Godox AD600 wit Sony Camera Not Firing at Times

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I had a photoshoot las Saturday and I was using my Godox AD600 together my Sony A7iii and the Xpro transmitter.

For some reason the Godox AD600 failed to fire many times, sometimes more than once in a row...basically the camera would take the photo every single time but the flash did not fire at times.
It was very frustrating as it made me miss some really cool shots.

Everything is up to date with the firmware, trigger was attached to the camera properly and the AD600 had a full battery.



Any ideas on what might have caused this issue?
 
I'm sure someone much more knowledgeable will come along, but were you triggering it too quickly for it to have time to recharge each time?
 
I'm sure someone much more knowledgeable will come along, but were you triggering it too quickly for it to have time to recharge each time?

Not at all @Eloise , I was on single shot, taking my time with each and in fact, it was pretty much all the time the first shot the one that did not fire.
 
Have you checked high speed sync?
 
Most common issue is a faulty hot-shoe connection, with either the trigger not seated properly or dirty contacts. Clean carefully with a pencil eraser.

If it's not that, then go through it stage by stage to isolate the problem.
- Does the trigger work reliably with another flash unit?
- Does the flash fire when you press the transmitter test button?
- Does it fire when you press the test button on the head?
- Will it fire with with a different trigger, with a hard sync cable, or via optical slave?

There is another known problem with some Godox transmitters that won't fire reliably when positioned very close to the receiver/head.
 
Next time, try dropping the sync speed down a tad, I've had triggers that wont fire 100% at the max sync speed, but do when taken down a tad

Wouldn't make any difference to the flash firing or not.
 
Most common issue is a faulty hot-shoe connection, with either the trigger not seated properly or dirty contacts. Clean carefully with a pencil eraser.

If it's not that, then go through it stage by stage to isolate the problem.
- Does the trigger work reliably with another flash unit?
- Does the flash fire when you press the transmitter test button?
- Does it fire when you press the test button on the head?
- Will it fire with with a different trigger, with a hard sync cable, or via optical slave?

There is another known problem with some Godox transmitters that won't fire reliably when positioned very close to the receiver/head.

Thanks @HoppyUK .

I have just done a few tests and it happens with all of my flashes, AD600, V860II and AD360ii.

It seems to be the Xpro Transmitter, I have tried with a X1 transmitter for Nikon, although I'm a Sony camera now, and it fires fine all the time, with the Xpro it misses lots of flashes.

Are there any known problems with the Xpro or have I been unlucky and I got a bad unit?
 
Thanks @HoppyUK .

I have just done a few tests and it happens with all of my flashes, AD600, V860II and AD360ii.

It seems to be the Xpro Transmitter, I have tried with a X1 transmitter for Nikon, although I'm a Sony camera now, and it fires fine all the time, with the Xpro it misses lots of flashes.

Are there any known problems with the Xpro or have I been unlucky and I got a bad unit?

There are some issues with Sony triggers, not sure of the details off hand but they're not faults as such - more unresolved compatibility quirks - that will probably get resolved through firmware.

But failure to fire consistently is hardly a quirk and it looks like you've just been unlucky. It must be the trigger, so replace under warranty?
 
Can’t remember the buttons but you can do a factory reset with a 2 button press

Know that has helped a few people with similar faults

Mike

I have just tried it, I did the factory reset and it's still not working properly, it still fails to fire the flashes sometimes.

I have tried again with the X1t transmitter for Nikon and it works well.
 
I have just tried it, I did the factory reset and it's still not working properly, it still fails to fire the flashes sometimes.

Does it fail to fire the flash if you remove the trigger from the camera or is it just when connected to the camera? Roughly how often does it fail to fire, say 1 in every 10 tries?
 
There are some issues with Sony triggers, not sure of the details off hand but they're not faults as such - more unresolved compatibility quirks - that will probably get resolved through firmware.

But failure to fire consistently is hardly a quirk and it looks like you've just been unlucky. It must be the trigger, so replace under warranty?

Before you send it back though - change the batteries in the trigger :)
 
Does it fail to fire the flash if you remove the trigger from the camera or is it just when connected to the camera? Roughly how often does it fail to fire, say 1 in every 10 tries?

