Canon 430 EX Flash questions

[Paul]

Anyone use the 430 flash? I bought one and am extremly disapointed in the severe recycle time of the flash recovery. IS that normal or is mine defective.

[Steve Foss]

Paul, at full flash strength, it takes my 430EX less than three seconds to recharge when batteries are a top charge.

In practice, since I rarely use it at full strength it takes only a second.

With the flash off the camera set your 430EX on manual mode and make sure it's at full power (1/1 shows after the M), wait for it to fully charge and then fire off one flash by pressing the lit pilot button on the back of the flash, then time it to see how long it takes to recharge.

If it takes longer than three seconds, you either have poor charge on the batteries or there's some defect with the flash.

[Paul]

Thanks for the input Steve. I found the problem. out of the 4 brand new out of the package batteries, one was shorted out, It was only putting out .13 volts instead of the 1.5 they were supposed to. Got my new rechargables in and works like a champ now. Ticked me off yesterday when I was on a shoot for a paying client and the darn thing did not work well. Was also ticked at the company I ordered it from because I paid extra to have it here in my hands a day b4 my shoot only to have the company tell me that even though I ordered it on Friday Afternoon and paid for 3 day shipping that Thursday would be 3 days. I knew I was to late to have it shipped out on Friday but figured it would be out monday with no problems and 3 days being wensday would have given me plenty of time to paly with it. Oh well most of my shots turned out fine with out the flash. the others will just need some creative PS work.

[MN Shutterbug]

Although birds aren't paying clients, I never go anywhere without an extra set of batteries. The extra set doesn't have to be rechargeables, just a 4 pack of alkalines can save the day.

[Steve Foss]

I'm big on redundancy, too. I have three sets of four rechargeable AA batteries, and when going into something like a wedding I have a couple more sets of regular alkaline batteries.

Glad it worked out for you this time, Paul.