Flash Issues

deeky

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I've got a YN 568EX II. Pulled it out of the bag and out of its case, installed batteries, and started shooting. It will fire, but the flash is firing weak and the photo comes out severely under exposed. Fresh batteries, in ettl, checked exposure comp. Nothing.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
 
Rechargeable batteries are sometimes a culprit. Some batteries, the ones that have the little "bump" on the positive contact, can work better than the ones without it. Possibly a battery contact inside the battery comaprtment is a bit bent-down. Re-check the flash mode to make SURE-SURE you're not doing something silly, like firing in 1/16 power mode, etc.. I've made a zillion dumb flash mistaks over the past 35 years...chwck also the flash is IN the hot shoe,alll the way, like 100%...Do'ah! (Please ask me about this one! NOT!)

(Insufficent) Power is usually the #1 problem. Contacts being ***110% cleaned** of finger oils might be problem 1B. Making absolutely SURE the settings are properly set is something I've messed up a few (dozen) times. A few to check...flash mode (A, TTL,Repeating, B-TTL,Fractional manual), camera ISO/ASA, lens f/stop, lens diaphragm actually working PROPERLY...that is one that can be tough to spot depending on brand of camera, if the lens diaphragm conks out.

Worst-case scenarion is the flashtube is mostly leaked out of the gas, and you'd need a different flash unit.
 
Not sure if a loose connection to the hot shoe could cause that issue or not. I know when I first got mine I had the hardest time for it to register on the camera. I'm still learning to use it and the manual is horrid.
 
Hot shoe connections CAN be an issue! Clean the hot shoe contacts on the camera, and clean the flash foot's contacts as well. Sometimes, a flash foot will seem to be in all the way, but is not 100 percent allll the way in. On SOME heavy flashes, there have been instances where "talls" with the camera make the flash foot pull off the hotshoe contacts a teeensie-tiny bit: this was an issue with some Nikon consumer cams and the SB 800 and 900, years ago.

Weak flash though...that can be serious--or, it can also be user error, like the wrong power, wrong ISO,etc.
 
Last idea: what CAMERA? some cameras have a Flash Exposure Comp control / button on the body: if you have that control on the body in question, and you're accidentally set to say, Minus 4.0 or Minus 5.0 EV on flash....it's gonna look awful!

I've managed to screw this up before, all by myself. This can EASILY, EASILY happen on one-button cameras like the D40 or D3000 series, where you press the wrong button and hold that button down and then rotate the dial/wheel and screw things up.
 
It almost sounds (reads) like the flash is set wrong. For instance, it could be set as "COMMANDER" (Nikon), and with that setting the flash is used to fire other flashes and should contribute very little to the overall exposure. It could be set to (M) manual and like 1/64th. That is a very low setting. So, make sure it is setup correctly (TTL). Some other things to try (before you send it back) would be to try the flash with another camera and try a different flash with your camera. Good Luck
 
Maybe provide a snap shot of the flash LCD so everyone can see its configuration that knows the unit. You're assuming you have it setup properly

My yongnuo (different model) drove me batty for days until I figured it out.
 

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