Minolta 3600HSD Wireless not firing...

[ricardovaste]

I seem to recall a similar question being asked on the minolta forum a while

ago, long before i had this flash (which i just purchased), but the older

minolta posts [and uncategorized section] seems to have been deleted or i just

cant find it anyway.

 

Ive followed the intructions through my dynax 5 manual but it simply doesnt

fire and i dont want to waste anymore of the battery life on my camera, as the

built in camera flashes everytime.

 

Does anyone know if there is a nack getting it to fire wirelessly? Like

precisely lining up the flash with the subject or something...which i tried.

 

The picture below shows the process ive followed. Id really appreciate some

input on this as the wireless feature and HSS wireless feature were the two

main selling points for me.

 

Thank you,

Richard

[jpursley]

I don't have direct experience with the 3600HSD, but the 3500xi is suprisingly responsive in wireless mode - even around corners and whoatnot while indoors.

 

Does the 3600HSD have a "I'm in wireless mode" indicator? The 3500xi flashes a red led every few seconds to indicate it's ready for signals from the camera's flash. Also, does your body indicate "WL" after you detach the flash unit?

[ricardovaste]

Yeah, my camera shows the WL sign when detached and the flash 'flashes' that little red beam out every few seconds like you say. do you think maybe my flash could be fault or something?

[jpursley]

Hmmm...a few more questions that might help identify the problem:<br /><br />

 

1) Does the 3600HSD fire when mounted on the camera?<br />

2) The 3500xi will not fire in wireless mode above something like 1/60 seconds. Are you sure you're not exceeding the maximum sync speed of the camera or flash when in wireless?<br />

3) Does the on-camera flash illuminate when the body is in WL mode?<br />

4) Have you tried this inside, in a reasonably small room with light walls, as a best-case test?<br />

[ricardovaste]

Thanks for helping me with this.

1)the flash works fine on the camera

2)both the flash and camera are capable of HSS so they can go to 1/4000 with no problem

3)not sure what you mean when you say illuminate? the on-camera flash does fire if thats what you mean? also, if i press the spot-reading button on the back it sends out a small flash...

4)ive tried it in a well lit room etc

...5) just another observation; the flash selects CH2 [wireless channel 2?] and will not allow me to select CH1. if thats important i dont know.

thanks again

[matt hedgecoe]

Thanks for helping me with this. 1)the flash works fine on the camera 2)both the flash and camera are capable of HSS so they can go to 1/4000 with no problem 3)not sure what you mean when you say illuminate? the on-camera flash does fire if thats what you mean? also, if i press the spot-reading button on the back it sends out a small flash... 4)ive tried it in a well lit room etc ...5) just another observation; the flash selects CH2 [wireless channel 2?] and will not allow me to select CH1. if thats important i dont know. thanks again

 

Richard,

 

I just wanted to clarify one of your answers: You said, 'if i press the spot-reading button on the back it sends out a small flash...'

 

This is a good sign! About a second later the 3600HSD should also fire a brief burst in acknowledgement to confirm the wireless link is working. Is this happening? For testing purposes, point the camera straight at the sensor on the front of the flash. Try this from a couple of feet away somewhere that is not too brightly lit.

 

Another couple of things to try...

 

Although both the camera and flash are capable of High Speed Sync, you will need to make sure that HSS is enabled on the flash. For testing purposes it may be better to keep your shutter speed under the x-sync speed.

 

What exposure mode are you in? If I remember correctly, in P mode the flash will only fire if needed unless you have changed one of the custom settings. If you are testing in a bright room this may stop the flash from firing. For testing, use the A or S mode as this will swith the flash to fill-in mode and ensure that it fires every time.

 

Regarding Channel 2; This shouldn't make a difference. Providing the flash is attahced to the camera when wireless mode is selected (and both are turned on!) they should talk to each other so the camera knows what channel to use. It might be worth switching the flash to one of the other channels just to double check this. You said it won't let you do this. Are you trying to change channel on the flash while it is in wireless mode? You may need to cancel wireless mode first.

 

Let me know how you get on.

 

Matt.

[ricardovaste]

Thanks for your help matt.

 

But no luck :-|

 

I pressed the spot-reading button and waited for a response [burst front the program flash] but nothing came.

 

I put my camera in A and S mode and kept the shutter under 1/125.

 

I even tried just putting the on-camera flash in front of the senor or near to the sensor on the program flash to try and get it for fire.

