Fuji x-t 30 ii and HSS / in dire need of help

[Lazara]

Hey, all. I'm in dire need of help.

So, currently I have a problem with HSS with Fuji x-t 30ii and Godox ad600bm, using Godox X pro F wireless trigger.

So when we first bought the flash and I paired the trigger and the flash, everything was fine and we were able to use it at a very high shutter speed. However, today when we went over 1/200 the usual black band at the bottom of the image appeared. I figured that someone must have touched something, but I can't seem to be able to find the problem.



One of the things that concern me is that I press the HSS button on the flash and it's on, but it doesn't show on the trigger and can't find it on this particular trigger.

The other thing is that in the user manual, it says that I should set my camera on FP, but when I get to my flash options, there's only front and rare curtain.



Can anyone tell me what am I missing and what should I look for to fix this issue? What to make sure is on and what off? When we first got it, we used it at a very high shutter speed and one day this black band started to appear when we go over 1/200.

This is what I see when my trigger is on the camera(the flash works when I take pictures when it's like this btw) and I go to flash function settings, which I understand it shouldn't be like that:

 

[Morris0]

Try simplifying by placing the flash directly on the camera. Once you get that going introduce the flash commander. Fuji's flash system is rather fussy,, hopefully it's obvious with the flash on the camera.

Morris

 

[Lazara]

Oh, it's not a small flash, can't mount on camera.

 

[Morris0]

Oh, it's not a small flash, can't mount on camera.

Try a hot shoe extension cord or sync cord.

Morris

 

[Lazara]

You were right, the system is fussy. What I did was to turn on the camera, turn on the wireless trigger and then put it on camera.

 

[Morris0]

You were right, the system is fussy. What I did was to turn on the camera, turn on the wireless trigger and then put it on camera.

I have no love for Fuji's flash system. While it produces great results, there are simply too many restrictions with no hints as to what is happening. Mixing the Fuji system with the buggy Godox system is an adventure.

Morris

 

[JNR]

You were right, the system is fussy. What I did was to turn on the camera, turn on the wireless trigger and then put it on camera.

I have no love for Fuji's flash system. While it produces great results, there are simply too many restrictions with no hints as to what is happening. Mixing the Fuji system with the buggy Godox system is an adventure.

Morris

Everything is relative. Not that I use flash often (let alone multi-flash), but when I needed it with Pentax I couldn't go with TTL because it failed as often as not). As for Fuji (much like Canon prior to that), I think their flash capabilities and consistency are pretty strong with the Godox system.

You don't hear many complaints about the small TT350F especially. Those who are considering building a flash system, I think using TT350Fs exclusively will work best - and you have full master-slave compatibility and nice metal feet at a very reasonable cost. Small flashes go best with small camera bodies.

The problem with a trigger is if it malfunctions - you are in real trouble. If one flash fails, you just go with another one... you have more flexibility to switch off the master-slave arrangement. In any event, it seems like keeping your contacts clean and having enough fresh batteries almost always solves the problem.

 

[Morris0]

You were right, the system is fussy. What I did was to turn on the camera, turn on the wireless trigger and then put it on camera.

I have no love for Fuji's flash system. While it produces great results, there are simply too many restrictions with no hints as to what is happening. Mixing the Fuji system with the buggy Godox system is an adventure.

Morris

Everything is relative. Not that I use flash often (let alone multi-flash), but when I needed it with Pentax I couldn't go with TTL because it failed as often as not). As for Fuji (much like Canon prior to that), I think their flash capabilities and consistency are pretty strong with the Godox system.

You don't hear many complaints about the small TT350F especially. Those who are considering building a flash system, I think using TT350Fs exclusively will work best - and you have full master-slave compatibility and nice metal feet at a very reasonable cost. Small flashes go best with small camera bodies.

The problem with a trigger is if it malfunctions - you are in real trouble. If one flash fails, you just go with another one... you have more flexibility to switch off the master-slave arrangement. In any event, it seems like keeping your contacts clean and having enough fresh batteries almost always solves the problem.

I shot Nikon for 20 years and everything just worked both on camera and remote. Godox and Mets flashes worked properly. The Godox commanders and receivers worked properly.

Fuji flashes work well on Fuji cameras till you try and burst and then it's an adventure in finding settings that don't slow you down to 3 FPS. Godox on Fuji don't properly zoom beyond 133mm. They require setting the zoom manually which is not so bad till they time out and then welcome to starting the setup over while missing shots. Other settings go away when they time out. This includes the TT305F. All the Godox F flashes have F designation as IMHO they are Failures.

I shot Canon before Nikon, again flash just worked.

I'm sorry, while the Fuji flash system can produce lovely TTL results, I've had way too many adventures with it. Once again and I say this about all brands of cameras "Do the designers use the cameras they design?"

