using powershot g15 with slave flash

[vik]

Hi
I bought a cheap little flash gun to try as a slave flash with my new g15 camera - it's set off by the camera's built in flash.
The slave flashes but the light from it doesn't appear in the photo.  I've tried lots of different shutter speeds up to 1 sec, but I still can't catch it.
Has anyone else come across this or got any advice for me?
Thanks
Vik

[Tumak]

I had the same idea with a SD800 and a small auto flash.  The flash has manual, plus two f-stop settings.  I checked the manual and determined which aperature the camera used at different zoom lengths, and set the flash accordingly.  If I wanted to bounce it off the ceiling, I moved the flash up a stop.  If that didn't work, I used it on full manual sometimes it would work.  It was a small flash after all.  Worked on 8 or 10 foot ceilings very nicely.  It is a digital camera.  Experiment with different settings on the flash.  If it is manual only, you will have to work that out between the camera manual and the power of the flash.  Remember, in auto, you cannot exceed the working distance of the flash or it will fail to illuminate your subject.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Vik, the light output from those small slave flashes is so low that it is likely just overpowered by the camera flash.  Try placing it closer to the subject, or get a more powerful flash.  I have one of the low cost slave flashes that came with a used camera and its a bad joke as far as light output goes.