Troubleshooting Checklist

Is the ceiling of the room in which you are shooting higher than 10-14 feet?
The pop up flash units cannot produce enough light to bounce to a higher ceiling and send back enough light to properly illuminate a scene. Try moving your subject near a light-colored wall and shoot vertically so that the Lightscoop bounces the flash off the wall.

If shooting vertically, are you no farther than 3 feet from the wall?
This distance produces the best results.

Is the ceiling or wall of the room in which you are shooting a dark color?
A dark ceiling or wall will absorb light rather than bounce it back to the scene you are photographing.

If using a zoom lens, have you zoomed in and perhaps caused the aperture on your lens to become smaller than the recommended f-number setting?
If the f-stop is too small (a high f-number), the picture will be under-exposed (too dark).

SPECIFIC PROBLEMS
Blurry subjects?
Confirm that your camera’s exposure is set to Manual and not to an automatic setting that could slow down the shutter speed. If the shutter speed is too slow, moving subjects — or your own movement when holding the camera — can produce blurry images.

Pictures too dark?
Ceiling too high or too dark; wall too dark or far away; aperture too small; zoom lens at too small an f-stop; Nikon set to metering mode other than Spot metering; Flash Exposure Compensation +1 or +2 not selected.

Pictures too light?
Confirm that your camera’s exposure is set to Manual and not to an automatic setting that could slow down the shutter speed to admit too much light.

Don’t see an effect from the flash?
In a brightly lit room, there may be more available light than light produced by the flash. You probably don’t need the flash at all. Or, you can darken the room by turning out lights or closing curtains.

Canon camera won’t fire.
In a completely dark or very dark room, Canon models use a pre-flash from the pop up flash as a focusing aid. Because the Lightscoop deflects the pre-flash, there may not enough light for the camera to focus, so it does not fire. Turning on some lights in the room will solve the problem.

Light spills over top.
There is a bit of play in the hot shoe from one manufacturer to another. Try nudging the Lightscoop foot backward slightly. The Lightscoop foot will still fit securely but the mirror will be slightly repositioned to block the spill.

Older model Fuji FinePix pop-up flash doesn't extend fully.
Back the foot slightly out of the hot shoe to let the flash pop-up.

More questions?
Ask Professor Kobré.