 

But nothing happened.

 

Ive noticed i cant actually change the channel. when the flash it on the camera i can either turn off wireless mode or turn it on to channel 2.

 

At this point should i just be excepting that theres something wrong with either the camera or the flash? problem is, i dont have another body to test this out on. the flash works fine in every other mode but wireless HSS was half the reason i went for this flash. i dont know if there is anything else i can test.

 

thanks for the help,

 

Richard

[ricardovaste]

custom function 12

 

1 ADI flash metering

2 TTL flash metering

 

mine is currently set at "1" ADI flash metering but im not suing a 'D' lens. Is this important? I dont have a clue, ill try and test it and see though...

[matt hedgecoe]

Richard,

 

You'll need to have the flash detached from the camera in order to change the wireless channel it uses. Unfortunately I can't tell you the exact proceedure for doing this. I have a 5600HSD where it is changed in the Custom Functions menu and a 5400HS where it is changed by a set of switches inside the battery chamber. I would imagine it will be similar to one of these but you'll have to check the manual. It is certainly worth doing this just to rule out the possibility that the camera and flash are on different channels.

 

It is difficult to say whether there is a fault with the camera or the flash. The camera appears to be working correctly (i.e. it is putting out the control flash) but this is not simple flash of light but an encoded series of morse code like bursts.

 

Is the flash new or second hand?

 

Matt

[ricardovaste]

Again, thanks for the help Matt.

 

It would be very useful to rule out the possibility that the camera and flash are simply working on different channels but I dont know how to find this out;

 

There is no reference to changing this within the custom functions of the camera manual and I dont actually have the flash manual [probably would have been useful!]. I also checked and there was no button in the battery department to change the channel.

 

As far as i can tell there simply is no way of changin the channel, which seems very odd;

 

Putting the camera on WL mode, with the flash attached sends it to CH2. With the flash still attached and pressing the WL button on the flash it turns it on and off and does not change the channel. Detaching the flash in this mode and it stays on CH2 but also goes to HSS, even if i set the shutter at 1/30, which clearly does not require a high sync. At this point, with the flash detached i can either turn off the WL mode [with HSS] or leave it as it is - i still cant change from channel 2.

 

The flash also never goes to Auto mode, just to On mode. [relevent i dont know, thought id mention it].

 

The flash was purchased last week frm 'ffordes.com' (second hand) and did not come with a manual or stand. It is still under store guarentee for a while though obviously.

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

[matt hedgecoe]

Richard,

 

The wireless channel is set on the flash, there is no setting on the camera to change this. When the flash is attached to the camera and you change channel (I appriciate you can't do this!) the flash will 'talk' to the camera to let it know the channel change. Likewise, if you chnage channel while the flash is off the camera, you have to re-attach it and half-press the shutter button. This will also allow the flash to communictae with the camera. In theory, the camera should know the flash is on channel 2.

 

I had a look for an online version of the manual without success. I did find the manual for the new Sony version of the 3600HSD (the HVL-F36AM), which should be virtually identical. You can get it here:

 

http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/2687522111.pdf

 

According to that (page 33) the procedure for changing flash channel is as follows:

 

1) Make sure that both wireless flash lamps "CH1" and "CH"" are both off.

 

If they are on, press the wireless flash button to turn them off.

 

2) Press the wireless flash button for three seconds.

 

After three seconds the channel is changed, and the channel indicator lamp changes accordingly.

 

3) Attach the flash to the camera and press the shutter button partway down.

 

This operation transmits the channel information from the flash to the camera.

 

If you rule this out and the flash is still not working it is possible it's a dud! If you've got a Sony stockist nearby you could always take your camera along on the pretext of buying a new Sony flash and say you want to check it is compatible. This would rule out a fault with the camera.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Matt.

 

Incidentally, as far as I recall, the only time the auto light comes on is if the camera is in full auto P mode.

[ricardovaste]

Hurrah!

 

Thanks for that. I did try searching for ages for a manual online for this flash but came with nothing and i had completely forgot about the new Sony version of this.

 

Everything is firing perfectly in CH1 now. Thanks again you been of great help to me.

 

Regards,

Richard

[chris_kuebler2]

Richard,

I have no idea if you will see this since it has been a year, but my hvl-f36am never goes to auto mode, even when the P mode is selected on my 7D. Let me know if you have any idea. Thanks!