gfkremer

<p>Thanks. Where this problem first cropped up was while I was photographing the US Pro Cycling Challenge when it came through Aspen and, later, while shooting the Motherlode Volleyball Classic. In both cases there was full sun and I was shooting at ISO 500 to 1000 at 1/2000 or higher at f/2.8 on a 70-200mm zoom. I have a feeling that a trip to Canon in California is the next step. Thank you all for your help and advice!<br>

GF</p>

<p>Thanks for all your responses. The camera was purchased new. I have reset all camera settings (several times). Also reset all custom function settings. I have gone into the High Speed Continuous Shooting mode and selected both High and Low Speed, yet the camera will only take 2 shots, pause, 2 shots, pause and so on. I changed the Image Size and Quality from RAW to small JPG's with no change. I am set up to only shoot to one memory card; SanDisc Extreme 8gb, 60MB/s. The High ISO and Long Exposure noise reduction settings have been disabled. Lastly, I took out the day/date battery for a hard reset. It's a real head scratcher.</p>

<p> I have a Canon 1Ds MKIII and I cannot get the high speed burst to register anything else but 2 shots per burst. I have checked the menu settings and tried to re-enable the high speed burst rate to 5 shots per second, but it stubbornly stays at 2 shots per burst. I set the camera to low speed burst and it still says 2 shots per burst. I have tried to change burst rate in both high and low, but it won't change the rate. I am shooting with a SanDisc Extreme 8g, 60mb/s CF card. My old reliable Canon 1D MKIII still clicks away at 10fps in 16 shot bursts. Hmmmmmm. <br>

Any thought and help will be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>George Kremer</p>

<p>Thanks to all that responded. Yes, it was the sensor not being able to talk to the processor that was the problem. I spoke with Canon and I shipped the body out to be looked at and repaired. Exactly 1 week later it was back in my hands, fixed, cleaned, calibrated and ready to go! Well worth my yearly Canon Professional Services membership fee.</p>

<p>Photo 2</p>

 

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. I did reload the firmware and that went fine. I shot with 2 different lenses; Canon16-35 f/2.8L and Canon 24-105 f/4L. Same problem with both lenses. When shooting in Live View I was seeing essentially what was going on the card; a very dark to near black image with odd red and green fringing on objects like bright lamps. I also took a shot outside using the 24-105 set to f/4 at 1/320th and ISO 100. It is near black. When pushed in CS% Bridge up 4 stops, more of the image is visible. Posting these here.</p>

 

<p>My old workhorse, Canon's 1D MKIII suddenly won't take properly exposed images by a long shot. The image is almost black with a few dim features barely visible.<br>

I have changed the SD card, reformatted the card, check the firmware update and ran the camera's "sensor cleaning" feature several times. I have checked and cleaned the camera-to-lens connections. The EXIF data shows that the lens is shooting at the various settings I have set them to. I have shot in P, AV, TV and Manual and all results are the same. I overexposed a few images by +3EV, but it seems to make no difference in the image.<br>

The camera body only has about 7,500 shutter clicks on it.<br>

I used it as my second body on 05-21-11 and it performed fine. I was checking it tonight and this problem suddenly arose. Any help will be greatly appreciated!<br>

GF Kremer</p>

<p>Just an update; Sekonic did respond to my customer service inquiry with pretty much what everyone has told me. Once again I hooked up the FlexTT5 to the PW utility and disabled the ControlTL channel that is receiving and hit "Apply Changes". Same results as before, sadly. The Sekonic flash meter would not fire the flash unless it was within a foot of the FlexTT5. My MiniTT1 would not fire the flash at all if I triggered the camera, but the test button on the Mini would fire the flash. The RF shield is in place on the flash, but seems to make little or no difference. Needless to say, this is getting very frustrating and I am spending too much time mucking about with a system that doesn't seem to want to work. Thanks again for all your ideas and for all the information you have provided me. More to follow!<br>

Geo</p><div></div>

<p>Thank you, Ellis,<br>

I have some Canon 430EX II's and I will give it a try with them and the Pocket Wizard RF shields. Thanks for your response and your ideas. A bit late tonight, so I will give it another shot tomorrow!<br>

Geo</p>

<p>Thank you, Leigh B.,<br>

I neglected to say that the PW RF shield is on my Canon 580EX II speedlight when it's mounted to the PW Flex TT5. My issues may very well be solely an issue with the PW's Flex and Mini. And, I am sure that there are many, many others for which this system works just great, otherwise I would have found more results on my search in P'Net's forums. I tend to believe that I am overlooking something simple, or that I have a bad copy of the Sekonic L-358 or it's triggering module. Thank you for your response and ideas. For now, all has been put away and I am going to enjoy the waning light on Aspen Mtn and nurse a few sore muscles from skiing.<br>

Geo</p>

<p>Well, my friends, as it was an epic powder day here in Aspen, CO, after I got the Sekonic flash meter to fire my Canon speedlight, ( very close together) it was off to do a few laps of the Highlands Bowl. However, after returning home, I set up a mock set up to continue to practice using the flash meter and speedlights. I was very disappointed to find that the performance of the Sekonic L-358 was very erratic at best and didn't work at all at worst. If I was within 4' of the speedlight, it would fire about 50% of the time. If I was very close to my camera with the Mini attached, it would fire the speedlight about 50% of the time. However, if I got as little as 5' away from the speedlight or as little as 1' away from the camera, the speedlight would not flash at all.<br>

