can't get slave flash to work (Phoenix D91-BZS)

Is there some trick to it, or did I get a defective unit?

Just got my Phoenix D91-BZS, popped in the batteries, turned it on, heard the capacitors charge up, the ready light is on, but my camera's flash won't trigger it. It's got a setting for triggering on first flash, second flash, or a learning mode, none of which made any difference. It's also got a hold button (which the manual states "turns the green light on which means it won't flash", and that's off). Have even tried holding the camera about 3 inches from the Phoenix, but it still won't trigger.

Anyone else got one of these units?

I have a Phoenix 93 ZBSA flash with a peanut slave and has never had a problem with taht set-up, but I did try Vivitar DF200 out at Fry's and was having trouble getting it to go off. (I think because the of the optical slave sensor was on the front of flash). But I am not using that set-up any more so flash is just collecting dust.....lol!!!

Hmmm, my little pocket-cam (Minolta G500) will trigger the flash, IF I TAKE A FLASH PICTURE OF the slave sensor, but if the cam's flash isn't pointed directly at the slave-sensor, it won't fire -- I was kind of hoping to take pictures of things other than my new flash unit!

My Canon S3 however, appears to be incapable of triggering the slave flash. Bloody h*ll...

When using the Canon S3, which settings are youu using, I know with Canon camera's you can turn the preflash off or on, by doing so go into the menu setting and change the flash setting to manual and it turns the preflash off.

C Williams said:

When using the Canon S3, which settings are youu using, I know with
Canon camera's you can turn the preflash off or on, by doing so go
into the menu setting and change the flash setting to manual and it
turns the preflash off.

Click to expand...

I've tried both ways on the S3, as well as on the flash (1st, 2nd, and learning mode). For what it's worth, I just tried again to get my G500 to trigger it again, but was unable to. I've sent an email into bhphoto.com, to see what they've got to suggest... Still can't believe I was so stupid to buy a camera without a hotshoe. :-(

I also have a camera without a hotshoe. I use a Vivitar df200 that I think is exactly the same as your Phoenix. Indoor shots were never an issue getting the slave to fire, but I did have inconsistent firing on an open football field. I think that the sensor did not pick up any bounce back light to set it off.

So after seeing some modifications to slave flashes on another forum, I decided to open my flash and see if I could hardwire another sensor. I drilled a small hole in the side and added a female jack and spliced it into the circuit and then added a sensor inside a film container over the onboard flash. You can see the setup in the links below. Now I have more flexibility in how I use the flash, it works every time, and no other cameras will set it off when using the second sensor. I am pretty happy with my little experiment.

http://home.comcast.net/~dblbrl/wsb/html/view.cgi-photos.html-.html

http://home.comcast.net/~dblbrl/wsb/html/view.cgi-photo.html--SiteID-3054820.html

One of the things that bothers me about your post was hearing the flash recycle. That says the flash actually went off. Try turning on the flash, set it for learning mode, take a picture with the settings you plan to use, watch for the right green light to light, then slide the button to 2 and leave it there for the next shots. It should fire in sync then.

One other note. It may go to power save mode after 3 to 5 minutes and you may need to reset again.

I still agree that a real hotshoe would be nice...

dblbrl said:

So after seeing some modifications to slave flashes on another
forum, I decided to open my flash and see if I could hardwire
another sensor. I drilled a small hole in the side and added a
female jack and spliced it into the circuit and then added a sensor
inside a film container over the onboard flash. You can see the
setup in the links below. Now I have more flexibility in how I use
the flash, it works every time, and no other cameras will set it
off when using the second sensor. I am pretty happy with my little
experiment.

Click to expand...

Neat idea. I'm not nearly that handy with tools, sadly!

dblbrl said:

One of the things that bothers me about your post was hearing the
flash recycle. That says the flash actually went off. Try turning
on the flash, set it for learning mode, take a picture with the
settings you plan to use, watch for the right green light to light,
then slide the button to 2 and leave it there for the next shots.
It should fire in sync then.

Click to expand...

Got my replacement flash already, and it works every time now (indoors, anyways, haven't tried it outdoors).