Trouble with a sunpak and uneven flash coverage to the extreme!

[Janie]

The top half has great lighting and the bottom turns out black. I have tried so many settings and either it comes out all white or just this. Trying to figure out if its broken, malfunctioning or if i'm doing somethign wrong. It's getting me PO'd!

[drg]

Your sync speed is off.

This is a case to try (shudder) fully AUTO mode or Program mode and let the camera figure it out to see if it works. Is the Sunpak model you have for Canon(you are still shooting Canon?) or is it a 'generic' unit?

If it doesn't work on the camera at all and if the strobe has a wireless or slave mode try that with the built in flash (or another flash) to see if the unit in question 'syncs' at all or if the cameras sync speed is off.

[Janie]

Well, I can't shoot in full auto when using a flash on the boot. Yes, i'm still using a canon XTi. It's so strange, at first it worked beautifully, then the last several shoots all i have are these problems. ARGH!

The other thing is I have to use the boot flash with my extra wide angle lens or I get a shadow from the lens with the built in flash. The built in flash works fine other than that shadow. The Sunpak model is for the canon. This is so frustrating!

[Janie]

Okay, so i slowed down the shutter and that worked. I usually tried using a faster shutter for sharper images, but oh well!

[dhyravy]

You may need to set your camera for manual flash. I'm betting the Sunpak is not a dedicated (ie Canon) model. Your camera manual should provide the maximum sync speed.

[schrackman]

Is your rebel doing this even when not using flash? that's what my pictures began to look like after my original rebel started going on the blink and why I had to purchase a new camera.

[highdet]

Hi,
Which model Sunpak flash are you using?