Why am I getting a dark horizontal band with a Canon 7D and 580EX II below sync speed?
Asked 12/9/2011
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I’m new to flash photography and testing a Canon 7D with a Speedlite 580EX II off-camera. The 7D manual says the max flash sync speed is 1/250 s, but I’m seeing a dark/gray horizontal band even at 1/200 s and 1/160 s. This happens when I trigger the flash with Cactus V5 or PocketWizard Plus II. I don’t see the problem with a PocketWizard MiniTT1/FlexTT5 setup. What causes this, and what should I check?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
12
The 580EX should be fired in perfect sync with the 7D. Definitely when below sync speed. You seem to have a lag in your system here so the flash fires a fraction of a second after the 2nd curtain starts to close.
UPDATE - just noticed that the flash is actually mounted on the light stand and shoots through the umbrella - and it looks like you are using a non TTL wireless trigger to fire the flash. In this case it is possible that the radio trigger introduces that lag.
UPDATE 2: You can try setting the trigger to 1st curtain if it is set to 2nd curtain and it may help overcoming this lag with the slower shutter speed (say, 1/160).
I wonder why you don't use the built in remote flash controller in the 7D? The 580EXII+7D are a (almost*) perfect match in this sense.
(*) almost, b/c it does not support high-speed sync (HSS) mode in wireless mode.
UPDATE 3: from the new images you posted and the new description, it seems like you tried to trigger the flash through the radio trigger while it was also set as a wireless Master. I think it is not really designed to be a master when you trigger it by the simple trigger, and it may fool the flash. Another possibility is that when it receives the trigger signal it first transmits its control signals to (what it thinks to be) its slaves (which do not really exist). This causes the lag!
To sum-up, the 580EXII is supposed to work as a Master (to control remote slave flashes) ONLY when connected to the hot shoe - that is, directly mounted there or connected with an ETTL cable. Otherwise, it can be an ETTL optical slave (if you have the Canon ST-E2 controller or another 580EX as a master), or a full manual, non-ETTL slave, triggered with the simple trigger signal (like what the Cactus transmits or a PC-Sync cable will allow). Your last piece of information probably confirms this.
Originally by user1024. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1024
14y ago
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A dark horizontal band below rated sync speed usually means the flash is firing slightly late, so part of the frame is exposed after the second curtain has started to close. Since it happens with your non-TTL radio triggers but not with the MiniTT1/FlexTT5, the most likely cause is trigger delay from the wireless system rather than the camera or flash itself.
What to try:
- Lower the shutter speed further, such as 1/160 or slower, to give more timing margin.
- Check whether the trigger is set to 1st-curtain sync, not 2nd-curtain.
- Test the flash directly on the camera hot shoe to confirm the 7D and 580EX II sync properly.
- Try the 7D’s built-in wireless flash control with the 580EX II in slave mode; indoors, Canon’s optical wireless system usually works well.
High-speed sync is a different feature; it allows flash use above normal sync speed, but your issue below 1/250 s points to trigger timing/latency, not the normal sync limit itself.
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