My ST-8300M started making the start up noise and randomly partially opening. I traced it down to operating with a higher voltage (~13.3V) from the battery used for field operation. This does not happen when using the SBIG transformer (~12.2V). I see in the forum this has been discussed. Is there a fix for this other than reducing the voltage from my battery? Thanks Mark
I'm one of the previous posters who experienced this issue, too. Mine seemed to work reliably up to about 12.5 volts, but not at higher voltages. It would run without issue either on the supplied brick or on a Marine battery. I never found a resolution for this other than reducing the input voltage. I have since gone to an STT-8300 which, to date, happily operates at the higher power supply voltage I normally use for the rest of my gear. Good luck, Craig Smith
A fully charged, unloaded Marine Battery will show about 12.6-12.7 volts. Age or less than 100% charge will lower that. I used my ST camera for two years with no problems. I had always used battery power, even when 110 was available. Early this year, I started using 110 and a power supply whenever it was available... Which I think runs at 13.8V. I prefer to not use a separate power supply for the camera because I use "through-the-mount" wiring and didn't really want another cable. Anyhow, it took me a while to figure out what was going on with the camera! The STT I picked up mid-season this year seems okay at the higher voltage... For whatever reason. Best regards, Craig
Curious that you're having this problem. The ST-8300M and STF-8300M have the same design for the shutter motor control. It does use the raw 12V power to run the motor, but usually more voltage (within reason) gives you more torque. Except in unusual situations (when you're close to mechanical resonance, which is unlikely at the speeds used) it should work better, not worse. I just tested a new STF-8300M with a variable voltage power supply. It worked just fine at 14V. What do you mean by "erratic"; i.e. what are you seeing the shutter do?
I am not sure how to link to a thread, but the thread I started on this before was on March 26, 2015 in this same forum section. As I mentioned, I now have an STT model and I don't seem to have an issue with it... I am just trying to be helpful. The "erratic" shutter behavior I experienced was a clicking noise followed by the shutter being in a random position, neither open or closed. It didn't do this every shutter cycle, but only on some cycles. Then on the next cycle it would often get to the correct spot again. It was a bit reminiscent of a problem I had one other time which required the phase to be changed. I thought it might be the same issue again, but this time, none of the four phases reliably worked. As I mentioned in the other thread, there was a very good correlation between this issue and the voltage. I happened to have been using a variable power supply and was able to narrow down the voltages where it seemed to exhibit itself. Hope this is helpful. Regards, Craig
