just sitting in my garden with my telephoto, flash an flash extender attached waiting for some hummingbirds when i noticed a faint wisp of smoke coming from my flash. On the front side of the flash right where the canon emblem is totally melted. Noticed it the next day when the flash was not cooperating. Anyone else experience this problem and can it be operator error.
Originally Posted by treemanpa
Was it a sunny day, and was your camera in the sun, perhaps on a tripod? A flash extender is a Fresnel lens, which are used to concentrate light (in lighthouses, and perhaps more relevant, in things like solar camping ovens). If the sun was at the right angle, especially if the camera was in a constant position relative to the sun, the sunlight may have been concentrated onto the surface of the flash, melting it. I'm not sure that anything internal would cause that.
EDIT: Going with the assumption that this was operator error [], if you plan to replace the flash there's a $50 instant rebate available on the 580EX II through July 10th.
I'm betting you're right....I think the Better Beamer comes with a written warning about this exact scenario!
thanks for your replies. nuero hit it right on the head. late evening, sun at a slight angle, camera on tripod . this might end up being a expensive blunder. lesson well learned.
Definitely an expensive mistake. One the positive side, the expensive mistakes are the ones you rarely repeat.
Hey John, how quickly could something like this happen?
I feel really bad for you treemanpa, I'm surprised this hasn't happened to me yet!
Denise
Ditto - I'm sorry to have guessed correctly... [
I honestly have no idea, Denise. I suggested that as the explanation because it seemed logical, and was the only thing I could come up with. I didn't know about the warning on the Better Beamer that Joel mentioned.
Perhapstreemanpa can recollect about how long the setup was out there.
One suggestion, since you have light stands and clamps - set up an umbrella over your camera if you're set up on your tripod with your flash extender in the sun. You might even be able to rig a clamp onto a tripod leg? Perhaps using something other than a lighting umbrella - my daughter has a child's umbrella, maybe 24" in diameter, that would be just about right.
FYI - For the Better Beamer, the label reads, "WARNING!This is a Magnifying Lens! Pointing the lens near the sun may result in damage to your camera or your eyes." Slightly different scenerio but I still never would have thought about anything happening to theflash itself until reading this unless I was maybe out there for many hours in direct sun I guess.
this was the 2nd weekend i used the extender an as usual i did not read the directions. i usually never sit facing the sun but on that accasion it was probably around 7p.m. to 7:30. constantly moving my camera position but might havelet it sit for 10-15 minutes at one time an thats all it took. sun was low in the west. good thing jamesburg is only a half hour away.
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