Elinchrom D-Lite 2 RX studio lights issue

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fwells2

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Francesca
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Hi all,

I'm hoping someone will be able to help me. I've recently converted my garage into a personal photo studio (bit of a spur of the moment decision!) and have invested in a Elinchrom D-lite 2 RX kit which consists of two studio lights. I'm really happy with the quality of the lights however I'm struggling with syncing them to my camera.

Currently my set up is a Polaroid flash gun mounted to a tripod being used as the master flash to trigger the studio lights; I've attached a wireless trigger from my camera to the flash gun so at the moment my Elinchrom lights trigger when my flash gun goes off.

This isn't ideal as my flash gun runs off of 4 x AA batteries and I'm finding I'm going through batteries like nobody's business!

The Elinchrom lights come with a PC sync cable however my Panasonic Lumix G3 camera doesn't have a PC port.

I've bought a "Pixel" hot shoe adapter from amazon as this has a PC sync port. The hot shoe adapter itself seems to work i.e if I put my flash gun on top of the adapter then it works fine so I know there's no issue with the connection. However when I plug in the Elinchrom PC sync cable nothing happens and my camera doesn't even recognise that a flash is attached.

I've tried using the included Elinchrom skyport receiver too by mounting it to the hot shoe however the skyport receiver also uses a PC sync cord. The receiver works perfectly with remotely adjusting the lights power but when I go to take a photo it still won't trigger the lights to flash.

I'm assuming it's an issue with the PC sync port on the hot shoe adapter or am I just using it the wrong way?

I may just be being rather stupid but am I missing something?! I just can't work out how to get my studio lights to trigger from my camera without having to use my flash gun as the master. :bang:

As you can probably tell I'm very new to the studio photography scene so any help would be gratefully appreciated!!
 
Welcome to TP :)

Not quite understanding this. You shouldn't need a cable or PC adapter. Skyport does it all - the little transmitter in the hot-shoe and recievers built in to the heads. The fact that you seem able to change the flash power with it suggests a sync contact problem, so clean the contacts on the foot of the Skyport transmitter and camera hot-shoe. Make sure it's properly pushed home and seated and give it a good wiggle.

While you're at it, double check all settings - channels on the transmitter and receiving channels and set up on the head, as per the handbook. It should fire off the test button.

If it still doesn't work, phone The Flash Centre and talk it through with them. They're a helpful bunch.

PS If you have to resort to triggering with the Polaroid flash meanwhile, can you turn down the power on that? You shouldn't need a very bright flash to trigger the heads and if you turn it down the batteries will last a long time and it will also recycle much quicker.
 
Thank you for your replies. Silly me for not realising I don't need to connect via a sync cable as well as the hot shoe. My fault for buying a studio kit that appears more intelligent than me! :bonk:

I've been out trying to do some more tests. I've put the skyport transmitter on my camera hotshoe. The hot shoe connection seems to be working fine as my camera registers that it's connected to a flash unit. The test button works fine but when I go to take an actual photo the studio lights still won't fire. I've tried changing the skyport to all the different groups and frequencies and tried syncing it as both "speed" sync and "standard" sync but it still makes no difference.

The manual just suggests checking the hotshoe and connecting via the pc sync instead which still makes no difference. The hot shoe must be working if my camera knows it's attached to the lights??

I'll try giving the Flash Center a call and see if they can help

Sorry for my ramblings, hopefully they make some sort of sense!
 
You've set up the heads correctly in receiver mode, groups etc? Been through the procedure with the handbook?
 
Do the lights fire using the test button in the trigger when it's NOT on the camera?? If so, I would suggest that the trigger is not compatible with your Panasonic camera.
 
Yea I've read through the manual to make sure I've got all the correct settings and followed the syncing procedure but it still won't work.

The lights do fire when using the test button when the trigger is NOT on the camera which makes me agree with jdfotos that maybe the trigger/lights just aren't compatible with my panasonic camera.... which is really rubbish!!

My brother has a Nikon so I'll borrow that and see if the lights will trigger off his camera then I know for definite if it's simply just not compatible with a panasonic.

