This past Tuesday I had [intlink id="12" type="post"]a shoot with a model[/intlink] down in the tunnels under Springfield. I brought along all my Strobist gear as usual, but I ran into a major malfunction with my flash. I had set it up around the corner down the tunnel to provide light for the tunnel walls in the background. However, the flash failed to fire 9 times out of 10. I spent way too much time in the dark trying to get the damned thing to work. Luckily, my model is also a good friend and was very patient with me.
Testing the flash I could find nothing apparently wrong, but my wonderful CyberSync ™ receiver just wouldn’t trigger the flash. After changing batteries in both units, I realized that the problem was with Vivitar’s proprietary sync jack – it just isn’t the best connector in the world. One might argue that the dreaded PC cord connection popular in older cameras and flashes is even better.
So, one short Internet search later I find out that not only have many others experienced the same problem, but they have invented their own solutions. The simplest and most obviously doable for me – because I am by no means an electronics whiz – was to add a 3.5mm mini phono (mono) jack, like those used in your MP3 player for your headphones. It’s this same style jack that is used by most wireless transmitter/receivers on the market, like my CyberSync as well as the ever-popular Pocket Wizards, Elinchrom Skyports, and even the cheap eBay knockoffs.
I won’t bore you with details, but as you can see here it is a fairly simple process. The soldering was tricky because of the space available in the foot of the flash, and I added some hot glue on the inside to help keep the cord from being yanked out, but it works perfectly now. No more having to hold that stupid Vivitar sync cord at just the right angle to get it to fire.
Tonight’s shoot should see me a much happier camper (er, shooter) and reliably utilizing more than one flash again.
Knock on wood.
