G12: Flash compatibility problem

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Just when I was beginning to really like the G12, I stumbled across a problem while quickly trying various accessories with it.

One of the most viewed posts on this blog has been the list of compatible flashes that work with the G9. Actually, almost anything seems to work with the G9 although you do have to be careful about high voltage with older flash units.

I regularly use non-Canon flashes (I have Canon flashes also) because the G9 will sync at very high shutter speeds to non-Canon flashes. I've also used the Cactus wireless trigger and, more recently, the Yongnuo wireless triggers. The operating mode for high speed sync is manual exposure and manual flash. All these non-Canon accessories work fine on the G9. Unfortunately, they do not work on the G12.

Correction: My non-Canon flashes and accessories do "work" on the G12 but the G12 display screen blanks out as soon as it acquires focus (using half pressed shutter button). The screen doesn't really go blank, it shows the exposure without the effect of flash -- typically very dark. That is, the non-Canon flashes and accessories work but the G12 does not work very well. I may have a setting wrong but, if so, can't find it.

After email and telephone correspondence with Canon tech services, it appears that I'm the only one (first one?) to complain about the screen blanking problem when using non-Canon accessories (wireless and flash). Basically, the Canon position is that they are not responsible for performance with non-Canon accessories.

Although I understand the Canon position, the G3 and G9 actually work fine with the very same accessories. From what I've read, the G10 and G11 also work fine with non-Canon flash accessories. Using G series with non-Canon flash is a popular technique for getting high speed sync. I think this is a bug in the G12 firmware and will be corrected; however, the Canon emails and representative gave no hope of a firmware update. Therefore, after waiting a few more days while hoping for an encouraging email, I'll be returning the G12.

Too bad, I was really beginning to like it.
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RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger

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Although I learned wireless “Strobist”flash techniques using the Cactus PT-04, I recently switched to the Yongnuo RF-602. In addition to being more reliable, the RF-602 can be used as a wireless shutter release for my Canon 7D. When I twisted off yet another PC connector from a Cactus PT-04 receiver, I gave up and ordered the RF-602. Perhaps I was just looking for an excuse but, whatever the reason, I now use the RF-602 for wireless flash triggering.

Like the Cactus units, the RF-602 is a simple trigger; that is, the flash is told “Fire” but flash intensity must be set in advance by the photographer. The transmitter, shown above, mounts on the camera and sends the signal to the receiver. The transmitter does not have an On/Off switch but does have a large button that can be used to trigger the flash or camera by hand. The transmitter uses one 3V CR2 lithium battery. The battery was included in the kit. The RF-602 system uses 16 channels but out-of-the-box is set to “ALL” so the first thing I did was to set a channel. The little switches are covered by a piece of tape. I left the tape on the switches and used a pencil point to change them.

The RF-602 receiver, shown above, uses two AAA alkaline batteries that were included in the kit. The battery door is a bit difficult to open – probably a good thing. The little switch on the receiver must be set to match the switch on the transmitter. The receiver does have an On/Off switch. The receiver has a flash shoe on top and a screw mount on bottom.

The RF-602 kit included a shutter connecting cord for my Canon 7D and a flash connecting cord. The flash connecting cord has a 3.5mm plug and a 6.35mm adapter plug. The basic kit does not include a PC cord so I've ordered one. Normally, I'll be using the hot shoe connection.

So far, the RF-602 system has handled everything I've thrown at it: Nikon SB24 and SB28 flashes, Vivitar 285HV, Canon 380EX, 420EX, 580EX, Yongnuo 460-II. The system works from my Canon G3, G9 and 7D. It triggers my Canon 7D. It appears to be more robust than the Cactus PT-04 system.

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Yongnuo Speedlite YN460-II

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In the end, I couldn’t resist ordering the YN460-II even though my arsenal of flashes is (mostly) built around the Nikon SB series. In a previous post, I wrote about replacing the foot of a damaged SB-24. I actually did not expect to win that damaged SB-24 and had, in fact, ordered the YN460-II just two days prior. Fifteen days later, the YN460-II arrived in a plain brown wrapper, shipped via airmail from Hong Kong.

