Flash not firing

[Jennylang7]

Yesterday at a gig, I set up my strobe, camera, wireless triggers and computer etc - as usual - and the flash wouldn't fire. I didn't do anything different from before and this hasn't ever happened. I unplugged the camera from computer, turned the strobe off and back on, unplugged the wireless trigger from the strobe and took it off the camera. Nothing worked. Then I unplugged camera from the computer again and used it just as a camera and it worked. So i plugged it back into the computer and it still didnt work. Then I went into the photo booth settings and unchecked "external flash" and then rechecked it and rebooted the computer. This worked! So it seems to me it is an issue with the program? or the computer? Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice at all? I almost had a panic attack!

Setup info:

Canon D60 camera
Calumet Travelite 750(plugged in)
Camera set to manual mode
Last years version of PS - Remote


Thank you in advance!!

Jenny

[Chris Breeze]

It's hard to say without more information to narrow the problem down. Can you reproduce the problem?
"External flash mode" works by setting one shutter speed for live view display and then selects 1/200 sec and disables live view when taking the photo. You could check shutter speed in the shooting data in the photos taken by the camera but I don't think there is any way to check whether live view was active or not when the photo was taken.

I assume the camera is the recent Canon EOS 60D not the much older Canon EOS D60 (Canon's naming is confusing). You don't need to use external flash mode with a mid-range camera like the 60D if you disable live view exposure simulation and silent shooting in the camera. Then all you need to do is select manual exposure mode and a shutter speed of 1/200 sec and then adjust the aperture, ISO and flash power to get the required exposure and depth of field.

[Jennylang7]

hi chris,
yes, i have a newer 60D. So if the problem happens again, i should uncheck "external flash mode" and "disable live view exposure simulation and silent shooting in the camera"? when you say in the camera, you mean it's in the camera menu on the camera itself?

it's really strange, it's never happened before and i've didnt change anything since the last use.

thanks!

[Chris Breeze]

Yes, you need to adjust the settings using the menus on the camera itself. It's an alternative way of working which effectively does the same thing as the external flash mode setting in DSLR Remote Pro.
If you use this method you need to set the shutter speed to 1/200 sec or 1/160 sec before selecting full screen photobooth mode (the external flash mode setting does this automatically).