5D MK III flash trigger issue

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jezza8

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I have an issue with my 5D MK III randomly not triggering my flash. I am using Bowens Pro 500 studio lights and Elinchrom radio triggers. If I swap the transmitter to my 1D MK IV set up in an identical manner it triggers both lights perfectly every time, but as soon as I put the trigger back on to the 5D, out of 10 shots I can get 1 or 2 shots where the shutter fires but the flash doesn’t trigger. I saw that the latest firmware 1.2.3 had a fix for exactly this problem, but I have applied this release and I still have the issue. So it appears to be an issue specific to the 5D. At the moment I am reluctant to use this camera for a lot of my photography as I can take over 500 shots in a day with studio flash, and this number of misfires means I miss shots. The 1D works perfectly in the same set up. I have cleaned the hot shoe on the 5D to no avail.

Does anyone else have a similar issue? I am wondering if I have a fault with my camera, or if it is still an issue that needs resolving in firmware.
 
Had similar issues with my 5d3s and Skyports, but also with my Fuji x100s. It appeared to be the transmitter not fitting tightly enough into the hotshoe, if I pressed down on the transmitter while shooting - everything worked fine. Putting the transmitter on backwards seemed to have a better hit rate as well.

That said, I forgot about it and have been shooting all weekend without a single misfire. :shrug:
 
FWIW I've never experienced a misfire with my 5D3 & Skyport transmitters.....well, that's a lie....

My transmitters are the original version, without the 'Speed' malarkey and more importantly locking hot shoe mechanism, which means when I walkabout with the camera over my shoulder the transmitter can slip in the camera's hot shoe or completely fall off, so....

FWIW I've never experienced a misfire with my 5D3 & Skyport transmitters....when the transmitter hasn't become dislodged.
 
Well, I tried ensuring the aerial was sticking up today, and did just over 900 shots on a job this morning (and yes I am knackered, for every single shot I was talking to the kids to get a reaction from them, and now most are printed.) I must have had around 8-10 misfires in total, which is a lot better than usual, and I can live with it, although I would rather have none at all. Not certain if it is the aerial orientation helping, will keep trying. FWIIW I also had a response from Frankie at Canon Professional Services, he said that as far as Canon are concerned there is no issue with the 5D mk III firing flash, but he did say that they don't officially support Elinchrom triggering Bowens lights, which I did find a little strange. Anyway hats off to Frankie at CPS for getting back to me first thing this morning, I only emailed him last night!
 
Did another shot with a few hundred shots, had 20-30 misfires which really ruins the flow while I am shooting. I am tempted to go for a bowens pulsar trigger unless anyone has any better ideas?
 
jezza8 said:
Did another shot with a few hundred shots, had 20-30 misfires which really ruins the flow while I am shooting. I am tempted to go for a bowens pulsar trigger unless anyone has any better ideas?
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pulsars not working on 5diii either according to this seller on ebay hth mike quote. Hello :) This auction is for two Bowens Pulsar BW5150 Transceivers , it was a part of my lightning kit I have bought 9 years ago , used only a several times :) The reason Im selling this is because it does not work on my new Canon 5d mark III ( do not now why , it is receiving the signal when pressing the test button , but no reaction when I press the shutter ) :( . It works on my older Canon camera but not on a 5d :( . I have bought a new set off triggers all ready , so Im putting this on for sale . This are great transceivers, 100m range , robust and reliable ( all like new condition ).
 
Hmmm, that's what I found as well, my elinchrom Skyports work fine on the 1D and my old 40D, but not on the 5D mkIII. Has anyone else had this problem - and found a solution?
 
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