Ricoh GR problem - on board flash not syncing with shutter!

[MrRiver]

Hi Everyone

I have had my Ricoh GR for 5 days now and it is an amazing camera/sensor, getting some beautiful shots. On at least 5 different occasions I have tried to use the flash and instead of firing when shutter is open it fires about half to a full second later. I then take another photo and the flash fires when it should. This is really annoying as have lost a few shots when fill flash was absolutely necessary.

I have double checked all settings and can't think of anything that is causing it. I usually shoot in AV mode and have flash set for first curtain sync with flash on (flash always fires)

Can anyone shed any light on this? Has it happened to anyone else? Why would the flash operate in the second after the shutter has already closed?

Thanks for your help.

 

[MrRiver]

Nice shot of skateboarder!

I hope to buy a 3rd party flash for my GR to use in a similar fashion. What flash are you going to use?

 

[miked58]

This is Christian Hosoi a very famous professional skater. I used high speed sync on my canon to qwell the harsh light but also make him pop vividly with flash. Shutter was 1/1250.

The Ricoh Leaf shutter should allow this with no special magic, just a cable. I prefer TTL, but manual is fine too. My Olympus XZ-1 Leaf Shutter allows this to 1/1400 I think and its great.

This is an example where I handed my camera to a another couple on Mount Vesuvius to take a photo of my wife and I. I set the camera to Aperture Priority with a Canon 580EX2 speed-light set to HSS for Hish speed sync. The AV mode kept the sky dark, but allowed for the flash to fill in our faces. Most DSLR's cant do this with the on board flash, but the Ricoh can do this with just the on Board flash. Flash Sync speed for Ricoh leaf shutter is 1/2000 so I plan to use this to extend my shooting time when normally photos are not flattering.

The Dark Shadows on my wifes glasses would have benefited from fill flash in this photo.

Great Samples. I think for most camera enthusiasts flash is like "the final frontier'.

Action flash photography steps things up a bit too. I plan to stick to studio lights as much as possible. I even take them to weddings and to be honest the photo booth shots are often the most popular as everyone is relaxed after a few drinks by the end of the evening and the speech tension is over. The rest of the time is fill flash with 580EXs.

--
Canon 650D, Canon 600D, Oly E-pm1, EFS 15-85mm IS, efs 10-22mm, 24-70L, 100-400L, 24-105L, EFS 18-135 STM, Tokina 50-135 f2.8, EFS 55-250mm IS, 580EX, Hensel and Elinchrom studio lights, Canon Ixus 80IS

 

[phazelag]

Nice shot of skateboarder!

I hope to buy a 3rd party flash for my GR to use in a similar fashion. What flash are you going to use?

Mike I got my GR today and from my poorly composed snaps I am already impressed. I am thinking of getting the Ricoh GF-1 to use with my generic TTL or I am considering getting the Small Olympus FL 300 that will fit in my pocket and also lay back for bounce. My only concern with any of them is if I end up going manual, how easy are they to adjust.

I will have to test them if I can find them at Samy's camera. Otherwise if I am forced to use manual I am going to use the Yongnuo 560 or 656 models as they have a super easy wheel for adjusting power and they only cost about $70 for massive power. Yongnuo also has super clean an easy wireless triggers that can be bought for $32 a set. My wireless triggers work but are alot more clumsy.

Scott Z

 

[abluesky]

Tom,

I use FEV and EC (Flash Exposure Compensation) and {Exposure Compensation) all the time and its actually fairly straight forward. EC doesnt work in manual mode only in AV/TV/ or Auto where EC can darken the exposure or lighten the exposure as I am sure you already know. It doesn't change with flash. The FEV only increases or decreases the flash power and doesn't change any other setting. It brightens the flash or darkens the flash.

A popular technique on bright days is to lower EC (to darken the sky) and increase FEV (to brighten the back-lit subject) or at night to increase EC to get more back ground ambience (like slow synchro) and decreases FEV to reduce the "flashed" look.

Z

A reason why I live the ricoh DPR forum!

Posts like this!

 

[phazelag]

I hope that was useful and not condescending. Its hard to tell some times what is serious and what is sarcasm on here.