If you mean removing the trigger and firing it from the test button then no, it does not fail.

It happens very randomly, sometimes it will be on the first shot, others on the 3th-4th, then it will fail again, at times more than once....it happens often and it makes the trigger unreliable for proper use. On my last studio session I missed a few good shots because it did not fire.

I have recorded a rubbish video that shows the problem but I do not know how to attach it here.

Before you send it back though - change the batteries in the trigger :)

Yes, I have tried with 3 different sets of batteries and still not working properly.
 
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If you mean removing the trigger and firing it from the test button then no, it does not fail.

It happens very randomly, sometimes it will be on the first shot, others on the 3th-4th, then it will fail again, at times more than once....it happens often and it makes the trigger unreliable for proper use. On my last studio session I missed a few good shots because it did not fire.

Thanks yes that's what I meant, it was to help rule out if it's just the trigger or if it's the combination of trigger and camera.

That's a lot more fails than I expected, assuming you've tried the other suggestions it might be worth testing it on a different camera but otherwise return seems like a good idea.
 
Thanks yes that's what I meant, it was to help rule out if it's just the trigger or if it's the combination of trigger and camera.

That's a lot more fails than I expected, assuming you've tried the other suggestions it might be worth testing it on a different camera but otherwise return seems like a good idea.

I don' have any other camera to test it with. Hopefully, as it's less than a month old, the seller will be OK replacing it.
 
I don' have any other camera to test it with. Hopefully, as it's less than a month old, the seller will be OK replacing it.

Though everything works fine with the same camera/flash but a different trigger. So it must be the trigger.

It still looks like it might be a simple dodgy contact or a dry joint inside the foot and possibly easy to fix (or possibly somewhere else entirely) but the moment you take a screwdriver to it the warranty is invalidated.

Sounds like an assembly fault, and they're the most common if only because the component parts should have been pre-tested before they get to the final assembly line.
 
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Though everything works fine with the same camera/flash but a different trigger. So it must be the trigger.

You can only say that once you do a like for like comparison and to do that you'd need to cover the other pins besides the main so it acts the same as the X1-N.

Don't get me wrong, I assume it's the trigger that's at fault but it's still only an assumption without more information.
 
Though everything works fine with the same camera/flash but a different trigger. So it must be the trigger.

It still looks like it might be a simple dodgy contact or a dry joint inside the foot and possibly easy to fix (or possibly somewhere else entirely) but the moment you take a screwdriver to it the warranty is invalidated.

Sounds like an assembly fault, and they're the most common if only because the component parts should have been pre-tested before they get to the final assembly line.

You can only say that once you do a like for like comparison and to do that you'd need to cover the other pins besides the main so it acts the same as the X1-N.

Don't get me wrong, I assume it's the trigger that's at fault but it's still only an assumption without more information.

It is the trigger, I'm pretty sure now.... I was panicking for a moment thinking it could be the hot shoe of my new Sony A7iii.

I have just mounted the V860ii directly on the camera hot shoe and it works perfectly, it fires all the time with no problems.
 
There's another possibility...
The trigger could be too close to the receiver - does this problem only occur when the flash is very close to the camera?
 
There's another possibility...
The trigger could be too close to the receiver - does this problem only occur when the flash is very close to the camera?

No @Garry Edwards , it happens even if you are further away. When it happened on my session on Saturday I was about 5-6 feet from the Ad600. Just now I have tried shooting from about 10 feet and it still fails to fire sometimes.
 
I know of three problems when using flash with Sony cameras. The two specifically involving Godox (too close and EFCS) I think you've ruled out but it may be worth setting the XPro-S into 'close-up' mode just to be sure.
The third where the pre-flash fires but not the main flash has proved impossible to isolate due to its random nature. I had it with my RX10 III and HVL-F43M but couldn't reproduce it when testing. I have a list of DPReview threads on it but haven't seen any new ones for a while.

If you're reasonably close to my bit of Wiltshire I could lend you my X1T-S to help narrow it down further.
 
