I have two SF58s that worked fine all last year.
Now neither seems to be communicating with the camera correctly.
The ISO on the flash’s LCD doesn’t match that set on the S2. I cannot set ETTL in the mode selection … only TTL, A, M and pulse is available … BUT, the flash does fire in TTL. The flash fires in TTL with either the FP to 1/125 or CS to 1/1000
It is not the lens … I tried various lenses.
The only difference I can think of is that I had up-dated the S2’s firmware since last year, and it is the latest firmware (which I just confirmed when trying the 45CS lens this weekend).
Both SF58s show version 1.1 when first starting up.
I tried reseting both SF58s to no avail.
I’m perplexed. Anyone else experiencing this?
Any suggestions anyone?
Help!
– Marc
fotografz;6164 wrote: I have two SF58s that worked fine all last year.
Now neither seems to be communicating with the camera correctly.
The ISO on the flash’s LCD doesn’t match that set on the S2. I cannot set ETTL in the mode selection … only TTL, A, M and pulse is available … BUT, the flash does fire in TTL. The flash fires in TTL with either the FP to 1/125 or CS to 1/1000
It is not the lens … I tried various lenses.
The only difference I can think of is that I had up-dated the S2’s firmware since last year, and it is the latest firmware (which I just confirmed when trying the 45CS lens this weekend).
Both SF58s show version 1.1 when first starting up.
I tried reseting both SF58s to no avail.
I’m perplexed. Anyone else experiencing this?
Any suggestions anyone?
Help!
– Marc
Marc,
The correct setting on the SF58 for the S2 should be TTL-HSS. There is no E-TTL mode (that’s Canon’s proprietary flash system). It shouldn’t fire on straight TTL, only on TTL-HSS, and should sync at every available shutter speed up to 1/4000 on FPS.
The other option is to use the flash on A mode, which I find to much quicker and just as accurate as TTL-HSS.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiThanks for answering David.
Yes, I know it is supposed to only work on TTL-HSS … and that is the way it worked before.
Suddenly, TTL-HSS is not available at all in the SF58 selection menu, but TTL is there … then, the camera and flash will fire in just TTL up to 1/4000 in CS mode and up to 1/125 in FP mode.
The problem seems to be that the flash/camera are not communicating … so if I set ISO 320 on the camera the flash remains on default ISO 100.
I can go in and manually set the ISO on the flash, and it’ll properly expose in TTL.
I have two SF58s that act the same way.
I tried resetting the flashes. Nope.
Cleaned the contacts. Nope.
The ONLY difference is that I loaded the new S2 firmware and now the flash operation is screwed up.
I cannot find any info on flash operation, nor any reference to any firmware update for the SF58s.
Yes, I can set A, but it should work the way it was designed.
Further thoughts?
– Marc
fotografz;6167 wrote: Thanks for answering David.
Yes, I know it is supposed to only work on TTL-HSS … and that is the way it worked before.
Suddenly, TTL-HSS is not available at all in the SF58 selection menu, but TTL is there … then, the camera and flash will fire in just TTL up to 1/4000 in CS mode and up to 1/125 in FP mode.
The problem seems to be that the flash/camera are not communicating … so if I set ISO 320 on the camera the flash remains on default ISO 100.
I can go in and manually set the ISO on the flash, and it’ll properly expose in TTL.
I have two SF58s that act the same way.
I tried resetting the flashes. Nope.
Cleaned the contacts. Nope.
The ONLY difference is that I loaded the new S2 firmware and now the flash operation is screwed up.
I cannot find any info on flash operation, nor any reference to any firmware update for the SF58s.
Yes, I can set A, but it should work the way it was designed.
Further thoughts?
– Marc
Yeah, sounds like the flash is not communicating with the body. Do you still have any digital M bodies? If so, try a flash and see if it communicates.
I doubt this is firmware related as we haven’t heard of this issue with any of our customers, or experienced it ourselves on our S2-P with firmware v1.0.4.2. In fact, I just tried again and it works perfectly.
I suspect there could be some issue with your camera. If you find that the flash works fine on the M (I suspect it will), a German vacation might be in order for your S2-P.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiThanks for looking David.
You’ve written that your S2P firmware is version 1.0.4.2.
The newest S2 firmware version (which I had loaded around December or January) is listed on the Leica site as: update version 1.3.0.0
V1.3.0.0 is listed as adding support for the 45/2.8 (CS) that I am trying out. So I confirmed what firmware was in my S2-P.
I had not used the SF58 since installing the new firmware a few months ago, but prior to that the SF58s worked perfectly with the older firmware.
So, the only variable in use of the camera has been installing the new firmware. The camera wasn’t used with the SF58 since the new firmware.
I just put in a fully charged S battery, reset the S2P to factory basics, used different CF and SD cards, all to no avail.
I’m a bit concerned that since not many folks use hot-shoe based flash, that this may be a firmware issue with v1.3.0.0 that hasn’t been reported yet.
So I am trying to confirm that someone with the newest 1.3.0.0 firmware installed can use their SF58 normally and TTL-HSS is available, with the correct ISO and lens zoom settings transferred from the camera to the SF58.David, the odd thing is that the SF58 now works in TTL … if I recall correctly, it wouldn’t even fire unless it was set to TTL-HSS (right?). If I manually input the correct ISO and zoom settings on the SF58, it shoots TTL in either FP or CS mode.
Someone elsewhere mentioned that there is a new firmware version for the SF58 which reads v2 bottom right corner when you turn on the flash … both my SF58s read v1.1. If there is one, where the heck do you get an update for the SF58?