For now I'll just stick to Hoppyuk's suggestion of turning my flashgun down to the lowest power to prolong their battery life but that way I can still trigger the studio lights so it's not all a complete disaster!

Thanks for all your replies!
 
There should be no problem with your Pano G3 and the fact that it fires a flash gun from the hot-shoe confirms it. Skyport is a simple sync trigger that only uses the universal central firing pin in the hot-shoe. Double-check it with the Nikon but if that doesn't work, contact the retailer or TheFlashCentre direct. Let us know what happens :)
 
I've just seen this and don't know if we can help. It may be some compatibility issue, but I would be surprised if it was. Would it be possible to bring the camera with transmitter into one of The flash Centre shops for us to try all the options ?

Obviously I should declare an interest in working with The Flash Centre and wanting you to be able to use your Elinchrom as intended !
 
If you got the elinchrom d-lite kit you have the eco transmitter which can be tough to squeeze into the hot shoe of the camera. Most of the time the trigger just isn't all the way in and the contact isn't lining up.
 
That's a good suggestions Flashtec; it'll take me about an hour and a half to go to the Flash centre in London by train but should be worth it if someone could walk me through what settings I need and just check that my camera does work with the studio lights or if it's just me being silly!

Thanks for all your help guys.
 
Just tried my lights with my dads Canon 450D and they fired perfectly.

On the one hand it's great that my lights work properly and aren't faulty however it seems that the lights just aren't compatible with my Panasonic camera. Massive bummer!! :(

Theres no mention on the Elinchrom website, or the website I bought the lights from, of any compatibility issues.

At a bit of a loss about what to do now. Using my flashgun to trigger the Elinchrom works for now but it isn't ideal. The flashgun has a slow recycling time and for some random reason it decides to turn itself off after 5 minutes of shooting. But I haven't exactly got the spare cash to fork out for a new Canon camera! :bang:

I've sent an email to the company I bought the lights from to see if they can help. Just wondered if anyone on here had any suggestions?
 
I'm still not understanding this - see post #3 above.

Your G3 has a standard hot-shoe with a standard central firing contact, that connects with the standard single pin on the foot of the Skyport trigger. That should work :thinking:

There could be some strange compatability issue we're unaware of, but I think that's unlikely and if Flashtec above doesn't know about it, I doubt the dealer will. Might have to speak to Panasonic on that.

Drop Flashtec a PM, he will want to sort this out for you.
 
HoppyUK said:
I'm still not understanding this - see post #3 above.

Your G3 has a standard hot-shoe with a standard central firing contact, that connects with the standard single pin on the foot of the Skyport trigger. That should work :thinking:

There could be some strange compatability issue we're unaware of, but I think that's unlikely and if Flashtec above doesn't know about it, I doubt the dealer will. Might have to speak to Panasonic on that.

Drop Flashtec a PM, he will want to sort this out for you.
Click to expand...

Sorry if I'm not making much sense, getting frustrated and rambling a bit!

Yea that's right. Standard hotshoe with central contact point. When I put the skyport onto my G3 it shows there's a flash unit connected but just wont fire the flashes when I press the shutter release. I know my hotshoe works properly as i use it with my wireless remote to trigger the flashgun. The wireless trigger has the same contact point as the skyport as well which confuses me even more as to why the skyport trigger won't work with my g3 :thinking:

I've spent a lot of time fiddling about with the settings on my camera, the lights and the skyport to try to get it working but to no avail. i borrowed my dads canon, just clipped the skyport trigger onto the hotshoe and the lights worked perfectly.

The only other thing i can think of is that I need to use a specific setting on my G3 to work with the lights... I just don't know what it is!

I'll give Flashtec a PM and see what he suggests
 
No worries Fancesca, it's just a bit baffling. It should work, and unless there's some unusual hidden setting on the camera or some stange compatability issue (unlikely, but not unheard of) then there must be an asnwer.

I'm sure Flashtec will be along shortly.
 
HoppyUK said:
No worries Fancesca, it's just a bit baffling. It should work, and unless there's some unusual hidden setting on the camera or some stange compatability issue (unlikely, but not unheard of) then there must be an asnwer.