I know of three problems when using flash with Sony cameras. The two specifically involving Godox (too close and EFCS) I think you've ruled out but it may be worth setting the XPro-S into 'close-up' mode just to be sure.
The third where the pre-flash fires but not the main flash has proved impossible to isolate due to its random nature. I had it with my RX10 III and HVL-F43M but couldn't reproduce it when testing. I have a list of DPReview threads on it but haven't seen any new ones for a while.

If you're reasonably close to my bit of Wiltshire I could lend you my X1T-S to help narrow it down further.

Yes, I have tried setting the transmitter to both, 0-30 and 1-100m, and it happens in both modes.
Unfortunately I'm nowhere near you, I'm in the Brighton area, but thanks for the offer!

What I find strange is that with the XT1 for Nikon it works fine, well I have to lower the speed to 1/200 to avoid the black curtain, but it fires every single time.


Anyway, I'm returning the transmitter today and getting a new one.

Does your XT1-S works fine?
 
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Yes, it's been faultless. My suspicion is those tiny contacts at the front of the Sony shoe. It only takes a fraction of a mis-alignment for things not to work.

Have you tried it with the Xpro?
Just wondering if the problem is only with the Xpro and not the XT?
 
Not much yet but I didn't have any problems. Of course, this is with an A7R II rather than an A7 III and I'm not sure if that's significant.
 
Not much yet but I didn't have any problems. Of course, this is with an A7R II rather than an A7 III and I'm not sure if that's significant.

I will try with a new Xpro unit and if it still fails I will give the XT1-s a try.
 
Right, new Godox Xpro for Sony has arrive and I have run some tests.
The unit behaves exactly as my previous one did, so I do not think it was a faulty unit.

The behaviour of the transmitter seems a bit strange, this what I have found:

1 - Camera set to Manual, AF-S in Single shot e-front curtain on with the Transmitter set to manual mode then it fails to fire the AD600 lots of times.
2 - Same camera settings as on 1, but changing the transmitter to TTL and it seems to be working fine
3 - Still with the same setting 1 but e-front curtain set to off and it seems to be working fine.
4 - In AF-C it seems to follow the same pattern as when the camera is in AF-S

So, if the transmitter it is set to TTL, it seems to working fine all the time. Change it to manual mode and it fails to fire at times.
Now, with the e-front curtain set to on, it does not work properly and when it is set to off seems to work fine...but still fails at times when the transmitter is set to Manual.

Using the XT1 for Nikon, on the Sony camera, it all seems to be working fine even with the e-front curtain set to on and the transmitter set to TTL or Manua.....so what's happening here? Any idea?
 
Right, new Godox Xpro for Sony has arrive and I have run some tests.
The unit behaves exactly as my previous one did, so I do not think it was a faulty unit.

The behaviour of the transmitter seems a bit strange, this what I have found:

1 - Camera set to Manual, AF-S in Single shot e-front curtain on with the Transmitter set to manual mode then it fails to fire the AD600 lots of times.
2 - Same camera settings as on 1, but changing the transmitter to TTL and it seems to be working fine
3 - Still with the same setting 1 but e-front curtain set to off and it seems to be working fine.
4 - In AF-C it seems to follow the same pattern as when the camera is in AF-S

So, if the transmitter it is set to TTL, it seems to working fine all the time. Change it to manual mode and it fails to fire at times.
Now, with the e-front curtain set to on, it does not work properly and when it is set to off seems to work fine...but still fails at times when the transmitter is set to Manual.

Using the XT1 for Nikon, on the Sony camera, it all seems to be working fine even with the e-front curtain set to on and the transmitter set to TTL or Manua.....so what's happening here? Any idea?

It's beginning to sound like the Sony compatibility bug I mentioned earlier.

Sorry I don't know more than that but it's been discussed on both DPReview and POTN forums, if you have a search around there.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1025
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=35
 
PauBass, I'm a Godox AD600 user in the states and as I was making my most recent webcrawl attempt at addressing the misfire issues you listed here in 2018, I had to contact you and see if you've found any answers or updates. As I was reading through your thread I had to check and make sure I hadn't created (then forgotten) a profile called PauBass since every word you wrote sounds exactly like my own woes, and in the same prose. Anyway, if you don't mind sharing, I would love to know if/how you've managed to overcome this issue other than staying in TTL the entire time. I went around the horn with Godox via Adorama earlier this year, and they were no help at all. I mean, their rep was very attentive, but no answers. I've purchased that dohickey device from Godox where you leave the lamp on the lightstand and keep the battery/receiver separate, thinking that perhaps less space between my slave master and the receiver could make a dent, or perhaps reduce interference from the florescent lamps hung in the room I shoot in. I haven't tried it yet though, just trying to be proactive before the big day. This issue has been a curse for a few years now. Anway, thank you in advance!
 