(BTW, all is working perfectly with Profoto B-600/D-1 AIR strobes and AIR transmitter in the hot-shoe).
– Marc
fotografz;6167 wrote: Thanks for answering David.
Yes, I know it is supposed to only work on TTL-HSS … and that is the way it worked before.
Suddenly, TTL-HSS is not available at all in the SF58 selection menu, but TTL is there … then, the camera and flash will fire in just TTL up to 1/4000 in CS mode and up to 1/125 in FP mode.
The problem seems to be that the flash/camera are not communicating … so if I set ISO 320 on the camera the flash remains on default ISO 100.
I can go in and manually set the ISO on the flash, and it’ll properly expose in TTL.
I have two SF58s that act the same way.
I tried resetting the flashes. Nope.
Cleaned the contacts. Nope.
The ONLY difference is that I loaded the new S2 firmware and now the flash operation is screwed up.
I cannot find any info on flash operation, nor any reference to any firmware update for the SF58s.
Yes, I can set A, but it should work the way it was designed.
Further thoughts?
– Marc
I find several occurrences of these before – TTL-HSS is nowhere to be found and only TTL is available in the menu and exposure info does not register. Have you tried alternating the powering up sequence: so power up flash first, insert it tightly to hotshoe, then power camera on? I forgot the order but at some point it solved the problem for me.
btw, I’ve just got several Canon 600 EX RT’s – although they don’t do ETTL with a Leica it’s fun to use them manually as small strobes. Quite amazing you can control a large group of these wirelessly without pocket wizards hanging around.
Update:
Fiddling with the set-up, I pressed the two outer buttons to reset the SF58 … but held them down … reset flashed 3 times and then went out. I was then able to see TTL-HSS in the menu selection and select it.
Sounds good until I saw that the lens f/stop was still not matching that of the camera nor the ISO, so everything grossly over-exposed. Removed the flash, replaced it again and it reverted to the original problem … no TTL-HHS in the menu, and trying the reset technique didn’t work again … reset flashed two times instead of three and went out, no TTL-HSS.
Of course, this all has to happen just as I prep for this season of paying work where I use the SF58 in TTL-HSS for on-camera fill when working with mobile Profoto Strobes.
Frankly, I’m reaching the end of my rope with Leica and their electronic bugs. This camera has been back to Leica so many times I should have signed it up for a frequent flier miles program. I was about to sell off my Sony A900 but may rethink that since in the 5 years it’s been my work-horse it has been to service exactly zero times. Zero.
I’ve put up with it because the S2P is truly a great camera with the best lenses available … but come on, I need to count on the darned thing … and it isn’t as if it’s been over used or has many shots on it. Other than the new firmware possibility I’ve speculated on, there is no apparent reason for this to have happened. None.
Grrrrr.
– Marc
fotografz;6174 wrote: Update:
Fiddling with the set-up, I pressed the two outer buttons to reset the SF58 … but held them down … reset flashed 3 times and then went out. I was then able to see TTL-HSS in the menu selection and select it.
Sounds good until I saw that the lens f/stop was still not matching that of the camera nor the ISO, so everything grossly over-exposed. Removed the flash, replaced it again and it reverted to the original problem … no TTL-HHS in the menu, and trying the reset technique didn’t work again … reset flashed two times instead of three and went out, no TTL-HSS.
Of course, this all has to happen just as I prep for this season of paying work where I use the SF58 in TTL-HSS for on-camera fill when working with mobile Profoto Strobes.
Frankly, I’m reaching the end of my rope with Leica and their electronic bugs. This camera has been back to Leica so many times I should have signed it up for a frequent flier miles program. I was about to sell off my Sony A900 but may rethink that since in the 5 years it’s been my work-horse it has been to service exactly zero times. Zero.
I’ve put up with it because the S2P is truly a great camera with the best lenses available … but come on, I need to count on the darned thing … and it isn’t as if it’s been over used or has many shots on it. Other than the new firmware possibility I’ve speculated on, there is no apparent reason for this to have happened. None.
Grrrrr.
– Marc
Marc,
You were correct, 1.3.0.0 is the latest. We just hadn’t gotten around to updating our S2-P demo camera. I just updated to 1.3.0.0 and my SF58 still works as it should, communicating data between body and flash (ISO, f-stop). So, this is not an endemic firmware bug.
You may want to try something that has worked in the past both with S2s and with M cameras that have demonstrated software glitches. Simply remove the battery from the camera and let it sit overnight. The internal memory of the camera has a small battery backup to keep data active for a few hours – this is done so you don’t lose settings between battery changes or if the battery discharges all the way. In this case, by removing the battery and letting the backup fail, the internal memory of the camera will be fully reset and may very well solve the communication issue.
If this doesn’t work, it may be possible to get a debug firmware sent from Leica Germany (must be created specifically for your camera as it contains sensor mapping information which is tracked by serial number). With this special firmware, you’d be able to uninstall v1.3.0.0 and reinstall it.
Let us know how things progress.
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiThank you for doing that David.
I will try your suggestion tonight and report back.
I am also in contact with Leica USA … but will try this first.
Again, thank you!
– Marc
fotografz;6177 wrote: Thank you for doing that David.
I will try your suggestion tonight and report back.
I am also in contact with Leica USA … but will try this first.
Again, thank you!
– Marc
Any luck, Marc?
David Farkas
Red Dot Forum
Leica Store MiamiThanks for asking David.
Sadly, removing the battery overnight didn’t solve the issue, and I am in contact with Kelsey Fains at Leica regarding next steps.
She is forwarding my description to Germany to see if there have been other instances of this.
If there is a solution, I will share it with the group so we can all learn.
– Marc
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