Panasonic Lumix and OCF. Anyone managed it?

mickledore

mickledore

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Not my camera, but a friend I sometimes shoot with. She has a Panasonic Lumix. I think it's a FZ330, but can't be 100% positive.
We were trying to do some table top work with OCF yesterday, and failed miserably. I know nothing about these cameras and little about OCF.
I use a Fuji X-T2 and can use YN 603 as remote triggers - one in the hand and one on the hotshoe - with YN 622C TX on camera - on top of the 603 - and 622 units under my Canon 580EXII flash. Works for me, and we did the shoot using this set up. But we/she would like to be able to use her own camera. She has no flash units of her own, so will have to borrow mine.
Has anyone managed to use OCF on a Panny, and if so has Canon flash gear and YN triggers been used? How did you do it?
 
Can you not trigger the flashgun using optical? Turn the flash power on the LUMIX down to its lowest setting and it won't affect the image but should fire the flash.
 
On my Olympus OMD, I had to buy a modified 603 unit to be able to trigger from the hot shoe. The one I bought just has a switch on the side to alter between 'normal' and 'Olympus' mode. I'd be reasonably confident that the hot shoe on the Panasonic works the same way. The contacts certainly look similar. Since I no longer have my Olympus, you'd be welcome to borrow the modified 603 unit and see if it works.
 
That's a generous offer. Thank you.
I'm just out on the road at present but will be home before lunch so I'll read the link and then get back to you.
 
I use a Cactus OCF setup on my GX8. Simplicity itself :-). She didn't have the camera using electronic shutter? My GX8 won't fire anything if I leave the electronic shutter enabled.

Simon.
 
mickledore said:
Sorry. Should have mentioned that we tried that. Didn't work.
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What didn't work? Were the flashes not in their slave mode (optical triggering) or do they not have that function? I use a mix of Sigma and generic Jessops flashguns which all have the slave setting. If I dial down the flash power on my A6000 it's still bright enough for them to trigger.
 
I have with an old FZ50 and a jessops flash set to slave mode. Popped up the pop up flash on the camera and set the flashgun to slave. Worked easily. Never done it with posh triggers though :)
 
stevelmx5 said:
What didn't work? Were the flashes not in their slave mode (optical triggering) or do they not have that function? I use a mix of Sigma and generic Jessops flashguns which all have the slave setting. If I dial down the flash power on my A6000 it's still bright enough for them to trigger.
Click to expand...
We were using my Yongnuo 622 setup to fire the flashes. A Tx on the hotshoe and standartd units under the guns. Works perfectly on my Fuji, and on the Canon when I had that, but nothing we tried would work on the Panny. First time I've seen one close up so I was a bit lost with it.
 
So did the flashgun fire on the Panasonic itself? Fuji and Canon possibly use the same dumb central pin to trigger the flash/TX whereas the Panasonic may be different.

If you use the standard onboard popup flash on the Panasonic instead, that will trigger the slave flashes (without needing to use the YN triggers at all)
 
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gad-westy said:
On my Olympus OMD, I had to buy a modified 603 unit to be able to trigger from the hot shoe. The one I bought just has a switch on the side to alter between 'normal' and 'Olympus' mode. I'd be reasonably confident that the hot shoe on the Panasonic works the same way. The contacts certainly look similar. Since I no longer have my Olympus, you'd be welcome to borrow the modified 603 unit and see if it works.
Click to expand...

gad-westy said:
A better explanation here though it looks like the images are gone.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3076574
Click to expand...

I've just had a look at that link, and the problems quoted seem to be the same as we were experiencing.
Where did you get the modified triggers from? I presume a pair will be needed, and as I'm no good with a soldering iron it might be simpler just to buy a pair from the outset.
 
stevelmx5 said:
So did the flashgun fire on the Panasonic itself? Fuji and Canon possibly use the same dumb central pin to trigger the flash/TX whereas the Panasonic may be different.

If you use the standard onboard popup flash on the Panasonic instead, that will trigger the slave flashes (without needing to use the YN triggers at all)
Click to expand...
Never put the flash gun on the camera. The pop up flash worked, but wouldn't fire the guns. I'm assuming that they are not optical. We couldn't get any signal from the Panny to fire the guns - and we tried all sorts of permutations.
 
mickledore said:
I've just had a look at that link, and the problems quoted seem to be the same as we were experiencing.
Where did you get the modified triggers from? I presume a pair will be needed, and as I'm no good with a soldering iron it might be simpler just to buy a pair from the outset.
Click to expand...

I just got lucky and spotted a pre-modified one on ebay. You don't need a pair. The slave unit can be a normal 603 which you already have. PM me your address if you just want to borrow mine. You can probably buy it off me cheaply if it works as I shouldn't have any further need for it but see if it works first.
 
I shoot with off camera flash on my Lumix GH3 and Lumix G7. There are two options, either to shoot TTL or Manual depending upon the equipment.

TTL. Needs a Lumix body with a built in flash that supports acting as the flash information transmitter, or a flash gun with master capability that sits on the hotshoe. Compatible flash guns include the Olympus FL36R, FL50R, the Lumix equivalents and such as the higher end Metz M43 flashes and possibly the Nissin i40 for M43. The receiving flashes must be able to see the camera directly and the set up won't work in bright light or around corners. The ordinary and cheaper non R versions of Olympus and Panasonic do not provide remote flash support.

Manual. Since I also shoot using a Canon, I have Youngnuo 622C wireless remotes, which provide TTL or Manual on a Canon, but also work on my Lumix Cameras without modifiction but in Manual mode only. These are very reliable, have a good wireless range and will work around corners. Just about any flash or studio head can be used as a receiver, subject to trigger voltage limits of the YN622C.
 
Now that is very interesting. Thank you.
Most of what we do will be in manual mode.
We were using my Canon 622 setup but you've set me thinking that maybe we never had the TX on the hotshot without the 603 in between. I now suspect that maybe the 603s in unmodified mode do not talk to the Panny.
All is fine with my Fuji so maybe we were looking in the wrong direction.

Thank you very much. That is most helpful.
 
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