I'm sure Flashtec will be along shortly.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it! I'd like to think there must be an answer. I could maybe understand the lights not triggering if I had some random unknown make of a camera but I'd have thought Panasonic wouldn't have any issues due to being a well established brand.

I've just sent Flashtec a PM so am eagerly awaiting his reply!
 
Just bear in mind that 'Flashtec' has spent the last week at Focus on Imaging, as I have, and he is likely to have a lot on his plate, so it could take a while before he sees your PM...
It might be quicker just to ring him at The Flash Centre, Leeds
 
Thanks for that Garry. I'll give him a ring tomorrow instead then :)
 
fwells2 said:
Thanks for that Garry. I'll give him a ring tomorrow instead then :)
Click to expand...

I wonder if Flashtec is presently trying to get hold of a Pano G3 to test? I also wonder if maybe he'll be on a boys' day out tomorrow, perhaps in the vicinity of Oulton Park. Just wild guesses :D
 
HoppyUK said:
I wonder if Flashtec is presently trying to get hold of a Pano G3 to test? I also wonder if maybe he'll be on a boys' day out tomorrow, perhaps in the vicinity of Oulton Park. Just wild guesses :D
Click to expand...

That sounds like you're in the know ;)

Just got this e-mail back from WEX where I bought my lights from...
"Thank you for your email regarding the issue with your Panasonic camera and the Elinchrom studio kit, I have spoken to the UK agents regarding the compatibility with your Panasonic G3 and unfortunately they could not come up with a solution and it would appear that the Panasonic system is not compatible with studio flash. One option would be to use the cameras built in flash to trigger the slaves on the flash heads, you would need to take a few test shots in manual to work out the correct exposure etc."

:'(

Hopefully Flashtec will have some better news!
 
fwells2 said:
That sounds like you're in the know ;)

Just got this e-mail back from WEX where I bought my lights from...
"Thank you for your email regarding the issue with your Panasonic camera and the Elinchrom studio kit, I have spoken to the UK agents regarding the compatibility with your Panasonic G3 and unfortunately they could not come up with a solution and it would appear that the Panasonic system is not compatible with studio flash. One option would be to use the cameras built in flash to trigger the slaves on the flash heads, you would need to take a few test shots in manual to work out the correct exposure etc."

:'(

Hopefully Flashtec will have some better news!
Click to expand...

Yes, I know that Flashtec is looking into this but, unless you're doing something wrong which doesn't seem to be the case, then it's surprising that there should be a) any problem, and b) if there is, that nobody seem to know about it!

Only thing I can think of is that, perhaps because the G3 is not primarily intended as a studio camera, the Panasonic hot-shoe triggering is disabled unless it senses a fully compatible gun in place, ie one with a full set of contacts (for various other functions) as well as the central firing pin.

If that turns out to be the case, then perhaps the simplest solution is to buy another radio trigger and plug that into the D-Lite's sync socket. Like this Hahnel Combi made for Panasonic, that also happens to be a very good trigger http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...lease-and-flash-trigger-panasonic-p-2960.html but it would be a shame to have to miss out on the handy features of the Skyport. See what Flashtec comes up with.
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes, I know that Flashtec is looking into this but, unless you're doing something wrong which doesn't seem to be the case, then it's surprising that there should be a) any problem, and b) if there is, that nobody seem to know about it!

Only thing I can think of is that, perhaps because the G3 is not primarily intended as a studio camera, the Panasonic hot-shoe triggering is disabled unless it senses a fully compatible gun in place, ie one with a full set of contacts (for various other functions) as well as the central firing pin.

If that turns out to be the case, then perhaps the simplest solution is to buy another radio trigger and plug that into the D-Lite's sync socket. Like this Hahnel Combi made for Panasonic, that also happens to be a very good trigger http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...lease-and-flash-trigger-panasonic-p-2960.html but it would be a shame to have to miss out on the handy features of the Skyport. See what Flashtec comes up with.
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That's an interesting point as my flashgun does have a full set of contact pins, not just the central contact unlike the skyport which just has the one contact pin. Could it have anything to do with the G3 being a micro 4/3's camera? Not sure if the system operates different which might affect it's use with studio lights.

Funnily enough the Hahnel combi trigger you recommended is the one I have; that's what I'm using at the moment to trigger my flashgun wirelessly which in turn triggers the studio lights.