Morris

 

[JNR]

I must admit that as someone who almost never uses direct flash (other than in HSS situations), I'm always setting the zoom function manually. A wise practice because auto relies on both mechanical and electronic functions prone to failure - and the auto zoom benefit is marginal - and sometimes too narrow and harsh. I'm also not reliant on burst flash shooting in the modern digital era, so another area where I don't run into problems.

By reputation, I agree, Nikon mastered TTL pretty much ahead of everyone else.

 

[kli]

... One of the things that concern me is that I press the HSS button on the flash and it's on, but it doesn't show on the trigger and can't find it on this particular trigger.

No, you won't.

Fuji is unique among the systems that Godox supports in that HSS is set in the camera menus, and not on the transmitter with a SYNC button.

The other thing is that in the user manual, it says that I should set my camera on FP,

Yup. That's the only way to set HSS.

but when I get to my flash options, there's only front and [rear] curtain.

How is Flash Function Setting set? Because that looks like settings for the built-in flash, not a Shoe Mount Flash. Most pop-up flashes don't do HSS because their power output is too small for it to be effective at portrait distances.

 

[Lazara]

... One of the things that concern me is that I press the HSS button on the flash and it's on, but it doesn't show on the trigger and can't find it on this particular trigger.

No, you won't.

Fuji is unique among the systems that Godox supports in that HSS is set in the camera menus, and not on the transmitter with a SYNC button.

The other thing is that in the user manual, it says that I should set my camera on FP,

Yup. That's the only way to set HSS.

but when I get to my flash options, there's only front and [rear] curtain.

How is Flash Function Setting set? Because that looks like settings for the built-in flash, not a Shoe Mount Flash. Most pop-up flashes don't do HSS because their power output is too small for it to be effective at portrait distances.

Thank you for the clarification, it makes sense now!

As for the flash function, it works properly now. Automatically sets itself when I mount the trigger, but sometimes it "disconnects" so to speak. When that happens, I remove the trigger and mount it again and it works.

And while I'm here, can someone explain about that flash zoom you're talking about? What it's for?

 

[JNR]

And while I'm here, can someone explain about that flash zoom you're talking about? What it's for?

Most modern flashes - especially the small- to mid-sized ones - have a zooming function that broadens or narrows the light distribution based on the lens in use. It really only applies to direct flash use. If you set this to "auto" the flash communicates with the body and sets the flash distribution accordingly.

If set to manual, the user will dial in the scoping. For those of us who usually use various forms of bounce (on-board or ceiling, or combo), you would set manually and tend to err on the wider side to avoid harshness and possible aiming error. Of course, this method tends to lower the flash range (or require a higher ISO).

 

[Lazara]

That's so cool. I usually bounce the flash on the ceiling when we do product flstlays so I'll definitely play with the zoom option. Thanks!

 

[kli]

... And while I'm here, can someone explain about that flash zoom you're talking about? What it's for?

As JNR has described, it's to adjust the spread of the beam. Basically all the flash is doing is moving the flash tube closer to the front fresnel panel (wider beam), or farther back into the head (more focused, tighter beam).

The wider the setting is, the larger the spread, but the weaker the beam appears; and the longer the setting is, the more focused and tighter the spread and the more powerful it appears.

Zoom is also the main way in which manufacturers "cheat" their guide number readings, btw. Many manufacturers will give the guide number at iso 100, but at the highest possible zoom to make their flashes look more powerful.

For example, Godox uses 200mm zoom and gives a guide number of 60m for their traditional fresnel-headed flashes. But you'll see the speced guide number on the V1 is 28m, not because it's less powerful on output, but because the V1's round head only zooms from 28mm-105mm, and the round head doesn't focus light the same way a fresnel head does. It's designed to give a more even fall off and spread, and that costs on the distance the light can be thrown. [The entire purpose of a fresnel lens is to focus light and throw it farther (e.g., lighthouse lenses) but it does create hotspots in the lighting pattern.] But the light output from the V1 in an off-camera+modifier setup has been measured as being pretty much the same as the other Godox full-sized speedlights (actually 0.1EV brighter).

Similarly, a Nikon OEM top of the line full-sized speedlight, the SB-5000, is speced as having a guide number of 34.5m, while zoomed to 35mm.

Also, auto zooming may ignore crop factor and just matches the focal length of the lens used or the camera internally does the crop math for you and may or may not display the full-frame equivalent focal length or actual focal length (differs between OEM and 3rd party gear). But the zoom/FoV of the lens thing only works for direct flash, anyway. For off-camera usage, zoom isn't used to match FoV of the lens so much as to simply control the spread/intensity of the beam.