With HSS, the flash output is stretched out to cover the travel time of the shutter slit across the film plane...the full power in the flash capacitor could be expended, requiring the minimum time for the flash to recharge itself fully...and if the shutter was pressed before it was fully recharged, it cannot fire again in HSS mode.
 
With HSS, the flash output is stretched out to cover the travel time of the shutter slit across the film plane...the full power in the flash capacitor could be expended, requiring the minimum time for the flash to recharge itself fully...and if the shutter was pressed before it was fully recharged, it cannot fire again in HSS mode.
So If I am not firing is quick succession, say I wait 2 minutes or more, which is most often the case due to changing models, that first shot won't fire, unless I hit the test fire button first. But even then. I'll take a shot, and then another say 8 seconds later, and then maybe a third shot a few seconds after that and if I wait too many seconds, its like it goes into sleep mode and won't fire. So I am constantly refreshing the strobes with the test button so that I won't miss the shot when it counts. I shoot a lot of dancers so when they are in the air and the light doesn't fire, its not a small thing. I get major flack for it and promise the moon to have it fixed by the next shoot. If each shutter press is spaced more than the 1 or 2 seconds needed at full power to recycle that strobe in HSS, do you expect this recharge issue to still be a thing? I'm simply never firing faster than every 5 seconds or so.

Aside from that, I usually shoot at 1/60th because I am stopping motion with the speed of the light rather than the shutter speed. So I don't usually use HSS with these strobes.
 
So If I am not firing is quick succession, say I wait 2 minutes or more, which is most often the case due to changing models, that first shot won't fire, unless I hit the test fire button first. But even then. I'll take a shot, and then another say 8 seconds later, and then maybe a third shot a few seconds after that and if I wait too many seconds, its like it goes into sleep mode and won't fire. So I am constantly refreshing the strobes with the test button so that I won't miss the shot when it counts. I shoot a lot of dancers so when they are in the air and the light doesn't fire, its not a small thing. I get major flack for it and promise the moon to have it fixed by the next shoot. If each shutter press is spaced more than the 1 or 2 seconds needed at full power to recycle that strobe in HSS, do you expect this recharge issue to still be a thing? I'm simply never firing faster than every 5 seconds or so.

Aside from that, I usually shoot at 1/60th because I am stopping motion with the speed of the light rather than the shutter speed. So I don't usually use HSS with these strobes.
All I can add is that you don’t need to ‘fire’ the flash to wake it up, it usually starts to wake on a half shutter press.

When I used to shoot flash a lot in dynamic situations, I’d habitually touch the shutter to keep the flashes ‘ready’.
 
So If I am not firing is quick succession, say I wait 2 minutes or more, which is most often the case due to changing models, that first shot won't fire, unless I hit the test fire button first. But even then. I'll take a shot, and then another say 8 seconds later, and then maybe a third shot a few seconds after that and if I wait too many seconds, its like it goes into sleep mode and won't fire. So I am constantly refreshing the strobes with the test button so that I won't miss the shot when it counts. I shoot a lot of dancers so when they are in the air and the light doesn't fire, its not a small thing. I get major flack for it and promise the moon to have it fixed by the next shoot. If each shutter press is spaced more than the 1 or 2 seconds needed at full power to recycle that strobe in HSS, do you expect this recharge issue to still be a thing? I'm simply never firing faster than every 5 seconds or so.

Aside from that, I usually shoot at 1/60th because I am stopping motion with the speed of the light rather than the shutter speed. So I don't usually use HSS with these strobes.
As Phil alread mentioned, you can wake the flash by half-press of shutter button a few seconds before you intend to take a shot.
Also, sometimes flash units have a user-settable interval for it to go into sleep mode...set it to a longer interval, or even to NOT go to sleep.
 
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