tomweis Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I have a Nikon Coolpix A, and my Godox TT685N (for Nikon) does not fire when on the camera's hotshoe. Neither does a Godox radio transmitter. All my Godox TT685Ns (I have 4 of them) work fine on a D810, D800, and D5300, but not on the Coolpix A. However, a Nikon SB910 or an old SB25 work fine on the Coolpix A. The only thing I can think of is that the Godox can't sync with a leaf shutter. Anybody know why the Godox TT685N flash won't work on a Coolpix A? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_halliwell Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) AFAIK hot shoe triggers doesn't give a damn about the shutter type.....;) Edited July 7, 2021 by mike_halliwell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Doo Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 All my Godox TT685Ns (I have 4 of them) work fine on a D810, D800, and D5300, but not on the Coolpix A. Did you try every one of your 4 Godox TT685Ns and none works on the Coolpix? - Or just one of them does not work? If that's the case, just don't use that one and you still have 3 that work on the Coolpix. If none works on the Coolpix, then it does not. Use it on your many other cameras. Why do you need so many Godox TT685Ns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgelfand Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 Just for a test, put the Godox in Manual Mode and see if it will fire. IF it does, it points to a software problem with Godox and i-TTL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_gallimore1 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Have you tried updating to the latest firmware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodeo_joe1 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Maybe the Godox doesn't supply enough current for the triggering device in the Coolpix to work? Devices like MOSFETs and bipolar transistors need a certain minimum current to operate properly as hard switches. I've measured significant differences in how flash units respond when triggered. Most momentarily lose any voltage on the trigger pin when fired, but some YongNuo flashes maintain a constant voltage of around 5v on the trigger pin, even after being triggered. I've not measured the trigger pin on my Godox Ving 860s, but they may behave similarly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_halliwell Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Nikon works fine on Nikon and something non-Nikon doesn't, but should.....:( Now where have I heard that before.....?? Have you got any other non-Nikon flashes to try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomweis Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 Thanks for your input, everyone! @ mike_halliwell - Turns out the Godox X2T transmitter has a menu item labeled "Shutter" and the two options are "Curtain" and "Leaf". I may go to a store and test one. @ Mary Doo - Right, none of my four Godox TT685Ns work on the Coolpix A. I have four flashes because I use two bodies at events, each with a flash, and I frequently set up two room lights at events (wedding receptions, bar/bat mitzvah parties). I also use 2 - 4 flash units on stand(s) during the family portrait sessions at those type of events. Actually, I have 8 Godox TT685 series flashes; 4 for Nikon and 4 for Olympus. The nice thing is that they all use the same radio system so they all can be triggered from any camera system using a Godox/Flashpoint transmitter. @ bgelfand - I tried all my tests in manual mode (both flash and camera). I use manual mode 90% of the time as a matter of course. @ steve_gallimore|1 - Godox firmware or Coolpix firmware? The Coolpix has the latest firmware for that model (which is sort of old now). The flashes are at V3.2. Godox firmware V3.3 for the TT6895N says only "Compatible with Camera D780’s hotshoe agreement." I don't own a D780 so I hadn't bothered with this. Besides, it only works on a Windows PC - thanks Godox! - and needs a third party piece of software to unzip the RAR file. Apparently, Godox software people are stuck in 1987. At any rate, I doubt it would fix my issue. @ rodeo_joe|1 - trigger voltage... maybe. I can try an old Vivitar 285. ;) @ mike_halliwell - Other than the old Vivitar 285, I have no other flashes to test. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgelfand Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Other than the old Vivitar 285, I have no other flashes to test. Other than my Bronica S2a and, before it was stolen my FTn, I have never used my Vivitar 285 on any camera - especially my F100 or D750. I believe the 285 has a hefty trigger voltage. If I read your posts correctly, you have never used any external flash on the Coolpix A. That presents a very simple explanation to the problem - the flash mount on the Coolpix A is defective. If you can borrow a supported Nikon flash try it and see if it fires. If it does, you are back to square one. If it does not fire, it is a defective camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Doo Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 If I read your posts correctly, you have never used any external flash on the Coolpix A. That presents a very simple explanation to the problem - the flash mount on the Coolpix A is defective. If you can borrow a supported Nikon flash try it and see if it fires. If it does, you are back to square one. If it does not fire, it is a defective camera. OP Tom did mention that "a Nikon SB910 or an old SB25 work fine on the Coolpix A". So it appears the Coolpix A is healthy. @ Mary Doo - Right, none of my four Godox TT685Ns work on the Coolpix A. Sounds like incompatibility Tom. