Random overexposures? Repair a Canon hotshoe flash mount

Ran into a problem on a recent gig where my Canon 580EX started giving me really weird exposure problems.  I was shooting in Aperture-Priority mode, flash in ETTL mode and every so often the flash would shoot full power, regardless of the flash exposure compensation setting.  This would completely blow out the frame and ruin the shot.

A friend and fellow photographer mentioned that he was having the same problems with his camera and his brand new 580EXII and couldn't figure out why it was doing that.  I finally found the cause and thankfully, the fix is really easy and inexpensive to do.  If you are experiencing the same problem of random full power flash dumps, try this and see if it works for you.

***DISCLAIMER*** I make no guarantees about this repair and have no idea if it will void your warranty.  I only know that this procedure was simple and fixed the problem for me.

All you will need to do this repair is a precision screwdriver set which you can find at Amazon for about 6 dollars.

 

1. Make sure your camera is off. Mount the flash on your camera's hotshoe and lock it down.

2. Very gently (and I mean VERY GENTLY), try rocking the flash from side to side and look at the camera's hotshoe to see if it flexes.  If it does, then you have found the problem.  Poor connection of the pins on the bottom of the flash to the hotshoe will impair the communication from camera to flash leading to misfires.

3. Take the flash off the camera.

4. Looking at the top of the hotshoe,  take a small flathead screwdriver and gently slide it in and under the inner plate of the hotshoe.  To remove the plate, slightly lift it up with the screwdriver and you should be able to slide it out easily (don't force it). 

Remember which way the plate faces and which ends are bent up and which are bent down. You will need to put it back in the same way.

5. Once the inner plate is removed, you will see four tiny Phillips screws. 

Take your smallest Phillips screwdriver and tighten each one until the hotshoe no longer wiggles around. Be careful not to over tighten and strip the screws.

6. Replace the inner plate.  Be sure to put it back in the correct orientation.

7. Reattach your flash and test it.  You're done!



Hope this was useful to some of you who were having the same problem.

Rescuing a Pocket Wizard

On my recent shoot with Rosanna, I ran into a slight mishap with one of my Pocket Wizard tranceivers.

We had just finished the shot with her at the edge of the cliff and were changing locations when Rosanna knelt down and fished something out of the water - my Pocket Wizard. She handed it to me and asked "is this yours?". My stomach kinda flipflopped right there 'cause I figured it was toast - and at 170 bucks a pop, a very expensive piece of toast. I opened the battery compartment to take out the batteries, and some water spilled out - yup, toast.

When I got back to Maui that evening, I went online to B&H to order another one when I remembered that I had a Sekonic light meter that went through the washing machine one time and still worked after drying it out. (I have a bad history with electronics....;-) )

I figured "what the heck". I loosened the screws on the Pocket Wizard to open it up a little and shook as much water as I could out of it. I then put it into a small Gladware container with a big pack of dessicant, sealed it up and left it alone for a couple of days.

Opened it up today, re-tightened the screws and inserted fresh batteries. Connected it to my SB26, turned it on and crossed my fingers. Whaddya know, it WORKED!!!! I just saved myself $170 + shipping. :-).

Now I just need to figure out a way to attach the Pocket Wizard to my flash more solidly so that this won't happen again. The industrial strength Velcro I had on it before didn't seem to work too well.

Taken just before my Pocket Wizard went for a swim.