Camera problem?

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scitch
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Camera problem?

Post by scitch »

My Sony Alpha 200 seems to be having a problem when I shoot faster than 1/250 seconds. It appears that the mirror gets in the way. A picture appears below. Is this a defect in the camera? Is it something that I should send back for warranty repairs? I believe that it is less than a year old. The faster the shutter speed, the worse the problem happens. I don't know when the problem started because I haven't been using flash very long so I wasn't using fast shutter speeds. Might there be a setting that I have wrong?

Image

Anybody else have an a200 they can try this on?

I thought that it might be my vertical setup causing this since, but I shot pictures horizontally and they came out exactly the same way.

Mike

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Looks like you are shooting electronic flash at a shutter speed that is higher than the fastest camera sync speed. Don't think you have any problem.

I just did a quick check of your camera model over at DPReview, and the fastest shutter speed that you can synchronize when using electronic flash is specified as 1/160 second. Any shutter speed faster than that will produce the effect you have shown us here.

(If, on the other hand this was taken with no electronic flash.... then never mind the above... you've got a shutter problem!)

georgetsmurf
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Re: Camera problem?

Post by georgetsmurf »

My Sony Alpha 200 seems to be having a problem when I shoot faster than 1/250 seconds.
As Charles says it lookss like a flash-shutter synchronisation problem however saying that, it seems strange that the camera doesn't automatically select for the correct shutter speed when you are using flash? Or are you maybe shooting in a fully manual mode with a externally connected flash just to a flash socket? :?

Craig Gerard
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Post by Craig Gerard »

Mike,

What type of flash unit are you using and how is it connected to your Sony A200?


EXIF data indicates
ExposureTime: 1/320"
Aperture: F1.0
MaxAperture: F1.0
ExposureProgram: Manual
ExposureBiasValue: 0
CompressedBitsPerPixel: 8
MeteringMode: Multi-segment
Flash: Off, Did not fire
ISO: 200
WhiteBalance: Auto
FocalLength: 0.0 mm
FocalLength35efl: 0.0 mm
SceneType: Directly photographed
ColorSpace: sRGB
Contrast: Normal
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal

There are some unusual numbers in those details.

Craig
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"

Harold Gough
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Post by Harold Gough »

I would be surprised if a partially raised mirror would give such an evenly dark area rather than a graduated one. Anyway, no camera would allow mirror movement during exposure.

Harold
My images are a medium for sharing some of my experiences: they are not me.

Oskar O
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Post by Oskar O »

One of the shutter blades isn't clearing the sensor in time --> too high sync speed if flash was used, sticky shutter if flash wasn't used.

Nikons have a mode where the sync speed can be very high, with a penalty in flash power. But this stuff is primarily for outdoor flash use where the ambient light is strong enough to force a very high shutter speed. Remember that normally subject motion is frozen by the flash pulse, so unless ambient light is strong, you don't need a particularly fast sync speed.

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

Charles Krebs wrote: (If, on the other hand this was taken with no electronic flash.... then never mind the above... you've got a shutter problem!)
The EXIF data in the posted image says that the shutter speed was 1/320s, manual exposure, and Flash Fired: No (enforced).

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

If it is a "dedicated" flash that "communicates" with the camera body then this should not happen since the camera should not allow a shutter speed faster than 1/160.

But if it is a flash that does not "communite" its presence to the camera body, it will fire, but the EXIF data will not show that a flash was used. (At least that has been my experience with Nikon and Canon bodies... Sony :smt102 ).

scitch
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Post by scitch »

Yes, it was external flash. It is a Bower SFD296S. It's connected via cable to the hot shoe of the camera. The camera doesn't seem to know that it's there. So, is this something I just have to work around, there's no solution? Is there a setting somewhere to tell the camera that it's there? Will that solve the problem or will that just cause it to limit the shutter speeds available?

Mike

scitch
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Post by scitch »

Yes, it was external flash. It is a Bower SFD296S. It's connected via cable to the hot shoe of the camera. The camera doesn't seem to know that it's there. So, is this something I just have to work around, there's no solution? Is there a setting somewhere to tell the camera that it's there? Will that solve the problem or will that just cause it to limit the shutter speeds available?

Mike

ChrisLilley
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Post by ChrisLilley »

Charles, I agree that EXIF can be and often is wrong. The EXIF also gives the aperture as f/1.0 which I suspect is incorrect :twisted:

Mike, is this an off-camera flash?

Oskar O
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Post by Oskar O »

What is shooting process? If you are using an external non-TTL flash, the camera should be in manual mode where the shutter speed would be set once and left there.

Craig Gerard
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Post by Craig Gerard »

There appear to be a number of posts made at similar times.
Mike wrote:...snip...will that just cause it to limit the shutter speeds available
Yes.
Set the shutter speed to 160th or less and let us know the result.

Craig
To use a classic quote from 'Antz' - "I almost know exactly what I'm doing!"

scitch
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Post by scitch »

Yes, it's off camera ttl shot full manual. It's through a microscope objective, so ignore the exif data about aperture and such. I was trying to freeze any viibrations by using faster and faster shutter speeds. Is 1/250 fast enough? If so, then I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Mike

Charles Krebs
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Post by Charles Krebs »

Mike,

Look this over:
http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using6-2.html

The fastest shutter speed you can use with flash and the A200 is 1/160. (Unless there is a special mode for "high speed sync" which we won't talk about now because I don't think it is an option with the equipment you are using).

If the flash "communicates" fully with the camera it will prohibit you from setting any shutter speed faster than 1/160. If not, you can set any shutter speed you wish, but you will get the black sections as above if you set a speed faster than 1/160.

Unless you are in a fairly bright environment, the ambient light will not record an image at 1/160. As a result your "effective" exposure time will be the duration of the flash itself. This will vary with power output, but will typically be somewhere between 1/1000 and 1/10000 second. But that occurs when the flash is tripped when the shutter curtains are fully open... which , in your camera, is with a shutter speed of 1/160 or slower.

Nothing wrong here, it has been this way since focal-plane shutters have been used.

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