speedlite 270ex - broken?

[endiendo]

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

 

[Loswr]

What mode was the camera set on - Av, M, etc.? Perhaps you inadvertently applied negative FEC?

 

[endiendo]

I was in Av. between F4 and F8. I tried first with iso 400, then up to 4000, 6000, and late in the evening, 10000.
I also tried "p" mode , and it was at 1/60.

So these settings should be good with a flash: P mode, iso 400, 1/60.... focus: 9 central points.

and no way to make the flash working good..
but it worked good when I bought it and used the first months..

Is it completely dead?

 

[Loswr]

Av will expose for background by default. P mode should have worked, though. But if you were at -2 FEC, you'd still have gotten a dark shot.

 

[Dekaner]

First:

Put the camera on your flash. Turn on camera. Turn on flash.
Go into your camera menu and find "External Speedlite control"
Then go down to "Clear flash settings" to reset the flash.

The settings in the menu should read:
Flash firing -> Enable
E-TTL II meter. -> Evaluative
Flash sync. speed in Av mode -> Auto

Go into "Flash function settings". They should now read:
ETTL
Wireless -> OFF
Zoom -> Auto
First-curtain synchronization
Flash exposure compensation -> +/-0
Flash exposure bracketing -> +/-0

Exit the menu.


Then try this test:

Turn off the flash.

Move to a reasonably lit room/area. (Doesn't have to be super bright, but shouldn't be pitch-black either.) Compose a photo, putting an object in the foreground, a reasonable distance from the camera. Put the camera in manual mode and adjust the settings to properly expose the image. Take care to keep the shutter at 1/200 or lower and I'd suggest using an aperture between f/2.8 and f/8. ISO should be as low as possible to achieve a reasonable shutter speed. Take a photo.

Turn on the flash. Take another photo.

Post both photos including the EXIF data.

 

[Dekaner]

Also, the 270 is not a very powerful flash to begin with. Unless you're just using the flash for fill, I would not recommend f/8. It's just not powerful enough.

 

[privatebydesign]

What Dekaner says, it will be the "Wireless" setting, it needs to be OFF.

 

[endiendo]

Ok, I did all.
The photos are exported from Raw in lightroom, no processing and no adjustement at all.
Only two sizes: more compressed and 700px jpg, and the original size with maximum jpg quality.

1) Manual without flash
f4, 1/100, iso-400, no flash, 24-105l @ 32mm
See the original (12 Mb) : http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/manual-noflash.jpg

2) Manual with flash
f4, 1/100, iso-400, flash, 24-105l @ 32mm
See the original (12 Mb) : http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/manual-flash.jpg

3) P mode with flash
f5.6, 1/60s, iso 400, flash, 24-105l @35mm
See the original (12 Mb) : http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/pmode-flash.jpg

 

[distant.star]

.
I don't see evidence of flash in any of them. Does your EXIF say the flash fired?

 

[endiendo]

Yes, that's the point.
- for the 2 lasts photos, Exif says the flash fired.
- I can see a tiny lightning when directly seeing it while taking a photo. But it's not powerful at all. So small that we see no change on the photo.
- even with many new batteries

 

[distant.star]

.
Looks like your 270 is kaput!

 

[privatebydesign]

Yes, that's the point.
- for the 2 lasts photos, Exif says the flash fired.
- I can see a tiny lightning when directly seeing it while taking a photo. But it's not powerful at all. So small that we see no change on the photo.
- even with many new batteries

Did you do what Dekaner and I said to do yet? I had the same problem with my 90EX on my EOS-M, and I hadn't switched it, "wireless" was on and I was getting exactly the same results as you.

 

[Dekaner]

I'm not ready to concede defeat just yet. Did you reset the flash and check the wireless setting (should be OFF).

There is obviously very little difference in your photos. That being said, the 270 is not that strong of a flash to begin with.

Perhaps I gave bad advice. Instead of setting in manual and exposing correctly for the room, try underexposing it in manual by one shot. Then turn the flash on and see what happens?

It would also be helpful to have something in the foreground. Right now, with the flash being atop your camera, the light is pointing at the rear wall and the plant.

 

[IMG_0001]

You might want to retry with a reference shot that is a bit underexposed in manual and then add the flash. I also would add something on the table as a foreground item to be illuminated.

Also, if that does not work, I'd check the menus to try the flash in manual mode and set it up at full power. If you can get more punch that way, it will isolate the problem to TTL and may be you can sort it out, or at least work around the problem by setting the flash manually until you figure it out.

 

[endiendo]

Ok thank you all. I think my flash is definitely dead.
I did some other tests.
I did all the settings Dekaner told.
I have no wireless settings (flash is not compatible). reset settings, ttl, first curtain, etc..

Here are my new tests:
1) pmode. No flash, then Flash.
2) manual settings, underexposed photo. Then flash with manual power adjusted to 1/1. And flash exposure compensation +3. I saw a very little strobe. and the photos comes completely dark, like the one without flash. The only difference is the white balance (warmer with flash activated).

You can see the real size photo and exif here:
http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/manual-underexposed-flash-fecPlus3.jpg
http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/manual-underexposed-noflash.jpg
http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/pmode-2-flash.jpg
http://www.seb-closs.fr/temp/testflash/pmode-2-noflash.jpg

(copy paste in browser-url if it doesn't get - I have an image anti-steal system)

 

[Loswr]

I have bought this spring a second-hand Speedlite 270 ex. (1st generation).

I have no wireless settings

Nor should you, since the wireless functionality was a new feature of the MkII version of the 270EX.

 

[Dekaner]

neuroanatomist - Thanks for the clarification.

endiendo - I concur. It looks like it's dead. Sorry!

 

[Gareththomasjones]

Have you tried putting a much longer shutter speed on to see if it is just a sync issue

 

[IMG_0001]

Ok thank you all. I think my flash is definitely dead.
I did some other tests.
I did all the settings Dekaner told.
I have no wireless settings (flash is not compatible). reset settings, ttl, first curtain, etc..

Here are my new tests:
1) pmode. No flash, then Flash.
2) manual settings, underexposed photo. Then flash with manual power adjusted to 1/1. And flash exposure compensation +3. I saw a very little strobe. and the photos comes completely dark, like the one without flash. The only difference is the white balance (warmer with flash activated).

...

Things do not look good for your little flash... Three more questions:

1 - Does the ready light comes on between flashes?
2 - Do you hear a whine after the flash fires?
3 - Does the test button fire a strong pop or nothing?

If you do get a pop, but it is not powerful, my guess is that it might be a failing capacitor. If you have some practical electronic know-how (AND EXTREMELY CAREFUL), you might want to try and repair it yourself. Just be aware that there might be some serious juice in there even if the flash does not fire. If the test button fires a strong flash, it might be in the triggering circuit and that might be harder to solve by yourself.

If you are interested in how your flash works, I've found this web page to be very interesting.

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/strbfaq.htm#strbioi

 

[IMG_0001]

Have you tried putting a much longer shutter speed on to see if it is just a sync issue

This may also be worth a try, just for the sake of it.