Wedding Photographers nightmare

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste1664880652]

The wedding I shot last week was the worst nightmare I could imagine. I had

bought two brand new 580ex II's, they tested fine.

 

I get to the brides house, cute shot of children playing on the steps, I try to

shoot, the camera focuses but the shutter won't trip. I take off the lens and

put it back on. Still nothing. I switched it off then back on, the shutter

trips. Bride comes downstairs, I use my 2nd camera with fast lens for a bunch

of natural light stuff, try to shoot with the 1st camera, the flash fires at

full pop, shows 'TTL' on the screen which means that the camera isn't talking

to the flash. Nothing I can do will help, I run out to the car and get the 2nd

flash, it works and we start shooting family shots. Then it starts again.

 

I switch camera bodies and lenses, same thing. Is it possible that both new

flashes aren't working with both camera bodies and all the lenses. I manage to

get it working eventually but that was the pattern throughout the day, either

the flash or lens wouldn't register on both cameras without warning.

 

You can imagine the stress I was under, Jewish weddings are heavily ceremony

orientated with all of it 'unmissable shots'. Eventually I found out that

licking (!) the contacts of the lens or flash would give me 10 mins of good

contact between the camera and lens/flash. Oh and a hell of a lot of strange

looks!

 

My assistant pointed out to me that at the last wedding we did a lot of

shooting in the rain and having had a three week vacation gave plenty time for

the contacts to rust up. To be honest I'm hoping that is the answer, I'm

dreading my cameras coming back from CPS with a note 'contacts cleaned' and

that is it. I can't afford to find out at next weeks wedding and the 10 after

that in the coming months that thge problem is far more than canon have decided

after a 5 minute inspection. Needless to say I will have a third body at the

next few weddings at least!

 

I don't know what the lesson to be learnt from this is. I had two identical 5D

cameras, two brand new and tested flash units and multiple lenses. Few would

say that this wasn't enough. But it wasn't. Maybe it is just a reminder that

you have to ready for Murphy in his most vindictive mood but more to the point,

there are no excuses, ever. You get that job done whatever it takes even if it

means licking the insides of your cameras every 10 minutes!

 

I'm quite proud of the fact that I got every shot I needed, I didn't miss

anything important whther they would have noticed or not but I'm still

incredibly scared for the future and will never forget the stress of that

wedding nightmare come true....

[nataliedurell]

Hi Ben, I read you post and my tummy lurched hun....I know that horrible panicked feeling. Like you I shoot two 5D bodies and two 580 EX's.....as you say no one could ever say that wasn't sufficient coverage in the event of misbehaved equipment. I too had a similar situation on the 29th Dec at a wedding. Shooting the 580EX on an off camera bracket it didn't seem to talk to the flash...at worst the flash fired but when I viewed the photos it seemed out of sync... that 5D body is now in repair having a new shutter fitted. I have also purchased a third body too!!

 

On the positive note many many congratulations for achieving all of the photos you needed...testiment to your professionalism no doubt.

[k_keegan]

This might be a slightly strange question, but might answer your question... what did it taste like when you licked the contacts? If it was bitter and acidity, it is very likely that the contacts are rusty.

 

In the future you might want to invest in a Storm Jacket for the camera.

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste1664880652]

I could taste the electricity, slight tingle, don't know if that is what you meant? I have a kata rain cover but it can't be used with flash and changing lenses and cameras as per a regular wedding would be well nigh impossible. I have to admit to having been thinking of a change to a D3 system but the price of one of those bodies it over twice a 5D!

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste1664880652]

I think that the thing most frightening is the realisation of just how much I would have to charge to make my expenditure in equipment worthwhile for the level of service that I have become known for. Studio Beni (me) doesn't think twice about shooting a ceremony in the rain and then taking the bride and groom to an exotic location where eventhough they are protected by brollies, I cannot hold one in the wind and shoot and the timescale meant my assistant was taking doen backdrops and lighting so that I would have enough time to get to the dinner which was in a different location.<div></div>

[dawn_kelly]

When the flashes are mounted on the cameras are theynice and tight OR do they wiggle around a little bit? You may need to tighten the 4 little screws holding the hot shoe mount in place. I had a 1V that when I would put a LightSphere on the 580, the extra weight would cause the flash to tilt far enough forward that the back contacts would lose connection. Check that and clean all of the contacts with a pencil eraser. It is terrifying when your equipment that has always worked or the new tested equipment doesn't function when in production use.

[musubi1000]

I've had problems with the new 580 mk IIs as well. I too have had the same problems on two 1D Mk IIs and a 20D backup. I didn't think to lick my contacts but I do have spare 1st gen 580s which work exactly as they should. I still haven't quite figured out why they are inconsistent. I won't use the 580 mk IIs on a wedding anymore. The 580 mk IIs we got were some of the first ones available, purchased within the first week of release. How old or new are yours?

[jorge_garcia4]

I recently used a 580EX II and noticed that it drained my Powerex batteries rather quickly. My

580EX could go all day without a battery change. Also, does anyone know how to change the

auto power on the EX II? Sorry for the hi-jack.

[vlad khavin]

Ben... ouch. That had to be one hell of a test of your nerves, to say the least.

