Hi fellow FMers.
I have a Canon dedicated sigma ringflash EM-140 which I have been using on my 20D and G10 flawlessly.
I recently picked up a set of PHOTTIX radio trigers and even through they work just fine with a regular flash remotely off my Canons they will not fire the Sigma.
I googled and asked my local shop but no one has an idea why this is happening.
I don't know the answer, but out of curiosity why would you want to fire a ring flash remotely? The point of a ring flash is to wrap around the lens to reduce shadows, right?
I ran across this description while looking at some other remotes:
Some dedicated flashes (e.g. Nissin Di-622 and Di-466, Sunpak PZ42x and PZ30, Sigma EF-530/500 DG ST for Canon, etc.) are triggered via system-specific pins instead of the central contact of the hot shoe. Cactus V5 does not work with these flash models. To check whether your dedicated flash units are compatible with Cactus V5, try attaching them to a camera of other brand (e.g. attaching a Nikon TTL flash to a Canon DSLR camera). If the flash can be triggered, it will work with Cactus V5.
@ BrianO: the flash HEAD will be on the lens, but I am using it on my NEX3 which does not have a hotshoe, it has a dedicated screw in flash. So I have attached an optical slave to the onboard flash, hooked that up to a radio trigger with the receiver on a bracket beside the camera. I cannot directly connect the flash (or any flash) to the NEX.
@ Brian, I also think that may be the culprit. The pins on the Sigma are different than the ones on the Nikon flash...but there is a single main pin in the same place... As I said, the flash fires on a Canon and it did fire on my G10 but not on my Panasonic LX3 not the NEX. It may sound strange, but this setup works really well for very mobile mobile street and event shooting and I was hoping it would work with these bodies.
I may have to switch to a G series camera again...
dasrocket wrote:
...I am using it on my NEX3 which does not have a hotshoe, it has a dedicated screw in flash. So I have attached an optical slave to the onboard flash, hooked that up to a radio trigger with the receiver on a bracket beside the camera...
Just to make sure I'm following you: you have the Sony flash mounted on the camera, you have an optical slave positioned to receive the light from that flash and send a signal to a radio trigger, which then sends a signal to a radio receiver that triggers the Sigma ring flash that is mounted on the lens. Is that right?
If so, why not just hook an optical slave to the Sigma?
hehe that`s right Brian, it is lees complicated in actual use than it sounds.
The reason I can`t use an optical slave to the sigma is because the NEX 3 has a pre flash that simply cannot be disabled. The communication between the rig I have are timed just well enough to negate the delay.
Still working on a solution.... Will post if I come up with one
