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SF-40 Flash on the Q


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Been using a SF-40 with my Leica Q all weekend. Had a couple of issues... wondering whether this is typical behaviour, or an issue with the SF-40 or the Q?

 

1. Fairly frequently (say every 10 shots or so) the Pilot LED on the flash will not turn green but stay red, and the unit won't fire. The only solution is to power the SF-40 off and on again.

2. Occasionally the SF-40 will fire at full power for no apparent reason, after which the Pilot light will stay red as in point 1, and the unit will have to be turned off and on again.

 

The two seem linked though not completely, as 1 happens much more than 2 does.

 

Has anyone else experienced this while using the SF-40 or using any flash on the Q? I bought my SF-40 2nd hand however it seems in perfect condition apart from the issues above. I bought it from a camera shop so can fortunately return it i does prove to be faulty.

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My SF-40 works well. I recommend checking to be sure it's seated all the way into the flash shoe. I often use mine either as a bounce flash on TTL or in manual mode.

 

Thanks for your reply. I think it was seated in properly as it was locked in. This happened on two evenings in a row now, but I will test it out further at home today. I forgot to add I encountered both problems when using the flash in both TTL and also Manual mode. Also using it to bounce, with the Gary Fong Lightblade - am impressed with the results so far, if only I didn't have so many missed shots as I had to keep restarting the unit!

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I've not once had to restart mine. I would carefully check that you do have good batteries. I only use rechargeable batteries, but I don't think that would mattter as long as your batteries are fully charged. Over the years I've probably had more problems thinking batteries were fully charged when they weren't. It makes the recharge times get much longer. I previously used a SF-26 and eventually replaced it with the SF-40 partly because the SF-26 used AAA batteries. Good luck. It's possible your flash is defective. Possibly order another from Amazon or B&H and compare. Easy to return within 15 days.

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I've not once had to restart mine. I would carefully check that you do have good batteries. I only use rechargeable batteries, but I don't think that would mattter as long as your batteries are fully charged. Over the years I've probably had more problems thinking batteries were fully charged when they weren't. It makes the recharge times get much longer. I previously used a SF-26 and eventually replaced it with the SF-40 partly because the SF-26 used AAA batteries. Good luck. It's possible your flash is defective. Possibly order another from Amazon or B&H and compare. Easy to return within 15 days.

 

 

Batteries were fully charged overnight on both days, using Eneloop black rechargeable so they should be more than capable. Thinking I'll probably return to where I purchased from and get a new one instead rather than 2nd hand, hopefully that should fix! If you haven't had to restart yours once, there is definitly an issue that needs resolving here.

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Update on my SF-40 issues. I tested the Q & flash at home today on a tripod with a fixed subject, and was able to replicate both the occasional random full power flash, plus the Pilot Light stuck on red, requiring a power off & on of the flash unit.

 

I then cleaned the contacts on the flash & the camera hot-shoe with alcohol wipes... and then retested. Lo and behold... everything seemed to work just fine after that. So there was either some grime on the contacts causing a problem, or perhaps a loose connection in a flash contact that some wiggling seems to have resolved, for now at least. I've removed and replaced the flash a few times, and it's not skipping a beat, so hopefully it's all sorted now!

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Most of my flash is in off camera manual mode using a wireless trigger. Has anyone been able to use a Nikon SB700 in this way with the Q?

 

My Q triggers Nikon SB-900s using a PocketWizard MiniTT1 in the hot-shoe and SB900 on a FlexTT5 (all manual mode of course). Anything that can provide an ordinary trigger signal on the hot-shoe center pin, should work with the SB-700. Cords like Nikon's SC-28 and SC-29, i.e. wired, work with my Q and Nikon flashes and Nikon compatible flashes (manual mode). I can not think of any reason why a SB700 should fail in the same setting.

Edited by odds
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Update on my SF-40 issues. I tested the Q & flash at home today on a tripod with a fixed subject, and was able to replicate both the occasional random full power flash, plus the Pilot Light stuck on red, requiring a power off & on of the flash unit.

 

I then cleaned the contacts on the flash & the camera hot-shoe with alcohol wipes... and then retested. Lo and behold... everything seemed to work just fine after that. So there was either some grime on the contacts causing a problem, or perhaps a loose connection in a flash contact that some wiggling seems to have resolved, for now at least. I've removed and replaced the flash a few times, and it's not skipping a beat, so hopefully it's all sorted now!

Great news. Perhaps a learning for all of us to occasionally clean the flash and camera shoe contacts.

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Great news. Perhaps a learning for all of us to occasionally clean the flash and camera shoe contacts.

 

 

Ok 2nd update; Both issues have unfortunately returned. The issue with having to turn the flash off & on again seems to be the flashes built in 'overheat protection' which according to the manual allows the flash to cool down if 20-30 successive shots are fired at high power. However this problem intermittently appears after just a few shots at low power, and never clears even after a 30 minutes wait, so seems to be a fault with my unit. I still haven't worked out why the unit sometimes fires at full power even when the flash is set to low power manual mode. Anyway the shop I purchased from has agreed to accept the unit back for a full refund, and I am buying a new unit from them instead. Hopefully the replacement will behave itself!

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