Greg_Embree

<p>Oops. I realize now that I should have posted my question in the "Mirrorless" forum, not the "Canon FD" one. <br> I tried contacting Canon's technical support this morning, but I hung up after 20 minutes. You guys are my last hope. </p>

<p>I'm unsure if I'm in the right forum.<br> I recently bought the above-named camera and have spent this evening going through the user's manual page by page, with the camera in hand, to learn how to use it. Everything was going swimmingly until I hit page 102: "Saving Commonly Used Shooting Menu Items (My Menu)." I cannot get "IS Mode" to show up in My Menu. It is grayed out when I select it. I selected IS Mode and Night Display, but only Night Display shows up in My Menu. Yet when I engage the Sort function, both items appear in the list--both IS Mode and Night Display. IS Mode is a no-show in My Menu no matter which shooting mode I select. On page 201 of the manual, the chart shows IS Mode available for almost every single shooting mode, which makes me more perplexed.<br> What am I doing wrong?<br> Thanks in advance for any guidance.</p>

<p>For travel, I carry my D800, a Nikon 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G AF zoom, which stays on the camera 99 percent of the time, and a Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 DX semi-fisheye. I use the latter sparingly, with the camera in DX mode, but I often get one or two keepers with it from each trip, certainly enough to justify having it along. Last year in New Zealand I got a photo of the Auckland Sky Tower with the 10.5, plus one of the jib sail on our ship cruising Milford Sound. <img src="http://www.cherrydalelibrary.org/AucklandSkyTower.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="500" /><br> <img src="http://www.cherrydalelibrary.org/MilfordSoundCruise.JPG" alt="" width="750" height="500" /></p> <p> </p>

<p>I read the book in one sitting, instead of enjoying the Sunday paper as I usually do at this time of the week. I consider "Don't Shoot" a superb guide for anyone planning to become a professional photographer or who has just started out as one. The message in the book slowly morphs from one of warning to one of "OK, if you're going to do it, here are some things to keep in mind." Steve's/Dirk's style was a breeze to read. I laughed out loud in spots, my highest accolade for anything I read or watch nowadays. (The beta version I read could use another scouring for typos.) </p>

<p>Thanks, Craig. Audio patch cables are more complicated than I realized. The stereo cable in the photo above indeed worked for a few of my test shots, but not for the majority. This morning I ordered a 16-foot cord from Midwest Photo Exchange that the salesperson said would work with no problem with my two universal translators. </p>

<p>Thanks, Jochen. I've now learned that all audio patch cords are not equal. I'm going to toss this one and buy another from Midwest Photo Exchange. Live and learn. </p>

<p>Thanks, Ellis. Do those two black bands on each plug of the audio patch cable indicate that it's not a single-channel cable? I'm new to everything associated with audio cables. <br> After posting this, I found on the web site of Midwest Photo Exchange a 16-foot cord for connecting two Universal Translators. I should have shopped the photography sites for the cord instead of simply Googling for an audio patch cord. </p>

<p>I am hobbyist who occasionally shoots location portraits for free for our neighborhood association. I've had great success with Cactus 4 radio receivers to fire my off-camera flashes, but I thought it would be a good idea to carry along a cheap and reliable backup triggering system. I purchased a 15-foot audio patch cord to connect my camera to an off-camera flash unit via two LumoPro Hot Shoe Universal Translators, one on my camera's hot shoe and one attached to my off-camera flash (a normally reliable Vivitar 283). I tested this combination this evening. It worked sporadically at first, then stopped working at all.<br> I've used the Universal Translators and Cactus Fours to fire my Alien Bees studio strobes for years with no problem, albeit using the Translator's PC connection, not the 1/8" mini-plug connection. I suspect the problem lies with the patch cable. When I experimented with plugging one end of the patch cable directly into my Alien Bee's mini-plug socket and the other end into the Universal Translator mounted in my camera's hot shoe, the Alien Bees wouldn't fire. As you can see in the photo below, the patch cable's plugs don't match exactly the configuration of the plug at the end of the cable that came with the Alien Bees. Did I buy the wrong kind of patch cable? If that's the case, can anyone recommend a source for the correct kind? <br> <img src="http://home.comcast.net/~suza1/IMG_5603.JPG" alt="" width="534" height="577" /><br> <img src="http://home.comcast.net/~suza1/IMG_5604.JPG" alt="" width="601" height="504" /></p>

<p>Sky of #2. Everything else of #1.</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestion, Daniel. I tried it, but had no luck. At least the flash unit works with the AC adapter. It looks like I'm going to have to settle for that. </p>

<p>Thanks for the tip, John. I definitely won't be doing any exploratory surgery on it. </p>

<p>My damaged 283 won't work on batteries; the ones I tested it with are 100-percent fresh. I tried firing the flash with the VP-1 Vari-Power module and the standard Auto-Thyristor sensor installed. No dice with either, at least in battery mode. I even tested it with different battery carriers--those things that one slips the batteries into before stuffing the whole shebang into the flash. <br> To my surprise and great relief, the flash does work perfectly with the SB-4 AC adapter plugged into the wall. This is a partial victory, because it means I can still use it for product photography in my basement, of which I do a lot, and I won't have to dump the flash in a landfill. I already found a replacement 283 for $27.50, for my use on the road. <br> So, Robert and Craig, you were both right. I seem to have messed up the battery connections somehow when I dropped it. Craig, I'm always glad to run across another 283 fan. I have four (well, now three and a half) and they do everything I need them to do. I never spent more than $40 on any of them. <br> Thanks for your responses.</p>

<p>Yesterday I dropped one of my Vivitar 283 flashes on a linoleum floor from about waist-high. Nothing broke from it. Nothing rattles when I shake it. But it no longer turns on and it won't fire when I push the test button. I hate to add this flash to a landfill unnecessarily, but I presume that mailing it off for a professional repair job would cost more than simply buying a replacement for it. Am I right? Also, I wouldn't know to whom to send it. Is this flash unit's problem something I can diagnose and repair at home? I have a Radio Shack multitester and know how to use a screwdriver, but I'm no electronics professional by any means. How would I go about diagnosing and fixing the problem? </p>