Metz SCA 3801

[DaveN]

I starting having a problem with my Metz 70-5 SCA 3801 Flash. If I hit the flash button it fires like a machine gun until I turn it off. The capacitors test good any thoughts on what is causing this? Anyone know where I can get a replacement unit or the schematic.

 

[koraks]

Welcome to Photrio!
Sounds like maybe the flash button is just dirty and gets stuck. Does the unit also strobe the same way if triggered through a camera instead of the button?

 

[ic-racer]

Is it very rapid flashes like model light mode, or slower flashes like stroboscopic mode, or somewhere inbetween?

Have you tried to reset it, as in the manual under 'Troubleshooting?' That is, did you take the batteries out, etc.

 

[DaveN]

Now the camera is not firing it. I had the battery removed and it still fires like that, in fact this battery was just refurbished with new NICD cells. If the SCA module is not attached the flash does a single flash. I didn't think this flash had a stroboscopic mode. It shows Auto, Manual, 4 arrows, and TTL modes. I never us the 4 arrows is that the strobe mode?

 

[koraks]

Do you have a user manual for the flash unit? I think it might be time to dig it up and give it a read.

 

[zacfi]

I've been looking into all of the ins and outs of Metz flashes in relation to my Mamiya 645 AFD, and I finally came across something that explains a lot about them. For your particular unit, the 70-5, the proper adapter is the 3xx2 series, not the 3xx1. I don't know which camera this is for as not all adapters are listed, and some, as is my Mamiya, the adapters were made by the camera manufacturer rather than Metz. I have the Metz 54 MZ4i flash, an SCA 3002 type, and the 3951 adapter, an SCA 3000 type. First off, the adapter had to be forced on as the older adapters do not fit properly on the newer flashes, but they do work the other way around. Second, while I seem to get TTL functionality with it, none of the other functions listed in the Mamiya manual work so I don't get a flash icon in the viewfinder and the flash doesn't automatically set ISO. Not an insurmountable problem.

According to the guide, these "programmable" adapters, the 3xx2 series, lost that function when the only person at Metz with any knowledge of it died. And then they went bankrupt so that was that. In the meantime I'm still looking for the proper 3952 adapter for my camera, that's assuming I can get the other one off the flash as I really jammed it in there. Reality too is that I never liked flashes, nor do the subjects in this day and age of iPhone photos without them and digital sensors of ISO 12800 and more. I've tried low light shooting without one on my Mamiya with pushed film with pretty mediocre results.

How this helps with your problem of strobing is this, with the wrong adapter the flash isn't working properly, without it it works properly. There is no mention of a 3802 adapter in the document below nor a 3801, so probably the camera manufacturer supplied it. What camera is it?

Metz SCA guide in German (I used Firefox translate on it myself, but whatever works for you.)

 

[DaveN]

I found the manual and was able to deprogram the strobe function. So now it still does not fire with the camera shutter. I have a Contax 645 with Leaf 50mp Aptus back. I also have a Contax flash the TLA20 which works on this camera so the flash shoe works. The cable from the SCA unit and the flash works because both fire the flash using the test button.

I have had this flash for close to 30 years without a problem and I love it, just keeping up with batteries was the hassle. Wholesale Battery refurbishes the Metz 50-40 battery pack for $25. This camera's picture with the Zeiss lenses puts the I-phone camera to shame. I can blowup to 17x19 and it looks great so I want to keep this going.

 

[ic-racer]

Maybe a cable issue? I had a cable that would not show the 'READY' light in the viewfinder. I was able to repair it, however.

Metz SCA300 Cable Repair

I got a Metz 45CT-4 'free' with a camera body from an auction site. Turns out the 45CT-4 is quite a nice flash. After rebuilding the power pack I thought it could go well with my Rolleiflex cameras if I had the correct adapter cable. Turns out the correct cable is called SCA300. I had trouble...

www.photrio.com

 

[zacfi]

Did it previously work with the Leaf back? My understanding is Metz TTL did not work with digital backs because it read the light off the film plane and there is no film plane with digital. That was the reason Metz created the 3002 series and you don't have a 3002 series adapter. But in any case it should fire. I don't think the 3002 system worked with all digital brands either, just specific ones.

The whole system suffered from the same problem as USB does. There were 5 different plug types, with adapter plugs and cables to make them interoperate. Then the consortium got together and created a new single standard, USB-C. So now there are 6 different plug types, with adapters to make them all interoperate. And then USB-C forked in different directions so that even cables that look the same with the same connector don't work on all the versions. It was a consortium that created SCA, but only Metz stuck with it until they went bankrupt.

If there is such a thing as a SCA3802 adapter, maybe that'll solve your problem? But if it used to work with a 3801 then I don't know.

 

[DaveN]

Thanks for the info. I did change the digital back and put the film back on but the flash did not work. There are not many options at this point other than buying a new flash. There is a chip in the SCA module but it probably is programable. If it is a standard chip I can try and replace it but I doubt that will work. Thanks all the the input.

 

[zacfi]

Today was my lucky day. I just bought my first tripod as I've never had a camera that was heavy and was trying my Metz flash that I mentioned above on it. It didn't fire with the camera although it does charge and flash. I'd used it a few times before successfully. So out of curiosity I googled the proper SCA3952 adapter, as I've done every few days and lo and behold one was for sale in the UK on eBay, but the UK only. I texted my London friends to see if I could ship it there and it is on its way to their house! I'd given up hope on that one.

 

[zacfi]

As it turned out, the one I got from the UK wasn't the 3952, it was the generic adapter 301 that comes with the flash in the 3952 box. Probably the person that bought the 3952 years ago swapped them. But, in my hands right now is the real thing, the 3952. I found a seller that had one listed as part of a kit and he agreed to sell just the adapter as it didn't have a flash with it. I've tried it out and it works as advertised with the communications. I get indication in the camera and on the flash that they are talking to each other as advertised. Also, it all fits without issue. None of the others fit quite right. Now I just need to put film into my Mamiya 645afd and find something to shoot indoors that won't get annoyed by the light cannon that the flash is. Hopefully the TTL function will moderate the intensity a bit. I have a roll of Gold 200 that will be a good start.

In all of my experimentation I also used the flash with a Nikon D7000 with the Nikon adapter that was already on the flash when I bought it. That works fine.