X1D Problems, Shutter release and flash misfire

[tkhalloran]

I had one of the worst photographic day I have ever had while trying to photograph a Latin Band in my local area.  I recently was delivered my X1D and am still getting used to it but felt that I had learned to setup and use the camera well enough to use it on one of my photo shoots.  I used both available light and flash fill.  I generally mount my remote flash trigger on the hot shoe and leave it there during the whole shoot even when not using the flash.  I turn off the remote trigger and then back on when needed.  This always worked on my Nikon D800.  The remote trigger is a Cheetahstand X1 (Godox) which triggers a Cheetahstand (Godox) 360 flash.  I have been using this combination for many months with no misfires on my D800.  I also only use manual flash mode with no TTL.  I also only use manual mode for shutter and f/stop settings.  For the X1D I use manual focus and use the AF-D button to auto focus then reframe and take the picture. 
During this photo shoot the camera started to not work every time I pressed the shutter.  Sometimes it would make the exposure and sometimes I had to press the shutter three or four times before it made the exposure.  Also, the flash would often not fire.  I could not absolutely verify this but I also often thought that the camera was not syncing with the flash correctly when it did fire.  For the most part my shutter speeds were between 100th and a 1000th of a second.  My f/stops were generally f/4 to f/11 and ISO was 200 to 3200.  I disabled all of the flash related selections in the camera menu to make sure the camera was not waiting for the flash to recharge.

The shutter release problem happens even without the remote trigger mounted on the camera.

I did not encounter any of these problems prior to using the flash.  I have also tried a nikon flash mounted directly on the camera to see if it also caused problems.  The shutter release issue still happens but it did not misfire. 

Please let me know of you (X1D user) have seen anything like this.   As you can guess I looked like a complete novice in front of this band and likely won't be asked to do any future work for them. Some photos still were taken and some actually look ok.  I am still excited about the dynamic range and overall quality of the images in comparison to my D800.

Thanks for any help,
Tim

[mkerouac]

I have been trying to get the Flash functionality to work properly on the X1D since it arrived 2.5 weeks ago.  It's just not ready for prime time.  I have tried multiple scenarios which I will outline below.  I have also conversed with Hasselblad on the issues.  They are aware and investigating. 

1) Nikon SBxxx flash on the hotshoe.  Flash set to TTL mode.  The flash fires consistently, but exposure is not consistent.  Need to shoot manual for best results.  If you choose a subject and place and SB910 on the X1D and on a Nikon D810, then take pictures side by side, the difference in exposures is significant.  Nikon nails it every time.  The X1D, not so much. 

2) Nikon Flash with SU800 flash trigger.  This is a remote flash setup.  Will not fire flash in TTL or manual

3) Nikon flash with Vello Flash Trigger.  This is a remote flash setup.  Will not fire flash in manual or TTL.

4) Nikon flash moved off camera using an SC29 Cord.  Flash will fire in TTL or manual, but exposures are not consistent in TTL.

5) Nikon flash set to "Master" on the hotshoe with 2nd remote Nikon flash.  Flash would not fire.

6) Nikon flash with Pocket wizards.  Flash will fire intermittently.  Sometimes the shutter locks open and the battery has to be pulled to reset.  I would not recommend even testing this configuration due to shutter behavior. 

7) Elinchrom ELC and ELB strobes with Elinchrom Skyport HS Plus (Nikon version) Trigger.  No issues what so ever.  This is a manual only setup, but it works great.  No misfires and exposures are consistent.  I also heard that the Profoto Strobes and trigger perform equally well. 

It seems like your trigger is behaving in a way similar to pocket wizards.  The X1D just isn't ready for anything except a hotshoe mounted or hard wired Nikon flash.   Ironically the Elinchrom and Profoto work great, but neither is designed to execute TTL or iTTL, so the interface between camera nd trigger is simple.  The trigger just reads a fire signal on shutter release.   Overall, the camera is still a big win for me.  I use off camera flash a lot, so the lack of current functionality is a big deal for me, but I'm willing to give Hasselblad some time to fix it.  I can use ELB400's in the field, just can't shoot as fast due to lack of TTL.

[tkhalloran]

Thank you for the summary and the in depth analysis of different flash scenarios.  I think that you are right that my trigger is acting similar to the pocket wizards.  Although, since I only use manual flash with the triggers I had a slightly different experience.  It was so chaotic during my shoot that I had a hard time understanding what was happening.  I agree that the X1D is not ready for prime time flash use yet.  I was going to try an older trigger I have that does not have any TTL functionality to see how it would do, but have now sent my X1D to the US service center because of the shutter release and a f/stop increment problem I am having.  Like mentioned before the shutter release doesn't always activate the shutter and the f/stops don't always increment with each click of the wheel.  I have been in discussions with the US service center which led to sending in my camera.

Like you I am excited enough about the camera that I will hope for better performance with future FW releases.  I upgraded the most recent FW and it has focus peaking which I really like.  Also, the dynamic range of the camera saves much of the highlight detail that would have been blown out with my D800.  I will now have to wait for the return of my camera to test further.

[denmohr]

I received my X1D 2 days ago and I feel like the camera has the same problem when shooting.
For exemple, when the AF Mode is selected, I half press to get the focus and when I want to shut by pressing through, nothing happened. I need to release and press again. Also in MF, after focus I need to press 2 or 3 times to shoot.
When I shoot tethered , it works well.
Today Hasselblad tells me that it can be a hardware problem and that the device will have to be sent back to Sweden 

[Buddy]

similar to Elinchrom the X1D works perfect with Broncolor, RFS2 in my case. Manual power settings only.