RD1 - radio flash trigger

G

gyuribacsi

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Hello to all!
I need some help from the community. Sorry for a long thread!
I bought a cactus radio trigger system for the use of my old Minolta flashes with the RD1. The trigger system (transmitter and receiver) works per se and with all my other cameras but not with the RD1. I have tested the hot shoe contact of the RD1 with a SB30 flash, it works. I tried to fire the radio transmitter with the pc-cable on the RD1, no reaction.
Has anybody a clue what`s going wrong? I`m a helpless idiot!:bang:

Please give me some hints, where to find my failure.
Thanks
George
 
I dunno, maybe something to do with changing from film electronic flash system to digital electronic flash system?
 
Does the transmitter need more than just the regular centre pin to fire? The R-D1 is plain stupid and can only trigger the flash, no more. If the transmitter relies on a secondary circuit, it´ll not find it on the R-D1.
 
Hi Ezzie, thanks for your question.
No, the transmitter has only one pin in the centre. I´ll try to change the polarity with a modified hot shoe adapter next week. I´ll report both, success or failour.
George
 
I use Cactus V4s with my R-D1s with no problems except for the sync-speed being 1/125ths of a second. It will trigger at fast shutter-speeds but you will catch some of the shutter in the frame and get a black bar and with the 6MP resolution of the R-D1 dRfs, there is not much room for error or cropping (dependent of your needs).
 
At the moment it is difficult to determine if the fault lies with your transmitter or your particular camera.

Both my MicroSync (Tamrac) and Multimax (Pocket Wizard) transmitters work perfectly on my R-D1.
 
I have, I can't even count, many flashes. My Minolta 320xs both have trouble (work on some cameras but not others) with the Cactus V2. I also have Sybercync radio triggers, the Minoltas now work with all my cameras. I do not have a RD-1. Don't ask me why but I do remember reading something on Strobist.com/Flickr about this problem.
 
Hello again, thank`s for all your answers and suggestions.
I want so report my failure, to solve this problem with soldering a flash adapter to reversed polarity. It does not work. The radio transmitter does not fire with the RD1. It fires with all of my other gear, but not with this special camera. Very disappointing.
Meanwhile I`ve sent my question to Epson why the transmitter doesn`t work with the RD1 and hope they could figure ist out.

Cheers
George
 
George did you check that the shoe works with *any* flash? Usually it's best to try everything with everything before getting too upset.

Did your RD1 fire a traditional shoe flash on the shoe without a sync?
 
Hello Ash! Yes, I did all kinds of checks. Every flash works fine mounted on the hot shoe or connected via pc-cord (I tried with several Nikon SB-flashes).
BTW I´m not upset but a little bit disappointed. I planned to use the RD1 as a proofing gear for flashlight photography (like Polaroids in former times).

Cheers
George
 
Hey George, that's fair enough then.

I had all sorts of troubles with cheapo triggers, so I bought a pair of microsyncs. Because they need a 'special' (now uncommon, expensive oem) cable to plug into non-studio flash, I use the triggers and leave the MS receivers on the bowens, then use cheap chinese 4-channel receivers for my shoe/pc-sync carry-round flashes.

I do what you're planning, though. Use the Canon 40D for proofing, and the blad or whatever for the proper shots.

good luck with it
 
my radio transmitter mounted on the RD1 does fire my flash mounted on the paired receiver. however it does not sync with the camera. its either fired ahead of the shutter or after the shutter closes... i have no idea. but if the same flash is mounted on the RD1 it does sync. any idea on this one too?
 
edwin_sn said:
my radio transmitter mounted on the RD1 does fire my flash mounted on the paired receiver. however it does not sync with the camera. its either fired ahead of the shutter or after the shutter closes... i have no idea. but if the same flash is mounted on the RD1 it does sync. any idea on this one too?
Click to expand...

Which Radio transmitters? That really sounds off, maybe change the transmission frequency.
 
Update!
I just have had a phone call from Epson-Europe. They have tested an RD1 with a radio flash trigger: strobe wizard by Hensel. And it works.
Conclusio: Do not buy cheapies from china, like cactus or phottix, if you want to have them work with a RD1. Buy serious products.
BTW the polarity of the hotshoe is: middle (+) shoe (-).
So for me, I have to setup and proof lighting with a Polaroid-back on a Mamiya RB.
Cheers
George
 
I use a Cactus V2s radio trigger with my R-D1 and it works just fine (well, 10-20% with R-D1 are misfires, which I've never had with my dSLR or Mamiya RZ67..). Sure I'd use a PocketWizard if I had the money, but I'm happy with my Cacti.

Here's a shot I took yesterday with my R-D1+Cactus:

 
Yes doncraig, its true. Disappointing but true. But it seems to be an issue of the production. Some work, some doesn´t. My cacti doesn´t.

George
 
I bought a Cowboy Studio NPT-04 from Amazon to use with my R-D1, however it fires the flash just after the shutter closes. For example if my shutter speed is 1 second, the shutter will open, stay open for 1 second, close, and then the flash fires as the shutter closes. The hotshoe on my R-D1 doesn't work with any flashgun, so the wireless transmitter is plugged into the PC-Sync port.

I've tested the NPT-04 with the same flashgun but on a Leica R6 and it works fine, any idea if I can get it to work on the R-D1, or should I just send it back and try a different model?
 
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