light the subject with the camera settings:
test this by putting flash in full output manual flash exposure:
if still dark, then you need to either:
use a wider aperture
use a higher ISO
move flash closer to subject
use a more powerful flash or more flash units
if using high speed sync or Super FP mode, turn this off or use a lower shutter speed as this mode reduces maximal flash output significantly as the shutter speed gets shorter
if image is now too bright or over-exposed:
if using TTL flash, you may have set the flash exposure compensation too low, in which case go back to TTL mode and increase the flash exposure compensation setting
image is too bright
photo/diy_flash.txt · Last modified: 2018/06/16 18:10 by gary1