Misfire of strobe during shooting

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hawoodrose
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:12 pm

Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by hawoodrose »

Hi There !

I would like to know if somebody already had this kind of trouble.

I try to make a 360 stacking of a seed and I have each time some misfire, on 320 pics, it can happen one time juste in the middle, or few time on the beginning and no more misfire, or juste at the end, there is no logic of that misfire.

I use one nema motor for the spin and the qool rail of mjkzz for the stack with 2 separate controller, 2 godox sk400ii with x1 controller

I see that it was always the same one on the right, I see that my wifi is on the right too, I switch off the wifi and see that it improve a little bit, less misfire, finally I decide to try with the one that have no problem and with a reflector on the other side, and finally this one have some misfire too so I don't understand what can be the cause, I try to move the strobe , no change.I try to increase time between each flash and still some misfire, from 2s to 6s and still trouble, and I am at the min of the power of the strobe at 1/16

I know that sk400ii godox are not best studio strobe and maybe it is not possible to get 100% of fire with this one ? Maybe I need to invest in real strobe brand ?

Many thanks for those that will take time for me !!!

TheDocAUS
Posts: 110
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:44 pm
Location: Sydney

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by TheDocAUS »

Two things to consider.
1. Set the Godox remotes for close range in the menu, not the longer range.
2. Make sure you are using batteries rated at 1.5voilts, not 1.2 volts.

chris_ma
Posts: 570
Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:23 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by chris_ma »

TheDocAUS wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 3:17 pm
2. Make sure you are using batteries rated at 1.5voilts, not 1.2 volts.
In my experience good rechargeables are better at flash performance then normal batteries.
Lithium being the exception, but expensive and wasteful.

My recommendation are eneloop or ladda brands, plus a good charger.
chris

rjlittlefield
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Location: Richland, Washington State, USA
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Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by rjlittlefield »

Consider not using wireless at all. So, sync one strobe by cable, and if you're using a second, run it in optical slave mode.

From reading other people's posts here in the forum, I recall that the Godox wireless is considered pretty good. But in my own experience with other flashes, cabled trigger with optical slave has been more reliable than anything wireless.

The use of one strobe plus a reflector remains a good idea. The very similar Flashpoint 300 strobes that I tested at 1/16 power had significant variation in total light output from one flash to another. When using a single strobe, the variation could be compensated by stacking software. But when using multiple strobes at the same time, the variations could result in overall shifts in illumination pattern, which stacking software cannot completely compensate for.

--Rik

joshmacro
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2020 5:25 pm
Location: New York

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by joshmacro »

I've come across the same problem with Godox. The only 100% guaranteed solution I could come up with is cabling or optical slaves as Rik suggests.

hawoodrose
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:12 pm

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by hawoodrose »

Hi There !

Many thanks to all of you for your help !

I look into the menu but I don't find the option for close or long range, my strobe are studio strobe, they don't work with battery. I use the x1 as transmitter.

I think about sync it directly, but never find a cable for 2 strobe, just see guy that wire a second one directly, maybe I can do this. For make optical slave , I need a sensor on the slave ? I need to check it on google

I try with a reflector but with wireless, and still have some trouble ( I have to buy one cable ), and I see there is lot of difference of power lighting in each pics, my first 360 was made without stacking so my seeds look like in a disco :D I try with stacking but I don't have time to edit yet. But yes Zerene help to compensate that problem.

I speak with a pro that make thing like I want, he use the profoto D2, that 20X the price of the one I have lol. But I know that stacking + 360 push really far the material

I have to say too that I live in a little apartment, and I can get many wifi of many other appartement, so full of wave... I'm sure it don't help

Many thanks again for your help , really appreciate !

chris_ma
Posts: 570
Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:23 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by chris_ma »

there all all kind of flash synch cable and splitters on ebay which are quite cheap, so it might be worth looking there
chris

rjlittlefield
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Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by rjlittlefield »

hawoodrose wrote:
Sat Nov 06, 2021 5:53 am
For make optical slave , I need a sensor on the slave ? I need to check it on google
First, check your manual. The manual that I downloaded for sk400ii godox says that the optical slave function is built in. You want mode S1, trigger on the first flash.

--Rik

DavyC
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:53 pm
Location: UK

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by DavyC »

Try suggested attachment
Attachments
Godox.jpg

chris_ma
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Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by chris_ma »

I find the point in *not* using any rechargeable batteries strange.
plenty of people are using rechargeables without issues, and throw away batteries seem to be a poor choice to me both financially and from an ecological as well, so I would first rule out all other possible causesl.
as mentioned before, eneloop or ladda are very high performance choices for rechargeables
chris

DavyC
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2018 1:53 pm
Location: UK

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by DavyC »

I find the point in *not* using any rechargeable batteries strange
The transmitter's operation is voltage dependant. It is not a high drain flash circuit. Rechargeables even fully charged will not reach
as high a voltage especially in series and will not be seen by the X1 as at full potential. As the user was experiencing misfire, best to
try higher voltage batteries to give maximum operation.
Logical choice I would have thought, rather than strange.

hawoodrose
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:12 pm

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by hawoodrose »

Hi again !

Sorry about the battery, I didn't thinking about the battery in the transmitter, my bad, I will try tu put new one but normally I change each year... I finally find a sync cable in all my stuff and try like rick say as slave mode and it work perfectly, thanks you again for all of you ! I will give it a try soon for see any improvement and will come back to say my result !

For the non constant lighting power, you think it is because it is not 'pro' strobe ? There is lot of variation but I see nothing about that. When I look at elinchrome strobe, it say 0,5% of variation but I don't really know if it is a lot or not, how I mostly stack I never had some trouble like this, but now I add 360 it make all more hard :D

hawoodrose
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:12 pm

Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by hawoodrose »

Hi again !

So finally I try with sync cable and slave mode and everything worked perfectly, just the difference of lighting in each pics but think it is more about the strobe itself ! 2000 pics and it start again to make some misfire not the slave one but the one that is plugged , so no strobe at all sometimes, it is strange because I see a little blue light in the bulb when it is not fire, it is the bulb that I need to change ? or the capacitor that power the bulb that is tired ?

I solve one problem and another appear lol

Have a good Sunday !

JKT
Posts: 420
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:29 am
Location: Finland
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Re: Misfire of strobe during shooting

Post by JKT »

Try switching the wired one and the slave and see what happens. If it is then the slave that misfires, you likely have a problem in that strobe. I would have suspected overheating - even with 1/16 - but then both flashes should show the symptoms.

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