Sync terminal failure

[cadams]

Last night, in the middle of a job, my S2's flash sync ceased funtioning. The strobes fired fine with my meter, so there is no problem with the sync cord. I had to finish the job using a 1 second shutter speed while firing the strobes via the test button. Anyone else experience this??? Anyone have a suggested remedy? I really need the camera in production the next couple of weeks and prefer not to send it out for servicing right now.

Thanks,
Chuck

[turbo-944]

Chuck,

There are a couple of reasonable alternatives.

1) You could use the internal flash to trigger a slave on your studio lights. Use the exposure compensation on the camera to lower the power of the built in flash so it won't significantly affect the exposure, or difuse the flash head itself.

2) If the failure is only at the sync plug, use a hot shoe adapter w/sync plug in or radio slave to trigger your lights.

I always use my Quantum 4i in the hot shoe to trigger the receiver on my power pack. For me it is much more convenient not having cords attached to the camera. Nothing to trip on or yank out. This also offers protection from the flash power pack possibly feeding back unwanted voltage thru the triggering circuit.

Hope this helps, at least temporarily.

Dan.

[Wichita Wayne]

A sync plug is just a simple switch. If the switch is open then nothing happens. If the switch is closed (when the shutter is released) then you complete the circuit and the flash fires. You can test the plug with a simple, and cheap, multimeter. Put the meter on resistance (OHMS, on mine it is the green numbers) and place the positive probe (red) on the inside connection of the plug. Place the negative probe (black) on the outside of the plug post and fire the camera. The needle should jump. If it does not then the plug is dead. You can also test the hot shoe the same way by putting the positive on the center contact and the negative on the shoe itself and then fire the shutter. Both require three hands or some fancy finger work. If the hot shoe works then you can use an adapter, or one of "them there fancy custom cords" from Paramount that plugs into the hot shoe instead of the PC plug. I use the Paramount cords all the time rather than the PC plug. Paramount can also build a little voltage protection box right into the cord so you are assured that no more than 6 volts is used when the PC sync circuit is closed by the shutter. High voltage is what burns out the flash sync part of the camera and can probably do damage to other parts of the camera as well if it arcs inside the camera body.

[Tom V]

My PC terminal does not function. I assume it worked fine, until I unscrewed the PC Terminal Cap the second time. The metal terminal unscrewed itself with the cap when my camera was a couple weeks old. The terminal it fell out (but kept working). 3 months later, it stopped working.

See a thread from September
http://www.s2pro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125

See a thread from December http://www.s2pro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=342

There are a few other photographers in this forum that have had the same problem.

I rely on a Nikon AS-15 hot shoe -to- PC adapter. In fact, I keep two around. Someday, when I anticipate not needing the camera for a few days (weeks?), and while it is still under warranty, I will send it back for repair.

[cadams]

Thanks Turbo, Wayne and Tom.

Ordered a couple of hotshoe adapters last night, got through today's shoot by using slave w/ dialed down (-3) on board flash to trigger. Like you, Tom, I will wait until I have some down time and send it in for warranty repair.

Sure does seem like a $2400 camera would have a functioning sync socket. I still have the first SLR I ever owned- a Pentax K1000 - its sync socket still works. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have ever had a problem with this on any camera I have owned! Thanks for letting me vent, I feel a little better now.

Chuck

[Tom V]

Chuck,

I wonder why your PC terminal died. Did the terminal unscrew itself (it should be almost flush with the camera surface)?, or did it fry itself?

If you aren't using a "safe sync" gizmo, maybe you should look into it. Safe Syncs protect your delicate camera circuits from higher voltage or out-of-control voltage typically generated by larger flash units. I use a Speedotron brand safe sync in between my camera and the flash power pack. Usually, they plug into the PC terminal on the flash unit, and then you plug your sync cord into it.

Do a search on SAFE SYNC, there are a few threads regarding it.

[cadams]

Tom,

I am using a Wein Safe Sync and have consistently used it every time when using strobes. Thanks to your previous posts, and others, I had learned of that necessity. I was also aware of your problem with the socket coming unscrewed and therefore did not use the screw in cover. Once I unscrewed it (carefully) the first time, I just left it out. So there's nothing I can really pinpoint as a likely cause. My sync cord is a very snug fit, but the failure occurred suddenly, without warning, and in the middle of a shoot (no disconnecting or reconnecting of the cord). I was able to get it to fire a couple more times after the initial failure, but only sporadically and infrequently.

Thanks,
Chuck