The YN460-II is a simple and inexpensive flash unit that is an upgrade of the (what else) YN460. The upgrade consists of more power (claims Guide Number of 53 instead of 33), faster recycling and fine tuning for the flash power. The flash head has both tilt and swivel. The YN460-II has two operating modes: manual flash and optical slave flash. In either operating mode, the YN460-II flash power must be set manually.

Here are my first thoughts and impressions.

My first concern was the packaging. Although the shipping envelope was lightly padded, the YN460-II box was simply placed inside it without additional padding. There was no padding inside the box although the flash was inside a plastic bag which was inside a nice black cloth bag. In spite of my concerns, all parts arrived in good condition.

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The YN460-II is a nice looking flash with a better quality appearance that I expected. The tilt/swivel head position is held by friction; that is, just grab it and turn/tilt – no release buttons to push. This is fine for now but I wonder if it will become sloppy loose with much use.

I dropped a set of PowerEx NiMh rechargeables into the YN460-II and pressed the ON button. Nothing. Press again – nothing again. Did I get a bad flash? A quick glance at the instructions confirmed that I was indeed pushing the ON/OFF button but should have been holding it down for 2 seconds. Duh. Firing a few quick pops manually, the YN460-II took about 8 seconds to recycle to full power; the SB-28 from which I robbed the batteries took about 9 seconds. (Time to recharge?) Recycling was near instantaneous at minimum power setting. (A fresh set of PowerEx reduced the recycle time to less than 5 seconds.)

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Changing the flash power is easy and very visual: Press the Power +/- button and watch the lights change. However, the button must be pressed for each step change. Same for changing modes: Press the Mode button and watch the lights change. When the YN460-II is turned on, the mode is set to manual and the flash power is set to the minimum; it does not remember the previous settings.

In contrast to the simplicity of setting flash power, “fine-tuning” was not so simple. Well, I could follow the instructions but the flash power output level lights do not remain as set so I had no confidence in what I’d done. The procedure is to press and hold the MODE and PILOT buttons until the middle light blinks then use the +/- button to fine tune. This seems OK except that the output level lights soon revert to the non-fine tuned display. Pressing MODE and PILOT again shows the fine-tuned setting. I quickly resolved not to use the fine tuning feature (for now anyway). Illustrated is 1 stop down from maximum (i.e., would be half power) but then 2 clicks farther down using "fine tuning".

Somewhat skeptically checking the YN460-II in optical slave mode, I found that it works very well with my Canon G9. In fact, the YN460-II was triggered by the G9 flash in both the S1 and S2 settings when the G9 was in P mode. With the G9 in manual mode (no pre-flash emitted), the YN460-II was triggered only in its S1 mode. Even more surprising, these quick tests were shot at 1/500 second! I was impressed. With my 7D, the YN460-II also worked in both S1 and S2 modes when the 7D was set for ETTL; however, at 1/200 second and faster, S2 is necessary. In a dimly lit room, triggering is easily possible at a distance of some 20 feet. The obvious conclusion is to use S1 for pure manual flash and S2 for triggering with ETTL -- as advertised.

Next up was to test the YN460-II with my Cactus wireless triggers. The only way to connect to the YN460-II is through the hot shoe. This is OK with me because my Cactus units are more reliable when connected via the hot shoe. The YN460-II worked fine with my Cactus wireless triggers and could be triggered at 1/640 second using the Canon G9.

Finally, I compared the flash power of the YN460-II to some other flashes. I did this by shooting the flashes directly mounted on my Canon G9 camera in full manual mode. Just firing shots across a dimly lit room, it seems to me that the YN460-II is not as powerful as the Canon 580EX but is similar to the Nikon SB-28 and more powerful than the SB-24. In fact, the relative power of all those flashes seems to be about as listed in my post on guide numbers. I also noticed that the YN460-II seems a bit “cool” in color cast, especially in comparison to the Canon 580EX (which seems a bit warm).

