Trying to get Godox flash gear to work with my G7

[tribal-warrior]

I have a Godox TT600 speedlight and a Godox X1T-O flash trigger. Ive only had them for a little over a year. In the past, they worked fine with my Panasonic G7 but lately, I can't get them to work properly with that camera. Even with brand new batteries inserted. The speedlight won't fire when I press the G7's shutter release. Whereas it used to.

The speedlight and the flash trigger do communicate with each other flawlessly. When I change the power settings on the flash trigger, I can see the corresponding changes occur on the back screen of the speedlight. And when I press the Test button on the flash trigger, the speedlight will fire. Though I guess the G7 camera is not communicating with the flash trigger. Not anymore.

Today, I set the speeclight to optical slave mode. But the camera's pop up flash will only trigger the speedlight occasionally. This works less than half the time. Not very reliable.

So now, I'm considering this pc sync cord on Amazon but I'm not entirely sure about compatibility.

DSLRKIT 3.5mm to Flash PC Sync Cable with Screw Lock for Rook RF-16NE RF-603 : Amazon.com.au: Electronics

DSLRKIT 3.5mm to Flash PC Sync Cable with Screw Lock for Rook RF-16NE RF-603 : Amazon.com.au: Electronics

www.amazon.com.au

This cord has a screw lock which looks like it may fit into a socket on my Godox X1T-O flash trigger. To me, it looks like a match. Though according to google AI, the X1T-O doesn't have a pc sync port. I thought that was a pc sync port. The other end of the cord is for a 3.5mm port. My G7 has a 3.5mm port so I thought that this cord could be plugged in there. I do know that the Godox TT600 speedlight does have a pc sync port but it turns out that this is a 3.5mm port. If that really is the case, I don't know how I would connect the screw lock end of the cord into my G7. I don't think there would be any sockets on the G7 that could accept a screw lock. Correct me if I'm wrong.

It would be great however if I could run the pc sync cord between the camera and X1T-O flash trigger. That would be ideal and preferable. Would this be possible?

 

[tribal-warrior]

It appears that the X1T-O does have a pc sync port. And Godox literature online and the manual confirms this. And it does kind of look like this socket would accept that screw lock on the end of the pc sync cable on Amazon (from what I can tell based on appearance.) Though I'm still not 100% sure about compatibility. Would there be one standard pc sync port and not several different size variations?

Now about the Panasonic's G7's 3.5mm port. This port is mainly intended for audio / external microphones. Could it also be used successfully with a pc sync port for flash photography?

The G7 also has a 2.5mm port (for a remote release.) And there are some pc sync cords that have a 2.5mm plug. Would a pc sync port work with this socket? I do admit that I would prefer to use a remote release with this port. I guess the 2.5mm port acts as an input. I don't know if it would work as an output as well (for sending a signal to the X1T-O flash trigger.)

 

[Knorp]

Since the flash worked in the past, could it be that the camera is in electronic shutter mode instead of mechanical shutter mode ?

 

[tribal-warrior]

Google AI says that I can use a pc sync cord with the Panasonic G7's 3.5mm port for flash photography. I hope that's true. Well there's one way to find out. I'll make a purchase.

 

[tribal-warrior]

Since the flash worked in the past, could it be that the camera is in electronic shutter mode instead of mechanical shutter mode ?

The electronic shutter is turned off. And the sound of the shutter is at it's normal loudness. And the optical slave mode worked (at least some of the time.) I don't really know if optical slave works with electronic shutter mode.

 

[tribal-warrior]

The pc sync cord arrived today. I connected one end to the Panasonic G7 and the other end to the X1T-O flash trigger. Still no luck. The flash will not fire when I press the camera's shutter release. The X1T-O is attached to the hotshoe of the G7.

The TT600 speedlight and X1T-O still communicate with each other for the most part. When I change settings on the X1T-O, I can see the corresponding changes occur on the back panel of the speedlight. Though pressing the test button on the X1T-O does not trigger the TT600 anymore. It used to.