 

To jump on the wagon of interesting and poorly timed 580EX II quirks... I was 2nd shooting a wedding last night, and the primary photographer had 2 30D bodies; one with the original 580EX, the other with a newer 580EX II (that he has used at several weddings already, so it wasn't brand new by any means). The original 580 worked like a champ. The 580EX II decided that no matter what lens he had on his body, the flash decided it was in manual zoom mode, set itself to 14mm... and that was that. Nothing that he or I could do on the spot to get it to change. So long as the flash head was in bounce position (up) the flash complained by having the LCD blink, which usually means that it's not entirely content with the way it's set. It kept firing... the pictures looked great... but there was that strange sinking feeling in my (and probably more so his) stomach that at any moment now, it would just stop working.

 

End result; the photos looked great. But boy oh boy was it a little scary for a bit. I had visions of giving up my 580EX for his main, and pulling my Vivitar 285 off of the stand and using that as my main and only flash. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, but just not the way I normally would be shooting.

[cariad]

Why don't you guys just get a "raincoat" for your cameras and flashes..........mine cost me so little and saved my gear so many times when it started to rain and I wanted to get that perfect rain shot.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Sorry about the equipment problems. Flash problems with weddings are an old issue; even in the pure flashbulb days too. Check the hotshoe contacts and and see if the shoe is loose.

[fotografz]

Ben, it seems to me that you are a candidate for a weather sealed 1 series camera. The dual

memory slots don't hurt either. Just a thought.

[conraderb]

Ben - is your flash shoe loose at all? if so, tighten up the 4 screws that hold the flash mount to the camera body. this used to happen to me frequently until I figured out the issue.

 

I wrote a little article about it and it might help. it has nice pictures, too:

 

www.conraderb.com/flashrepair

[conraderb]

and by the way, Ben, I love your 'must do' attitude. It's great that you take your work so seriously...

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Let's see....how often have I said to have a backup for your backup?

[William Michael]

>>> I found out that licking (!) the contacts etc <<< (BR)

 

The salts in your saliva made the electrical bridge. Spit fixes a lot of dry contact issues (seriously). And do not dismiss the effect enough spit might have on a loose contact too, if that is indeed the problem.

 

An interesting part of this story is, to me: how did that `spit thought` come to you in the first place? Are you a religious person? or a bit of both? (again, a serious comment, for those who are in doubt)

 

WW

[iskandar_azaman___kuala_lu]

Since i can't afford a 1 series i just make do with a plastic bag over my 5D. Just poke a hole through the bottom and put the lens through it. I'm not so worried about the lens. As long as i'm using my L's then i know they are somewhat weather sealed. Also, I make sure that after a rainy session, the equipment is left in the open to air dry. Here in Malaysia a lot of people just use dry cabinets 'cos of our high humidity. Again i'm too cheap to buy one of those.

 

I doubt it's the flash though. The new 580EX II's are weather proof aren't they? Should be alright. But the 5D's aren't. Have you tried the flash on any other cameras? I think you have to be ready for some costly repairs on the 5D's.

[scott_b.4]

Ben;

 

I might know what the problem is. I had the same issue, not only with the 580EX II flash but also with the OC-E3 off shoe cord. It is the locking system. It is not making proper contact with hot shoe. I shoot with a Mark IIn. In order for it to work, I had to shoot push the flash up to the camera. give this a shot. It would work on and off. Lucky for me, I do have the old 580EX. I use the 580EX II when I am triggering it with a pocket wizard or ST-E2. I will not trust the 580EX II for my on camera flash!

[kellyka]

Ben, yikes, I wake up physically ill having dreams about situations like that.

[savagesax]

This is a bad week for the Canon 5D's! As you probably read the mirror came off of mine.

 

Anyway, back to your issue the eraser part of a pencil rubbed on the contacts often fixes the problem. Also try a q-tip with a hint of alcohol, not dripping wet, just moist. The important thing to remember is don't scratch the contacts.

[savagesax]

Added to my comment about scratching the contacts. Use cotton only, nothing synthetic based such as polyester fibers. They will for sure scratch.

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste1664880652]

I had two original 580's that just died after a long life of being bashed around. I didn't like the idea of the new one but couldn't find an old one in almost every store both UK and US! So I bought the new ones. There wasn't any play in the hotshoe but I sure missed being able to tighten it down which would have helped. I sent both bodies and both flashes into canon, they should be ringing me with a quote for repair or at least I hope so!

[mreul]

uhhhh thanks for this story. i have now quit.

[rayt]

Contact cleaner, then enhancer.

 

DeoxIT from Caig Laboratories is your friend.

 

www.caig.com

[edrodgers]

I feel that story in my stomach!

 

I have temporarily lost a 5D in action, and it's no fun at all. (turned out that a reset of the camera fixed the issue. It got "stuck" and a normal power off didn't help. Probably caused by the lens contacts)

 

I remember using a pencil eraser to clean contacts long ago. Then I found out that lemon juice will clean contacts perfectly. I was floored when I tried a little lemon juice on a battery contact that was green and crusted over by a leaky battery. It wiped clean instantly. Finish up with a little alcohol, and it's good as new.

 

You are a hero rock star for getting through that unscathed!