Flashguns: How long do they last?


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synapseman

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May 6, 2003
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5600HS(D)/3600HS(D)

What's their typical lifespan? How long have you had yours? I think mine's close to 3 years old already. Still going good, no probs whatsoever. But will it just blink out suddenly one day?
 

My power control transistor died after 5 days. Sent to KM, and it's good now =)

QX
 

typically a few years
 

Timber Wolf said:
My power control transistor died after 5 days. Sent to KM, and it's good now =)

QX
Mine got problem after a few events also, they changed the board and now is OK.
 

my sigma's bulb blew after 3 months. had it fixed as it was still under warranty. has been another 9 months, with no new problems. has compatibility issues with the 5D though, can only be fixed by upgrading the main board. too expensive, so.... :cry:
 

pai said:
my sigma's bulb blew after 3 months. had it fixed as it was still under warranty. has been another 9 months, with no new problems. has compatibility issues with the 5D though, can only be fixed by upgrading the main board. too expensive, so.... :cry:

How much does it cost to upgrade the board?
 

synapseman said:
5600HS(D)/3600HS(D)

What's their typical lifespan? How long have you had yours? I think mine's close to 3 years old already. Still going good, no probs whatsoever. But will it just blink out suddenly one day?

buy a spare 1 lor... or a hammerhead... hehe
 

synapseman said:
How much does it cost to upgrade the board?

was quoted $185 total. some more the tech said that he wasn't really familiar with doing this... :sweat:
 

My 5600hs has done probably 50,000 flashes... no problem at all.. touch wood...:sweat:

But I have 3 units... just in case one dies.


Regards,

Hart
 

maybe it's constant use that keeps it alive ?

like camera lens in use all the time seems to not get fungus
while those stored in dry box seem fungus prone ?
 

pai said:
was quoted $185 total. some more the tech said that he wasn't really familiar with doing this... :sweat:

Hmm. Look for Mr Harry Tay?
I think he's rather knowledgeable and very very helpful :thumbsup:

QX
 

Timber Wolf said:
Hmm. Look for Mr Harry Tay?
I think he's rather knowledgeable and very very helpful :thumbsup:

QX

he's the one i talked to lah. he was nice, and polite, but he told me it couldn't be done. i finally got hold of a service order from someone in the states who had gotten it fixed. then he said oh, this ah, can, but very expensive, etc etc etc...
 

codling said:
you mean upgrading the main board to something like the ADI one?
will that be fully compatible with the 5D like the 5600?

yes. i'm using an old super dg non-ADI model. i was quoted $185 by sigma singapore to upgrade to the latest ADI version. i don't know if it will be fully compatible, but someone in the states who did that told me his flash works fine with 5D in direct and bounce mode. dunno if it can do rear-sync, multi-flash etc

(pls note, i think this is not something they do normally. the tech said that their instructions are actually no re-chipping or upgrade for flash.)
 

hmmm...i m just thinkin, since Sigma released a newer ADI model, kinda defeat the purpose if it does not have compatible features for the 5D & 7D...
anyone bought the ADI model and tested it?
full feature compatibility (similar feature set to 5600)? :dunno:
 

synapseman said:
5600HS(D)/3600HS(D)

What's their typical lifespan? How long have you had yours? I think mine's close to 3 years old already. Still going good, no probs whatsoever. But will it just blink out suddenly one day?


I've got a Cannon 299T flash gun that's well over 15 years old and still works. Admitedly I don't use it much, but more so now that the built in flash on my d7i has failed.

Doesn't talk to the Minolta camera at all, I hot-shoe trigger it and it does it's own exposure control based on the film speed and F no. dialed up on the back.

I would say the 'weakest' part of a flash is the flash tube itself, followed by the main storage capacitor.
If you hunt around, you will probably find one of the specs given for flash-tubes is the number of firings.
Capacitors have a bad habit of drying out with age.
 

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