I think what I'll do now is order a different type of pc sync cord (the kind that has a hotshoe connection.) Though I'm not keen on having a cord that runs between the camera and an off camera flash. If I'm shooting outdoors and a shoot-through-umbrella takes a dive from a bit of wind, the camera would probably be pulled in as well.

If the hotshoe sync cord doesn't work, I'm considering ordering a more basic Godox flash trigger that doesn't have high speed sync capability. Hopefully, that one will keep communicating with the camera long term. It seems that the X1T-O is no longer communicating with the G7.

 

[tribal-warrior]

I actually wonder if I have a secure connection when I plug the pc sync cord into the Godox flash trigger. The odd thing is despite the connection being a screw lock, it doesn't really lock in. There is this metal round thing that you rotate around the socket but it doesn't tighten. No matter how many times you rotate it, it remains extremely loose and spins freely. And it doesn't take much at all to pull the cord out.

 

[Knorp]

My last attempt ...

In the following cases, the flash is fixed to [Œ] (forced flash off).
• When recording movies
• When recording 4K photos
• When using the electronic shutter
• When [HDR] is set to [ON]
• When [Silent Mode] is set to [ON]
• When an image effect is set in [Filter Select] of [Filter Settings]

 

[tribal-warrior]

My last attempt ...

In the following cases, the flash is fixed to [Œ] (forced flash off).
• When recording movies
• When recording 4K photos
• When using the electronic shutter
• When [HDR] is set to [ON]
• When [Silent Mode] is set to [ON]
• When an image effect is set in [Filter Select] of [Filter Settings]

I'm not familiar with the meaning of OE.

The G7 is not set to movie mode and it's not recording 4k photos. It's set to M (the manual mode for still photography.) Electronic shutter / silent mode is turned off. There is no HDR setting applied. And no filter settings are applied either.

Yea it's odd how the flash worked fine with this camera in the past but not anymore. I haven't had the Godox flash gear for very long. Ive had a total of two successful flash photography sessions before the Godox gear decided to stop working with my G7.

Recently, I did notice what looks like a low battery warning on the speedlight. But there are relatively brand new batteries inside that haven't been used that much. And the speedlight had no problems firing a flash each time I pressed the 'Test' button on the X1T-O a few days ago (with the very same batteries loaded.) But would not fire when the shutter release was pressed. And at that point in time, the batteries were brand new. They came straight out of the packaging and hadn't been used in any other device. Though nothing happens when I press the 'Test' button now.

 

[tribal-warrior]

I just attached the Godox speedlite to the hotshoe of my G7. Then turned both devices on. The flash will not fire when I press the G7's shutter release. Though apparently, both camera and speedlite used to work together directly (not long after I received the speedlite.)

Though this may be because I fooled around with the settings on the speedlite yesterday. I was trying to turn off the optical slave mode and I couldn't find the relevant section in the manual again. So I didn't know what I was doing and I ended up changing a whole bunch of things that I know nothing about. I then searched the manual to see if it was possible to return the speedlite to a default mode (kind of like a factory reset.) But didn't have any luck. I don't suppose that you can change a Godox speedlite to a default mode?

Edit: I just found out that you have to hold down the Set and Mode buttons at the same time for about 2 seconds to reset the speedlite. I held both buttons down for a lot longer than that but nothing happens. And the flash still won't fire when I press the camera's shutter release.

Well this flash gear is pretty much useless to me now. I can't use it at all. What looks like a low battery warning is still flashing on the back panel of the speedlite. I suppose I could get some more batteries and see if that makes a difference. Even though I loaded brand new batteries into both the speedlite and flash trigger about 13 days ago.

 

[tribal-warrior]

I wonder if there's a problem that's developed with the camera's hotshoe. I notice that these days, the flash trigger and the speedlite are not working as they should when they're attached to the G7's hotshoe. Sometimes when I change lenses on this camera with the lens upside down, my finger ends up on the hotshoe. I wonder if it could be grease from my finger that's causing issues with the hotshoe.