All in all, my YN460-II works and seems to work as advertised. I’m pretty happy with this one – in fact, am thinking about getting another one.

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SB-24 Foot Replacement

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As noted in other postings, I frequently use Nikon flashes, especially the SB-28 and SB-24, with my Canon G9. The SB-28 and SB-24 are particularly useful with my Cactus wireless trigger (works with my G9, 20D and 7D) and sometimes a used SB-24 is available at a low price. I just bought another used SB-24 that had a broken foot but was otherwise working. I then bought a replacement foot, installed it and now have another working SB-24 flash. Here’s how I replaced the foot.

But first, the cowardly disclaimer: These are not instructions. I’m just writing about what I did. Proceed at your own risk. I’m not responsible for damage or injury.

First I checked the old and damaged SB-24 to see if it worked at all; it did. I then triggered the flash and immediately turned it off and removed the batteries. While replacing the foot, I tried not to touch the various wires and contacts but, of course, did touch them; however, no shocks, no sparks. You may not be so lucky -- I don't know.

The replacement process is basically to remove four exterior screws and then three interior screws to separate the component parts. The locking ring must be removed from the old foot and placed on the new foot.

Here's the old foot and the new foot with the locking ring from the old foot.

It took a bit of patience and trial and error to get the contact pins aligned with the new foot. I finally realized that the pins were not sliding smoothly in the holes of the new foot. Taking a round screwdriver, I reamed and cleaned the holes and the contact pins then slid into place easily.

Even though this setup is very ungainly, it demonstrates that the new foot has saved the old SB-24 from the scrapheap and provided me with an inexpensive third SB-24.

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7D Sync Speed

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Inspired by the Strobist, I checked my 7D to be certain of the sync speed when using flash. According to the 7D manual (pages 111 and 207), the maximum sync speed is 1/250 second. That is, because the 7D uses a mechanical shutter with all its accompanying timings, 1/250 second is the fastest shutter speed that can be used with flash. For the most part, this is the case with my own 7D but there are some variations.

My G9 with its electronic shutter could be used up to about 1/2500 second sync speed provided it did not know much about the flash that was attached. To take advantage of this odd behavior, I often used a Nikon SB-28 with the G9.

Before going too much further, yes, I am aware that the Canon flash system can operate in “High Speed” mode at shutter speeds faster than 1/250 second. However, High Speed mode uses pulses of light and the net lighting power is significantly reduced. Yes, High Speed flash mode works and is useful but the name of today’s game is syncing the 7D to that single burst of light when the camera is in normal flash mode.

The first clue to 7D flash sync occurs when using the built-in popup flash. There’s no way to set a shutter speed above 1/250 second. Also, there’s no High Speed mode for the popup flash. On the more positive side, at 1/250 second, the light appeared to be fully distributed over the shutter. Well, at least that experiment was easy.

Next, I tried a Canon 580EX, 420EX and 380EX. All acted similarly with respect to sync speed. The 1/250 second shutter speed combined with flash produced even lighting but faster apparent shutter speeds reverted to 1/250 unless the flash was placed in High Speed mode. I even tried the 580EX in full manual mode with the same results: 1/250 second is the fastest available shutter speed.

Time to try the Nikon SB-28. It syncs at 1/320 second! At 1/400 second there was a dark edge at the bottom of the image. About half the frame was dark at 1/800 second.

What about wireless? My cheap Cactus wireless triggers at 1/500 second on my G9 and, on a good day, even 1/640. Those same units are limited to 1/200 second on the Nikon SB-28 and Vivitar 285HV when used with the 7D.

I’ve been using the 7D popup flash to trigger the 580EX and really like this combination; however, the maximum sync speed is 1/250 second because the popup cannot operate in High Speed mode.