I double checked my firmware and it is up to date. I double checked that the Flex TT5 was receiving in Standard Channel. The erratic behavior of the system as whole continued with the Mini, mounted on my Canon camera being no longer able to fire the speedlight. Pushing the test button on the Mini, however would fire the speedlight.<br>

Should I give up on the Sekonic L-358 being able to fire my flashes and simply return the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 and the Mini TT1 to factory settings? My ancient Kenko light meter will meter flashes just fine, but is a bit cumbersome.<br>

This is very, very frustrating and disappointing performance for a $380 investment, Sekonic.<br>

Thank goodness I have my Quantum T5D-R system with it's FreeXwire wireless triggering system. Now that works every time.<br>

Anyone's thoughts will be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Leigh B.,<br>

Thanks! Yup, 828 as dad was a dyed in the wool slide film only shooter. He liked it's size as he could carry it around in his shirt pocket. Rows and rows of wonderful Kodachrome slides in a big steel slide carrier bring back all sorts of great memories for me. Slowly getting them all scanned and stored.</p>

<p>Thank you, Ellis,<br>

I did confirm that I was up to date on the firmware. The problem lay in that my speedlight was in ETTL mode. I switched the speedlight to Manual and it works every time.<br>

What an odd thing for Sekonic to have not dealt with at this time as I see their meter so widely touted for firing remote speedlights and strobes. The whole reason I purchased the Sekonic L-358 was to cut down on the fiddling with flash settings in the first place.<br>

Lovely photos by you and by Sheldon Nalos, by the by.<br>

Thank you all so much, my P'net friends.<br>

Geo</p><div></div>

<p>Thank you, Ellis. I did as described in the video, the flash will fire once, but not again. Blinking red light on the Flex indicates it's receiving a signal, but something is wrong. A common occurrance according to some of the video's posted comments. I will continue on. Thanks again.<br>

Geo</p>

<p>Thank you, Sheldon for your quick response. That is surely disappointing as I searched both Pocket Wizard and Sekonic's website for any info on this. One would think that with the popularity of the Flex TT5 and the Mini as well as Sekonic's flash meter, one or the other would mention this issue. Thank you again for your response.<br>

Geo</p>

<p>

I recently purchased the Sekonic L-358 flash meter with the Pocket Wizard transmitter module; RT-32N. However, I cannot get my Sekonic L-358 to fire my Canon 580EX II speedlights attached to my Pocket Wizard Flex TT5.

I have set the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 to channel 1, attached my speedlights and turned both on. I have installed the transmitter module in the flash meter. The symbol for wireless flash triggering appears on the LED screen. I have dialed the jog wheel to Channel 1, pressed the mode button and dialed the jog wheel 1 turn clockwise and the meter returns to radio triggering mode. However, when I depress the measure button, the meter does not fire my Canon 580EX II speedlights. The speedlights are set to ETTL mode and are about 6 feet away from the flash meter. Using the Pocket Wizard Mini set to channel 1, it will fire the speedlight when I depress the "test" button on the Mini.

Any help with this matter will be greatly appreciated.

</p>

<p>Gary,<br>

Thanks for telling me what I thought I knew. Mr. Monty is still a vibrant, wonderful dog, but his care giver, a single mom of 2, is so struck at the moment. I will ask her if I can capture his image in these last days, and then take it from there.</p><div></div>

<p>My friend's dog, Mr. Monty, has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, (bone cancer). I have known Mr. Monty for over 14 years and have been able to capture him in his essence back when he was young. Do I dare ask his care-giver for me to try to capture his image in his last days? He is a Schiperke, a jet-black dog about the size of a beagle with a fox-like face, no tail and a great personality. His breed was made famous in Jerome K. Jerome's book, "Three Men in a Boat" where Mont Morencey was a character in the novel. Should I be happy with supplying his care-giver with photos I have taken in the past, or should I request a chance to capture him now, before he declines?</p>

<p> Vail, I shoot the Canon 1D MKIII and the 1Ds MKIII, usually with a 70-200L, but no on-camera flash. Almost all the weight of the rig is in my left hand cradled between my thumb and forefinger in the web of the hand, palm up. I can still zoom, touch up the focus and swing the camera and lens around. Very little of the weight is in my right hand and I am gripping it just hard enough to be stable and fire the shutter. <br>

If you try to handle the weight of the body and lens in your right hand only, your middle finger becomes the pivot point of that lens trying to tip downward. <br>

My elbows are together and my triceps and elbows are braced against my body to better distribute the weight. I also look around for anything to lean my body against such as a wall, post or beam. This allows for greater stability and it takes a lot of the tension out of my body. If things are happening fast, but my camera is down at waist level resting, I switch off which hand I am holding it allowing the other to relax. But, if I am going to take a quick shot, I always hold the camera in both hands. <br>

A good physical therapist can recommend exercises to help strengthen up your wrists</p>

 

This weekend is the ESPN Winter X-Games and I have been shooting most of it with my 70-200 on a Canon 1D-Mark III with some pretty good results. Shooting at the largest resolution helps when images need to be cropped when I am simply too far away. Only problems with this lens are when the evening events are going on and I am not able to open the lens up enough to capture fast action, (f/4) so I am ramping the ISO up to compensate. At the bottom of the runs, the lens was more than enough.