Using Alienbees studio flash with Mamiya C220?

[strangerbeat]

I'm trying to test out my C220 with my AB's and I dont think I'm doing it right.

I plug the PC cord into where it's supposed to go and it's connected to the wireless trigger that I have in the hotshoe. I set it to "X", but the flash is never triggered when I release the shutter. This happens when the wireless trigger is on or off the shoe...

What's strange though, is that when I have the trigger in the shoe, it randomly triggers the flash when it wants to without my having to do anything. Just random triggers. The shutter doesnt even have to trip.

I wondered if this was a battery problem, but it doesnt look like this thing has a battery compartment? I'm quite lost.

 

[blue4130]

What's strange though, is that when I have the trigger in the shoe, it randomly triggers the flash when it wants to without my having to do anything. Just random triggers. The shutter doesn't even have to trip.

Try removing the trigger. Hook the AB's to the x-sync directly with a PC cord. If that works, then the problem is the triggers. If not, could be a bad connection. The camera doesn't require a battery to fire a flash. It just closes/completes a loop in the circuit.

 

[drewbarb]

Not sure about the C220, but most other cameras I've used that have both a hotshoe and a PC synch port don't want you to try to use both at the same time. Try pulling the wireless trigger out of the hotshoe if you're going to use the PC port.

 

[sfj]

All Mamiya C series TLRs have a cold shoe, not a hot shoe.

 

[strangerbeat]

The triggers "fire randomly" because they're just grounding out in the shoe for some reason. Usually this happens if it's a) actually a cold shoe or b) the trigger isn't seated quite right. In either case, the strobes won't trip...

Check the battery with the "test" button on the trigger. If it fires, the battery is good and the signal is getting to where it should.

Now, as for the strobes. You have a wireless receiver, and it's plugged into the sync port yes? What's with the PC cord?

i tried to have the trigger just dangling but no dice.

the PC cord is plugged in and set to X. weird. it works just fine on my Polaroid Land 240 and Bronica ETRS. perhaps it's a faulty socket on the Mamiya lens?