So the 1/250 second limitation is basically true. Oh well, if necessary, I still have the G9.
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Neighborhood Fireworks

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In many locations fireworks are permitted in suburban neighborhoods. This shot was taken with my tripod mounted G9, ISO 80, manual exposure set for 2 seconds at f4.5. Off camera flash was triggered by a Cactus wireless trigger to a snooted Nikon SB-28. Shot in RAW mode, converted using ACR, cropped significantly (hey, it was nighttime!)

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Another for the SAK Gallery

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This little fella poised inside a diffusion zone made from a 2’ x 4’ translucent light panel bent into a U shape and lit from the outside with a Nikon SB-24 triggered by Cactus wireless units from my Canon G9. I liked it well enough to include in my collection of Swiss Army Knife photos at SmugMug.

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G9 with Cactus Wireless Flash Triggers

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The Canon G9 has a hot shoe for external flash but the camera is so small and some flash units so large that the combination can look ridiculous. Even so, an external flash is quite a nice accessory for the G9. Naturally, recent Canon flashes work well with the G9 but other flash units can also be used.

External flash is not only more powerful but more versatile than small internal flash units. For example, the Canon 580EX shown here is pointed upward so that the light bounces off the ceiling to provide a softer lighting effect. Even more lighting effects and variations are made possible by removing the flash from the camera. But how can the flash be triggered if it is not on the camera?

Canon offers a number of flash accessories and connectors but these can be quite pricey for the hobbist. A relatively straightforward method of connecting an off-camera flash is to put one adapter on the hotshoe, another adapter on the flash and connect the two adapters with a wire/cable. Rather than deal with wires, many photographers prefer a wireless flash trigger. Triggers such as the Pocket Wizard are legendary for performance and reliability but, again, are expensive for the hobbyist.

Last year, shortly before getting my G9, I became aware of a cheap wireless flash trigger, the Cactus V2s – sometimes called the “eBay trigger”. After reading everything I could find – pro and con -- about this cheap flash trigger, I decided to try a set. Mine work fine more than 90% of the time and have been very useful in learning off-camera flash techniques. In fact, now I have several units and all of them work fine.


Cowardly Disclaimer: My Cactus wireless triggers work OK. Yours may not -- so don’t blame me if they don’t!

Some photographers swear by the Cactus triggers and some swear at them! Problems include: just won’t work, flimsy construction, batteries loose, battery connection loose, PC (wire) connection bad, incompatible with some flash units (said to be fixed with the V2s), short range, etc., etc. Lots of successes, lots of failures.

Some inventive users have taken up the challenge of modifying their Cactus wireless triggers but since mine worked OK, I’ve not modified them at all. Even if the photographic results were not improved, the handling of the G9 is much, much improved by mounting the small Cactus trigger instead of a huge flash.

At the same time, the Cactus receiver is even smaller than the G9 and mounting a flash unit on the receiver creates a very flimsy combination. My solution is to use lots of gaffer tape. I suspect (no data) that the Cactus units are more reliable when the flash is mounted directly on the receiver. That’s certainly been my experience. This Nikon SB-28 was triggered by the Cactus V2s system from my G9 about six feet away.

On a good day, my Cactus system works outdoors at a line-of-sight range of 150 feet. Indoors, it usually works well through hollow dry walls into the next room. It synchronizes with the G9 at shutter speeds up to 1/640 second and sometimes faster. I’ve used it with Canon 580EX and 420EX, Vivitar 285HV and 2600, Nikon SB-28, SB-24, and SB-23 – even a Holga 120.

Off-camera flash is a powerful tool and I’m trying to learn to use it. For off-camera flash techniques, I rely on “The Strobist”, David Hobby, and study his tutorials.

David has written about the Cactus units as well as other triggering methods. He even owna a G9 and has written about it as well. The Strobist blog is updated regularly so I check in almost every day – you should too!
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