eos 850/speedlite160/ top half of photo not exposed

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I have used my EOS850/speedlite160 combination for a many years. Recently my flash photos are intermittently not exposed on the top half. I am wondering if this is related to the speedlite. If so what would good replacements be?

-- Brenda Dawson (brendawson@aol.com), November 19, 2001

Answers

More likely related to a sticky shutter. When you take the film out do you see any black sticky looking stuff in the upper left hand corner?

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), November 20, 2001.

i seriously doubt it's a sticky shutter issue. Much, much more likely is that you're simply shooting over your camera's sync speed. The X- sync of the 850 is 1/125th -- if you shoot over that speed and you're using your flash, half of the frame will not be exposed. The solution? Shoot at 1/125th or *slower* when using flash.

-- mariel lohninger (anadirn@mediaone.net), November 20, 2001.

With the Speedlite 160E mounted on the camera, it won't allow you to shoot with a shutter speed faster than the top sync speed. And besides, then the dark area would be on the bottom of the image. So that can't be it.

Unless there really is something wrong with the flash.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), November 20, 2001.


Thank you for your responses to my question; I am just checking my messages after a Thanksgiving trip. There is a black sticky substance, running full length on the left; would this explain the probem? Is there a way for me to clean this?

-- Brenda Dawson (brendawson@aol.com), November 25, 2001.

What has happened is a plastic shutter bumper has begun to deteriorate from exposure to air polution, heat, etc. This is what has leaked down on to your shutter blades. It is a common problem and it does cause the shutter blades to stick. The proper way to fix a sticky shutter is to replace it, but there are other ways.

Use a bunch of Q-Tips and lighter fluid (alcohol works but is slower). Clean the black stuff off very carefully. Fire the shutter a 5-6 times and clean it again. Keep doing this until all the gunk is off the blades. Make sure you don't put pressure on the blades while you're doing this.

Also do the inside curtains as well. Just lift the mirror out of the way & work from the inside. Alternate between the back and inside curtains. Do this over and over until the blades are clean.

The relacement cost of a shutter assembly is usually quoted anywhere from $100 to $200. The 850 is probably not worth $100, so you have very little to loose by trying to fix it yourself. But keep in mind that you can destroy your shutter by doing this wrong.

If you get a shutter blade to pop out of it's track, it can be bent enough to get back in and will flex back to it's original shape. If you really mess it up, you will still only have to replace the shutter, so in my opinion, it's worth trying.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), November 25, 2001.



Thanks for the info! While I am working on cleaning the shutter, I am thinking of items to add to my Christmas list -- new camera body and some new lenses for general photography and birds (have a home on marsh wetlands) I was thinking of an EOS 3 or Elan 7E with the image stabilization lenses. Any suggestions?

-- Brenda Dawson (brendawson@aol.com), November 26, 2001.

I see my question regarding the EOS 3 and elan 7e has been addressed on the FAQ recently. Regarding the lenses I am considering purchasing --the EF 28-135 mm IS USM and the EF 100-400mm IS USM. What would be a good third lens to consider? I have an old Sigma 24- 50mm F4 to 5.6 and a Canon EF 50 - 200mm F3.5-4.5 with Macro.

-- Brenda Dawson (brendawson@aol.com), November 26, 2001.

Depends what your budget is really.

I have a EOS 30 (Elan 7E in the US market, ie same camera, different name), 28-105 USM II and the 75-300 USM Image Stabilizer lens.

The I.S. function is really useful if you can't always use a tripod, and I have found it useful in certain circumstances. I do have a tripod, but when I've wanted to shoot something without time to set up the tripod I've grabbed shots that would have been blurred without I.S.

The 28-105 USM II lens is a great quality optic for the money, and much better quality that the kit lenses (e.g. 28-90mm) such as are supplied with the Elan 7E. It also offers really fast focussing and full time manual focus, which means you can adjust the focus manually without using the AF/MF switch on the lens.

There have been tons of positive reviews on the Elan 7E, so I won't write one here, but it's safe enough to say that it's a great camera.

If you have any cash left after buying all this go for the 420EX flash aswell.

Hope this has been useful, and that you choose the right equipment to suit your needs.

-- Sam hassall (samhassall@aol.com), November 26, 2001.


A good third lens to go with an EF 28-135 mm IS USM and an EF 100- 400mm IS USM? I'd choose between the Canon 20-35 USM, Canon 16/17-35 f/2.8L and the Sigma 17-35 HSM. I find a wide zoom to be much more useful than a long one.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), November 26, 2001.

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