I tried connecting the combi trigger directly to the studio lights... however the sync socket on the d-lites seems to require a larger connector than the one on my trigger cable. So when I plug the combi trigger cable into the lights it just falls out. I've tried looking online to find an adapter to solve this issue but with me not being too technical I'm not really sure what I'm looking for.

Could it be this? http://www.theflashcentre.com/elinchrom-skyport-sync-adapter-3.5mm-to-PC-female-i7714.html

But like you said it'd be a shame not to be able to utilise the features of the skyport but at least I'd be able to use my lights!
 
Haha! Right, now we're getting somewhere. If my hunch is correct, then Panasonics (and perhaps Olympus too) will not work with any brand of single-pin trigger, at least not without some kind of adapter to fool the camera. There must be something like that around, somewhere, but the easy answer is to get the right cable for the Hahnel Combi trigger.

It comes with various cables, everything except the one you need, which is this one - £7 and you're in business http://www.premier-ink.co.uk/photog...-1835mm-miniphone-male-connectors-p-2961.html Just use the cable as it comes, with standard 3.5mm jack plug into the Elinchrom (1/4in conversion is generally for older stuff). :thumbs:
 
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That was a very good bit of detective work on your part! I think you could well be right. I'll email Panasonic to see if they can confirm it. Seems strange no-ones noticed it before but I guess not many people use a g3 for studio work.

I've bought that hahnel cable which should hopefully arrive Monday or Tuesday. Fingers crossed it works!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out, really appreciate it :-)
 
fwells2 said:
That was a very good bit of detective work on your part! I think you could well be right. I'll email Panasonic to see if they can confirm it. Seems strange no-ones noticed it before but I guess not many people use a g3 for studio work.

I've bought that hahnel cable which should hopefully arrive Monday or Tuesday. Fingers crossed it works!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out, really appreciate it :-)
Click to expand...

Well there had to be an answer, and equally I'm sure there must be an adapter made by somebody to fix it, so you could use your Skyport, but I couldn't find one on a quick google.

Olympus makes one, and I'm assuming they may be similar based on the Four-thirds standard, but that's £40 and converts to a PC socket, not a hot-shoe connection, though you could probably still use it with the Skyport hanging off a short cable. Olympus claims this is to protect the camera from people plugging in an old high-votage gun and frying the sync electronics, but that's very rare in practise and other camera manufacturers don't seem to bother.

Let us know how you get on :)
 
Thanks everybody --- yes it has been more than a little busy, and apologies for the delay.

The Elinchrom sync connector is indeed 3.5mm --- and many thanks to WEX for the information that they have obtained from Panasonic that has enabled us to resolve this.

As for a potential Hot Shoe adapter for non standard Hot Shoe configurations to standard, that is a research project in it's own right ! But one worth checking out ...
 
Just for a quick update...

The hahnel cable arrived today. I'm feeling a little light heated from testing my lights whilst holding my breath but... IT WORKS!! :D

So much more convenient being able to use the lights without having to trigger them from my flash gun.

A massive thank you Flashtec and especially HoppyUK for helping me out, would never of figured it out on my own! :thumbs:
 
fwells2 said:
Just for a quick update...

The hahnel cable arrived today. I'm feeling a little light heated from testing my lights whilst holding my breath but... IT WORKS!! :D

So much more convenient being able to use the lights without having to trigger them from my flash gun.

A massive thank you Flashtec and especially HoppyUK for helping me out, would never of figured it out on my own! :thumbs:
Click to expand...

We've all learned something :)
 
Just catching up on this thread having read it with interest as I have an older Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit and Panasonic G3 myself. My main camera for studio work is my Nikon D300 so not had any triggering probs with that and the Elinchroms.

Have been meaning to have a play (mainly out of interest) with my G3 and a studio lighting set up and this has spurred me on to have a go.

Having tried a couple of things, I've not had any probs triggering my D-Lites with the G3 using a couple of different triggers - the first is my Kenro IR flash trigger (simple and basic but it works!) which fires every time when fitted to the G3's hotshoe and uses the central single pin. I also had a play with my cheapy ebay radio triggers (plugged into the 3.5mm jack on the D-Lite and the radio trigger on the G3 hotshoe. Again, no probs using that direct on the hotshoe.

