flash problems

[kkenji]

hi all..

im currently using a FL-36R flash with my E-3 and it kinda reloads very slow.

even on a fresh fully charged sanyo 2700mah with no increament of flash intensity, it takes a good 1.5 to 2 secs to recharge.

is it normal ?

any ways to make it recharge faster ??

can i use the olympus SHV-1 high voltage set and connect to the flash for more power or should i just upgrade to the FL-50R ???

and does anyone knows how much is the SHV-1 ?!!

thanks for the help guys !!

[jfoo]

it really depends on your ISO and aperture settings. if ISO 100 to 200 with f5.6 to f8, 1.5 to 2sec recycle sounds about right (sometimes even longer). try increasing your ISO to 400 or 800 and see if this reduces the recycle time. if it does, all is well. if not, maybe your batteries are not charged to full capacity even though the charger says it is or it may be end of product life for those batteries.

[kkenji]

hmm..i usualy take outdoors so the iso is around 100 to 300..sometimes it does take alil longer..
but when i shoot indoor in the hall with iso around 600 to 800, it does take quite awhile..

[jfoo]

could be your batts are not charged fully. or they are getting 'old'. how old are the batts and how often do you use them?

new nimh batts usually don't reach full maturity till after a few charge/discharge cycles.

a fully charged nimh batt will lose their charge after charging and stored. that's why a lot of users are turning to eneloops, recyko and the new one from east gear (can't remember the name) even though they pack a lower punch 2000-2100mah.

[kkenji]

ohh i see..
hmm its not very old..
i bought it in march 1st week to go with my flash..
and from march till now i only had about 10 events where i used it!! so its not really used that often !

[cater]

If im not wrong, it takes abt 4 sec to charge. Reason achieving 2 sec charges is perhaps u increase ur ISO. Check up manual.

[OlyFlyer]

Originally Posted by kkenji ohh i see.. hmm its not very old.. i bought it in march 1st week to go with my flash.. and from march till now i only had about 10 events where i used it!! so its not really used that often !

If you think 1.5-2 seconds is a long time you really must be in a hurry and I think you need to shoot with high ISO and preferably available light. If you are going to shoot events with flash I think you'd be better off with the FL-50. I am sorry you were not informed before, but in my opinion the FL-36 is only for occasional home use and family snaps. It is slow to charge (normally about 10 seconds) and not powerful enough in many situations.

Please read the manual of both the camera and the flash.

BTW, DSLRs are discussed under the Four Thirds section. You get more response over there, ask admins to move this thread. Also, flash issues are discussed ad infinitum. Please make a search before posting basic questions.

[kkenji]

sorry olyflyer..am rather new here

and the fl36 is my 1st flash..so i cant afford to upgrade that fast for now..but thanks for the advice..
appreciate it !!

[OlyFlyer]

Originally Posted by kkenji sorry olyflyer..am rather new here and the fl36 is my 1st flash..so i cant afford to upgrade that fast for now..but thanks for the advice.. appreciate it !!

You don't have to apologize. Just trying to help out.

[mskong]

hey kenji....if you are using FL36 to shoot event, probably it's not powerful enough to reach a good distance. Even if you do, you are actually setting the highest power on your FL36 which takes a longer time (1-2) seconds to recharge as you claimed.

just my common sense.......your 2 batteries gives out less power than 4 batteries at one time

so it's normal....you can get power pack to make the recycle time fast and consistent...

But in long run...it's better if you get the FL50R to cover event....you can manually set the FL50R to lower power if your subject is nearer...thus giving you faster recycle time.

[Benares]

Originally Posted by kkenji . . . can i use the olympus SHV-1 high voltage set and connect to the flash for more power or should i just upgrade to the FL-50R ??? and does anyone knows how much is the SHV-1 ?!! thanks for the help guys !!

As far as I know, the SHV-1 is only usable with the FL-50/(R) flashes because there isn't an external battery source connector on FL-36/(R) flashes. Anyway, the SHV-1 is kind of overpriced not quite popular - both for the price and weight. More people in Singapore uses this instead.

Notice that the FL-50/(R) (image on the right) has a rubber socket (with "Olympus" print on it) just slightly above the hot shoe whereas the FL-36/(R) does not have.


P/S: I'm not in any way affiliated to Eastgear or any of the websites which I used the pics for reference :P

Cheers~

[mskong]

for cheaper solutions...DIY
http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobis...7607692705588/

You can save a lot of $$$$$

[Mikefellh]

Originally Posted by kkenji hi all.. im currently using a FL-36R flash with my E-3 and it kinda reloads very slow. even on a fresh fully charged sanyo 2700mah with no increament of flash intensity, it takes a good 1.5 to 2 secs to recharge. is it normal ? any ways to make it recharge faster ??

Actually that is pretty fast...it can actually take up to 6 seconds (with good batteries) if you use the full power of the FL-36R, so you're doing pretty good with 1-2 seconds.

Also, what are you doing that you require faster recharging...on-camera flashes aren't designed for high frequency of use...if you flip near the back of your FL-36R manual you will see a page called "Continuous Firing"...this page tells you how many shots within a set period.

For instance, if you are taking a picture every 3 seconds at half power, you should limit yourself to 20 shots and then let the flash rest for 10 minutes. If you are taking pictures at full power you should limit yourself to 10 pictures and let the flash rest after that. If you ignore that advice your flash will melt, and or die from the heat.

If you're looking for a higher duty cycle you need a strobe that is fan cooled.

Originally Posted by kkenji can i use the olympus SHV-1 high voltage set and connect to the flash for more power or should i just upgrade to the FL-50R ???

The SHV-1 is only designed for the FL-50R...you can't use it with the FL-36R...there are ways to use the FL-36R with a third party battery pack, however it won't be a high-voltage one, and again you are still stuck with the limits of the flash duty cycle.

Note that even the FL-50R also has a limit of how many shots you can fire within a set period.

[DiGdUb]

fl36 flash takes a longer time to recharge, especially after full power fire.

[snappyantz]

You might want to consider getting powerEx 2700 rechargeables.
I had used various brands with FL36 before and found that powerEX batts give better recharging time as compared to the rest.

[phyrewall]

I use Sanyo 2700mah (not the Eneloop kind) and get a fairly acceptable recharge time.

Plus if I need to fire the flash successively, I increase my ISO to 800 and set Flash EV to -3.0. Also, my FL-36R i set to FP TTL Auto.

The image result I get is bright enough for my purposes but will definitely have noise (as I have noise reduction purposedly switched off in my camera body). The noise I get is not a big issue because I can always reduce them in Photoshop.

[egnaro]

Originally Posted by phyrewall I use Sanyo 2700mah (not the Eneloop kind) and get a fairly acceptable recharge time. Plus if I need to fire the flash successively, I increase my ISO to 800 and set Flash EV to -3.0. Also, my FL-36R i set to FP TTL Auto. The image result I get is bright enough for my purposes but will definitely have noise (as I have noise reduction purposedly switched off in my camera body). The noise I get is not a big issue because I can always reduce them in Photoshop.

I am using Sony 2700mah and it work well... believe it, i just finish over 300 shot with flash and batt is still surviving and use ISO 200/400 recharge time oli slow down after 300. btw I am using FL36R