speedlite 270ex - broken?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Hi,

I have bought this spring a second-hand Speedlite 270 ex. (1st generation). It was ok, since the last weekend.
We were at a wedding, as friends of the bride, and I made some amateur shots.
At restaurant, I took the flash, and noticed the camera (5d mark iii) took it properly, but the flash was not powerful at all. You could see only a small tiny "lightning", and the photo comes dark. So I had to use high iso (4000 -> 10 000), with flash. So it was exactly as I had no flash.
The flash-batteries were new and I also tried with others new batteries. The result is same. (note: after half an hour or more, the batteries were a little warm..

What do you think? the flash is dead?

thanx

They do die, buying a used flash is risky, so I hope it was cheap. You can probably get it fixed at a local camera shop, but there are often deals on new ones.

I bought one of these $42 Canon 90 EX flash units for my G1X. It works fine on my 5D MK III as well, it just does not put out gobs of light. Another plus is that it will act as a master and control other canon flashes, I used it to control my 580 EXII and that worked fine.

 

[endiendo]

Hi,
- I have tried with a 2s speed.. same.
- The ready light is almost aways on.
- I have no test button. But the "depth of field" button make nothing.
- I hear a very small "whine" but every 15s and only during 2-3s. Not the "dziiiiiii..." of a normal flash when it loads...

That makes also me thinking to a failed capacitor. As I have a small electronic background, I will try to open it.
(I know that a flash can contain high-voltage - I have already played with this principle some years ago when I was student)

Thank you all for your help.