Rebel t5i 18-55mm pop up flash issue

[ianlawrence]

Im a beginner and my problem is that my new t5i is not working anymore in manual or auto int mode . I test it in the dark room, in auto mode, the flash is firing but the image is dark. Any suggestions?

[DempseyGT]

Here are two examples I just took. The first in was in Automatic mode in my lit den.  The second (darker one) was taken afterward in the same room and conditions in CA mode with forced flash setting. In both cases the flash flickered before the shutter snapped and didn't actually flash during the shutter snap.  I know the flash bulb is OK since it often does a couple of quick bursts before the shutter snap, but it rarely gives an actual burst during the shutter snap.  What's going on?  I've had sevearl Canon DSLRs before this one and have never had any issues.

[alibilski]

YES! Finally someone who is having the exact same issues as I am! 

It is as if my flash is "stuck" at times. It is so very frustrating to have this happen. 

I would say that about 80% of my photos look like the ones you have posted. Also, I can be in a sunlight filled room/studio and STILL have this happen to my photos. 

[Wattsme]

This is the only forum I have found so far that touches upon this problem - exactly the same problem I am having with my T5i 18-135 pop up flash - it just seems to be out of synch with the shutter. Daytime shooting is gretat, but all the pop-up flash photos follow the same pattern of the first one being dimly lit and the next ones completely dark. Hopefully someone will be able to post a solution soon.

[Waddizzle]

I think that TCampbell gave a pretty good explanation of what could possibly be happening. I just looked at the specification for a Canon 430EX II flash unit. It's specified recycling time is rated between 0.1 and 3.7 seconds with Alkaline batteries, and is rated between 0.1 and 2.0 seconds with Ni-MH batteries. I have not found a specification for the T5i, but I would expect the range of recovery times to be comparable, if not even longer. Your camera battery has to run a camera in addition to the flash unit. Also, be aware that the 18-135mm lens is long enough to cast a distinct shadow when the built-in flash fires, although the posted images do not look like there is a problem with lens shadows.

[DempseyGT]

My camera is olnly 5 months old and the battary is the standed battary included from Canon. The sample photos I took above were not "taken in rapid succession" and the battary was fully charged. The flash simply dose not sync with the shutter on any settining, including the CA setting to force the flash. I'm convinced the camera is a lemon. I had a T3i before, and a T2i before that, and never had this problem.  It looks like there's a defect with this camera, and I'm not the only customer with this phoblem. Very dissapointed with this purchase.

[Wattsme]

Predominantly I have simply been shooting with the mode dial set to Intelligent Automatic or Creative Auto so I have really not been experimenting with manual settings. I have not adjusted the flash at all. I am satsified it is not an issue with shadow from the long lens - the pictures are simply very dark to black.

[Waddizzle]

There is another possibility, though remote.  I think someone mentioned that the flash seems to work just fine outdoors when it is used to fill in dark areas.  But, that it only seems to fail when used indoors.

Take note of the shutter speeds on the different resulting images, most especially at the two extremes ... when they come out properly and when they don't.  The high end Canon cameras have smarts built into them to compensate for line frequency flicker of some types of indoor lighting, which can fool your light meter and interfere getting a proper exposure when you use a flash.

Please, in addition to the camera settings of the exposure triangle, post all of the details about your flash settings in your menus, too, when these problems arise.

[DempseyGT]

Checking the flash settings is the first thing I did. It's set on normal firing in all cases. The problem is that it doesn't flash correctly with any settings, indoors or out. The flash either goes off before the shutter or not at all. All the flash sync settings are the factory settings, and in full automatic, it still doens't work porperly, and in CA mode, even if I try to force a flash, it does not fire properly. I do not think it's user error or the settings since I've shot with other Canons for a decade without this issue. This camera is less than six months old and appears to be defective, and there appear to be several other customers with the same defect.

[TCampbell]

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@Bethy wrote:
So without changing any setting, without changing position, without changing my subject, I will get a few completely black frames, followed by an almost black photo, and then a perfectly captured picture all taken in rapid succession. And each time the built-in flash pops up and seems to fire, and yet I have a ton of black squares.

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What do you mean by "in rapid succession".

The battery does not power the flash (which sounds strange, but it's true).  Capacitors power the flash.  The problem with "batteries" is that there's a maximum rate that energy can flow out and the flash needs a burst of power faster than a battery can deliver that power.  So INSTEAD the batteries pre-charge some capacitors.  Capacitors can release their power very quickly.

This means it takes some period of time to pre-charge the capacitors, then you take the shot and some amount of power is rapidly drained from those capacitors.  The batteries then re-charge the capacitors to get ready for the next shot.  

The amount of power needed by the flash depends on power settings and metering.  But if the camera needs a full power flash (or something even close to a full-power flash) then it takes longer for the flash to re-cycle the capacitors to get ready for the next shot.

In other words... using that built-in pop-up flash is NOT a rapid-fire capable flash for most situations.

Even the major flagship flashes such as the 600EX-RT may not be able to keep up depending on the situation.  There are contraptions that allow you to attach multiple flashes (3 or 6) on one mount and they all fire in unison.  Since they have a crazy amount of combined power, each flash only drains a very tiny amount of it's reserve per pulse and the flash can blink away at a crazy rate to capture action shots.

Here's an example:  

If we had enough information then we could probably figure out if there's something you can do to control the reliability of the flash or if there's actually a potential issue with your flash.  But without sample photos and more detailed information, there's not enough information for us to narrow in on the issue.

We'd need to know how far away you are from your subjects, what mode you are using (A, P, Tv, Av, or M), if you're using E-TTL or manual flash, whether you are doing continuous burst or just single frames, whether you are waiting a second or two between shots, etc.

[Omgitzrockyyo1]

About time... I've been having this issue since last year went to a few best buys where I purchased from no one had answers. I paid over a grand for this camera when it first came out... Sad to say all my Pictures are coming out dark as well. I was so frustrated I put the camera away and never touched it since... I tried every option there was on my camera and still nothing... Even in auto mode it takes out pictures dark I feel as if the flash doesn't coordinate properly with the shutter... Not sure why...