Funky Flash Question

A couple nights ago I was out photographing and discovered that with my flash attached to an off-camera cord it wasn't functioning correctly. It severely underflashed regardless of the setting used. I mounted it directly to the camera hot shoe and it worked perfectly. Did I do something wrong or could the cord be bad?

Thanks!

Bret, not sure if this will help but I would investigate the connector/ connection first then the cord. I haven't had to much experience with that sort of thing, but thats where I would look to first..........................J

If you still own that fancy Sekonic meter of yours, try taking a reading with it and see if the flash is producing the right amount of juice.

Todd: I ditched the light meter when I went digital. The light output seemed to be the same, whether it was set for -1 or +3. In all cases it was very underflashed. When I put the flash on the camera hot shoe and set it at -1, the exposure was perfect.

I suppose it could be a connector problem w/ the cord. I'll experiment a bit with it. Thanks, Joe.

Electric current weakens over distance but not over the length of a flash cord. I there is internal damage to the wire, it will change the gauge properties of the wire and reduce the flow of electricity, thus creating "underflashing." If it's not the cord, the connection would be the next place to look.

If you are using a Canon systom their cords are junk and will fail regularly. I have had to replace mine 5 or 6 times. Art Morris is selling Photographic Research Organization’s “Flash Extension Cord/Off Camera TTL. I have not tried it yet but will when my current cord fails. Here is the website http://www.birdsasart.com/accs.html I am not afiliated with him in any way. Just FYI

I'm sure you know this, but be careful how you hold the strobe. If you get your fingers over the sensor, all cobb breaks out on exposures. Stephen's point about cords is well taken, too.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'll try again with the off-camera cord and make sure my hand/fingers aren't covering the sensor. If that doesn't work, and an inspection reveals no visible damage, I'll just buy a new cord. I've had this one for over three years and it is always carried around in my pack so it may well be at the end of its useful life.

Thanks for clueing me in to the Photographic Research cord. I'll check it out.

Bret as others have suggested, you need to pay close attention to how you hold the the flash with off camera cord. Back in the film days I wasted lots of film learning this.

If you decide to use off camera flash often you may want to use the wireless set up that works well.

I was interested in the comment by Steven Vaughn regarding Canon Cords. I also had 3 go bad in a row. I decided that since they were expendable, I would open one up and see what
was in there. I finally found that there is a clip that can be pried out with a jeweler screwdriver.After the clip is out, it exposes screws that need to be tightened. I did this with
all 3 cords, and they are still working fine years after they went bad. I think that I still have
the letter from the factory, that tells me that the cords cannot be fixed, that they are an
expendable item.

I guess "expendable" = "send us more of your money" to Canon. Thanks for the tip, Art. Since mine appears to be shot I'll take it apart and see what I can find.