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomweis Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 Other than my Bronica S2a and, before it was stolen my FTn, I have never used my Vivitar 285 on any camera - especially my F100 or D750. I believe the 285 has a hefty trigger voltage. If I read your posts correctly, you have never used any external flash on the Coolpix A. That presents a very simple explanation to the problem - the flash mount on the Coolpix A is defective. If you can borrow a supported Nikon flash try it and see if it fires. If it does, you are back to square one. If it does not fire, it is a defective camera. Yes I'm aware of the older Vivitars' high trigger voltage... my post was tongue in cheek. No, I wrote, "...a Nikon SB910 or an old SB25 work fine on the Coolpix A". The camera hot shoe is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_gallimore1 Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 I was suggesting both flash and camera firmware, always worth trying. Otherwise, try contacting Godox? Can't really help more than that, all my Godox flashes are 'dumb' TT600 that just work on anything, only the controller is camera specific and has never given me a problem (Fujifilm). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_halliwell Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 The fact that the GODOX X2T controller has those 2 choices does imply there's a difference in the way they implement flashtriggering. Logic kinda implies one of them should work for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodeo_joe1 Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 The fact that the GODOX X2T controller has those 2 choices does imply there's a difference in the way they implement flashtriggering. Many leaf shutters close the trigger contacts as soon as the shutter blades start to open. Whereas an FP shutter only fires the flash once the first blind is fully open. The implication of this is that a short flash-duration might be largely missed by a leaf shutter, unless the flash is delayed enough to ensure that the blades are fully open. Therefore I suspect that a delay of around 0.5 millisecond is applied when 'leaf' is selected as the shutter type. Also, a leaf shutter will sync with flash at all speeds, and an FP shutter tops out at around 1/320th s Max. This difference may be transmitted to the flash to prevent it going into HSS, 'Hypersync' or FP mode - call it what you will. Anyhow. The short version is that selection of either shutter type shouldn't prevent the flash from firing. Just the timing of the flash and what mode it fires in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_gallimore1 Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) If you put insulating tape on all the contacts except the central trigger, what happens? I don't know what will happen, never tried, as I said earlier, my flashes are 'dumb' with only a trigger pin, but it might work, if the flash isn't so smart that it refuses to fire when told to. Or try a PC sync cable with a hot shoe adaptor? I use one to trigger either my flashes or the Xpro controller on film cameras with no hot shoe. Edit, just tried and my Nikon FE successfully triggers my XproF(uji) controller, so taping off the other pins or using an adaptor should work. Edited July 17, 2021 by steve_gallimore|1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodeo_joe1 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) An afterthought. The non-triggering could be something as simple as a contact issue. Had a similar experience with my Sony A7Riv when new. It wouldn't fire a hotshoe flash at all. Some poking around with a multimeter revealed that the shoe had no 'earth' contact, and what looked like bare metal had a thin insulating film of paint overspray or something. A quick scrape of the offending areas with a craft knife cured the problem. This sort of issue is compounded when some flashes make their 'ground' contact with the underside of the shoe, and others with the side edges. (Nikon flashes nearly all use a side-edge contact, IME.) P.S. some cameras also defeat the flash when in 'quiet' or 'museum' mode. Edited July 19, 2021 by rodeo_joe|1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_gallimore1 Posted July 19, 2021 Share Posted July 19, 2021 I'd just remembered and was about to suggest that ^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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