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Canon MT-24EX Flash Quirks--Help needed


mike_broderick

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For a lot of my macro photography, I use a Canon MT-24EX macro flash.

It has two separate small flash heads that you can reposition to

tweak the lighting.

 

The "A" head on my flash isn't firing reliably anymore. Once in

awhile, it does fire, with no discernable pattern. The small modeling

light, for testing, works fine. I've tried this on two separate

cameras, and it behaves similarly on both.

 

I've pored over the manual, and the flash ratio is set to 1:1, so the

flash head isn't accidentally turned off. None of the custom

functions seem to have any relevance to the situation. It isn't a

case of the flash somehow firing only on need--The MT-24EX isn't

designed to do that, and if I cover the "B" flash head with my hand, I

just get a black photo (assuming I use macro-ish f/stops).

 

I see no alternative to sending this to Canon to be serviced (out of

warranty). I'm posting here, hoping someone has a bright idea I've

overlooked. You might be able to save me some pocket money, and help

me avoid loss of my macro flash for awhile!

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Since you'reposting this I assume you're not the kind of person who is adept with a soldering iron or carefully prising apart items such as flashguns. Since the tube does still fire on occasion, there's a reasonable chance that the tube itself doesn't need replacing (there are instruction on how to do that IIRC for a 550EX somewhere on the net, but the MT24 EX would be similar). That suggests either a dry solder joint, internal cable break between the head and the controller giving intermittent contact, or a component in the circuitry that is failing.

 

http://home.fuse.net/pets/EOS/550EX/550ex.htm

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What my namesake Mark U said -- does that flash let you swap heads, or are they

permanently connected to the control unit? If the latter, your troubleshooting options are

much more limited. I'd first suspect a bad connection or partial break in one of the cables

leading from control unit to the flash, but it would take some experimentation to pin it down.

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