[falconeye]

full power doesn't seem to work at any shutter speed.

I can't find the sources. But most flashes (and IIRC Metz in particular) have a much larger burn time at full power. It is generally proportional to the power up to 1/2 and much longer for 1/1. Did you try a normal time like 1/30s?

The duration for the Metz 58 are:

1/fraction Power -> 1/s burn duration
====================
1/1 -> 1/125 s
1/2 -> 1/650 s
1/4 -> 1/1500 s
1/8 -> 1/3200 s
1/16 -> 1/5500 s
1/32 -> 1/9000 s
1/64 -> 1/14000 s
1/128 -> 1/22000 s
1/256 -> 1/33000 s

[mattdm]

I can't find the sources. But most flashes (and IIRC Metz in particular) have a much larger burn time at full power. It is generally proportional to the power up to 1/2 and much longer for 1/1. Did you try a normal time like 1/30s?

The duration for the Metz 58 are:

1/fraction Power -> 1/s burn duration
====================
1/1 -> 1/125 s
1/2 -> 1/650 s
1/4 -> 1/1500 s
1/8 -> 1/3200 s
1/16 -> 1/5500 s
1/32 -> 1/9000 s
1/64 -> 1/14000 s
1/128 -> 1/22000 s
1/256 -> 1/33000 s

It's worth noting that these values are practically-useful T.1 numbers (duration at which the output is at least 10% of peak intensity), rather than the more-typically-given T.5 numbers.

T.5 numbers don't represent "stopping power" very well (or required shutter speed), since a lot of output isn't counted. T.1 is much better. As a rule of thumb for "speedlight" style strobes, T.1 times are about 3× longer than T.5.

[0rangepeel]

What I noticed, and also others in this thread is that setting the camera to manual discharge allows the flash to fire at full power.

But, if you use wireless mode, then 1/2 power works only partially, and full power does't work at any shutter speeds.

I tried testing slower shutter speeds at full power, and each time, my exposure didn't catch the flash.

Servo mode is essentially dummy mode, so I'm theorizing that in wireless mode, the initial pre-flash is triggering the speedlight before my shutter opens. Though, by the T values, I would surely be more likely to hit full power than 1/4, unless the flash delays firing at lower powers since the T values are shorter

[ScooterMaxi Jim]

I notice that typically my first shot in servo mode after turning on the flash does not trigger the slave. It seems to work nearly all the time in subsequent shots.

This probably indicates that servo has to relearn the preflash every time. (This is shooting with a Canon version of the 58-AF1.) Are others experiencing this? Given that various Pentax bodies have differing preflash pauses, I would think the relearning situation is the same for those of you shooting with the Pentax mount, as well. For instance, I have a K20D which has a slightly longer pause than the newer top models (K-7, K-5).

This is important to confirm so that the first shot isn't a waste, or shooters don't conclude that the servo mode is inconsistent. I am pretty sure that most serious photographers always do testing when working in multi-flash, so the repeated learning mode isn't really a problem.

JNR