Another 580EX question.

u8myufo

u8myufo

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As I mentioned in a previous post I have just got around to using my flash gun a bit more with the 50D and diving through all the controls etc. I have been experimenting in manual mode as well for both camera and flash, but what I do not understand and again this is probably failure on my part, is if I set the flash to 1/1 which I understand is full power then I get no response at all. But if I go to adjust the power, as soon as it gets down to 1/¼ power then the green confirmation light comes on and I am able to use as normal. Can anybody explain why this is? or is there a problem? Even if the flash is not coupled up in any way to the camera it is still the same, I just wonder why it is not possible to use above 1/¼ power. Hope someone can shed a bit of light on this for me :D
And one last thing, is there a more informative read of getting the best from the 580EX other than the manual?
Thanks
 
Thanks for that Stewart :thumbs:
 
u8myufo said:
As I mentioned in a previous post I have just got around to using my flash gun a bit more with the 50D and diving through all the controls etc. I have been experimenting in manual mode as well for both camera and flash, but what I do not understand and again this is probably failure on my part, is if I set the flash to 1/1 which I understand is full power then I get no response at all. But if I go to adjust the power, as soon as it gets down to 1/¼ power then the green confirmation light comes on and I am able to use as normal. Can anybody explain why this is? or is there a problem? Even if the flash is not coupled up in any way to the camera it is still the same, I just wonder why it is not possible to use above 1/¼ power. Hope someone can shed a bit of light on this for me :D
And one last thing, is there a more informative read of getting the best from the 580EX other than the manual?
Thanks
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What do you mean no response at all? The gun doesn't fire? The little square confirmation light only comes on briefly to indicate good exposure; if you haven't got it, it won't light - need to adjust output.

I don't understand "1/¼ power". Full power is 1/1 and it obviously won't go any higher than that. You can then turn it down in third of a stop increments which run 1/1 -0.3, 1/1 -0.7, 1/2, and so on, through 1/4 and right down to 1/128.

They are tricky little blighters to understand. If you want to know absolutely everything about it, take a deep breath and dive in to this link :D http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ This site is recommended by Canon.
 
The main light on the back of the unit (the round light) goes RED when it is ready to flash, green when it is ready to 'quick flash' (partly charged) and off when it's not ready.

The rectangular light underneath the main one goes green if it thinks you managed to achieve a good exposure from the flash that just fired. However, what it thinks is a good exposure and what are trying to achieve may not be the same thing (especially if you are working in manual mode on both camera and flash) so that light may not always come on after you take a picture.

If you get no flash firing at all it may be because it's not ready to fire.

EDIT: Have just re-read your post and it sounds like there isn't enough life in the batteries you've got in it to fully charge the flash for maximum output (hence when you reduce the power it goes green, which means it's partly charged). I reckon if you change the batteries your problem will go away!
 
HoppyUK said:
What do you mean no response at all? The gun doesn't fire? The little square confirmation light only comes on briefly to indicate good exposure; if you haven't got it, it won't light - need to adjust output.

I don't understand "1/¼ power". Full power is 1/1 and it obviously won't go any higher than that. You can then turn it down in third of a stop increments which run 1/1 -0.3, 1/1 -0.7, 1/2, and so on, through 1/4 and right down to 1/128.

They are tricky little blighters to understand. If you want to know absolutely everything about it, take a deep breath and dive in to this link :D http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ This site is recommended by Canon.
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As I explained 1/1 is full power so no I would not expect to increase it any further, what I am saying is if I reduce the flash output to 1/¼ or less then the green light comes on, along with the lcd distance scale. I would have expected it to be the other way around. IE: I have not set the power output high enough therefore it wont work. But as mentioned it still happens whether or not the flash is on the camera or not.
 
jontucker said:
The main light on the back of the unit (the round light) goes RED when it is ready to flash, green when it is ready to 'quick flash' (partly charged) and off when it's not ready.

The rectangular light underneath the main one goes green if it thinks you managed to achieve a good exposure from the flash that just fired. However, what it thinks is a good exposure and what are trying to achieve may not be the same thing (especially if you are working in manual mode on both camera and flash) so that light may not always come on after you take a picture.

If you get no flash firing at all it may be because it's not ready to fire.

EDIT: Have just re-read your post and it sounds like there isn't enough life in the batteries you've got in it to fully charge the flash for maximum output (hence when you reduce the power it goes green, which means it's partly charged). I reckon if you change the batteries your problem will go away!
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Cheers, That could be where the problem is, they are a good make of rechargable batteries and are not that old also they are fully charged. But I have learnt from experience that is still nothing to go by, so I might get another set to confirm any probs.
 
Not trying to be pedantic here but 1/¼ is larger than 1. I think you mean 'reduce the flash output to ¼' and this is where the confusion is.
 
Speedlight system field guide on amazon for a good book of everything they don't tell you in the manual. :)
 
AliB said:
Speedlight system field guide on amazon for a good book of everything they don't tell you in the manual. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks Ali
admirable said:
Not trying to be pedantic here but 1/¼ is larger than 1. I think you mean 'reduce the flash output to ¼' and this is where the confusion is.
Click to expand...

:lol: I know you aint pedantic. I admit in my op I said adjust the power, I should have said reduce the power output. However the confusion now is you state that the 1/¼ setting is greater than 1/1.

Hoppy was right when he said "You can then turn it down in third of a stop increments which run 1/1 -0.3, 1/1 -0.7, 1/2, and so on, through 1/4 and right down to 1/128.

Best I stick it on ETTL :lol:
 
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