Now I've got the confidence that should my D300 pack up mid-way through a shoot, I've got a plan 'b' in the form of using my G3.

May even have a go at doing a full studio shoot with the G3.
 
bulldozer said:
Just catching up on this thread having read it with interest as I have an older Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit and Panasonic G3 myself. My main camera for studio work is my Nikon D300 so not had any triggering probs with that and the Elinchroms.

Have been meaning to have a play (mainly out of interest) with my G3 and a studio lighting set up and this has spurred me on to have a go.

Having tried a couple of things, I've not had any probs triggering my D-Lites with the G3 using a couple of different triggers - the first is my Kenro IR flash trigger (simple and basic but it works!) which fires every time when fitted to the G3's hotshoe and uses the central single pin. I also had a play with my cheapy ebay radio triggers (plugged into the 3.5mm jack on the D-Lite and the radio trigger on the G3 hotshoe. Again, no probs using that direct on the hotshoe.

Now I've got the confidence that should my D300 pack up mid-way through a shoot, I've got a plan 'b' in the form of using my G3.

May even have a go at doing a full studio shoot with the G3.
Click to expand...


Glad your g3 works with your lights too. After all that palava I went through all I needed was the 3.5mm jack cable! Really pleased with my camera now it triggers with the lights, makes taking photos so much easier!

Just out of interest have you tried using your g3 with the elinchrom skyport receiver? Think thats where my main issue was as the skyport receiver doesn't seem to be compatible with the g3.
 
bulldozer said:
Just catching up on this thread having read it with interest as I have an older Elinchrom D-Lite 2 kit and Panasonic G3 myself. My main camera for studio work is my Nikon D300 so not had any triggering probs with that and the Elinchroms.

Have been meaning to have a play (mainly out of interest) with my G3 and a studio lighting set up and this has spurred me on to have a go.

Having tried a couple of things, I've not had any probs triggering my D-Lites with the G3 using a couple of different triggers - the first is my Kenro IR flash trigger (simple and basic but it works!) which fires every time when fitted to the G3's hotshoe and uses the central single pin. I also had a play with my cheapy ebay radio triggers (plugged into the 3.5mm jack on the D-Lite and the radio trigger on the G3 hotshoe. Again, no probs using that direct on the hotshoe.

Now I've got the confidence that should my D300 pack up mid-way through a shoot, I've got a plan 'b' in the form of using my G3.

May even have a go at doing a full studio shoot with the G3.
Click to expand...

LOL According to Francesca's experience, this shouldn't work! :thinking: :lol:

fwells2 said:
Glad your g3 works with your lights too. After all that palava I went through all I needed was the 3.5mm jack cable! Really pleased with my camera now it triggers with the lights, makes taking photos so much easier!

Just out of interest have you tried using your g3 with the elinchrom skyport receiver? Think thats where my main issue was as the skyport receiver doesn't seem to be compatible with the g3.
Click to expand...

Older Elinchrom D-Lites didn't come with Skyport triggers, though it was your transmitter that was the problem with the G3's hot-shoe, not receiver.
 
HoppyUK said:
LOL According to Francesca's experience, this shouldn't work! :thinking: :lol:

Older Elinchrom D-Lites didn't come with Skyport triggers, though it was your transmitter that was the problem with the G3's hot-shoe, not receiver.
Click to expand...

Haha I'm going to pretend I didn't read bulldozer's post then as it'll just confuse me! :lol:

Ah yes, transmitter is what I meant. It all works perfectly now though which is the main thing! Thanks again Hoppy :D
 
This is all rather baffling. Strange that Francesca should have had the problem in the first place, then having found a solution, hearing that others are not having any trouble :thinking:

I can only think that maybe Panasonic have had some issues and changed the internal workings of the G3 without telling anybody (unlikely), or that there is some tiny compatibility problem with the fit of the Skyport in the G3's hot-shoe and either the central pin or side contacts of the Skyport are not making a good connection (unlikely). Or possibly some triggering voltage incompatibility thing (unlikely). Still weird :shrug:
 
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