 Wendy Ellis |
Problems with Canon 580EX Flash I just got a new Canon 580EX flash for my Digital Rebel and I'm having problems with it. I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong or if it is defective. I'm sure it's probably me - this is my first time to use an off-camera flash like this. Whether I attach it to the hot shoe or if it's off the camera, when I turn it on and while it's powering up, it shows "Zoom 35mm". But once the pilot light indicated it's ready to fire, it changes to a blinking "Zoom --mm". It's in ETTL mode by default, and I cannot get any of the buttons on the back of it to work. I can't change the mode, I can't set it to high speed sync - nothing. If I attempt to take a picture, the flash does fire, but I can't set anything! Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
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Jon Close |
A couple guesses - (1) Make sure the speedlight is fully seated in the hotshoe. The pins may not be lining up. (2)What lens is mounted? It's possible that some non-Canon lenses may not properly communicate the zoom setting; (3) Once the flash is powered up it may "act dumb" (ie. "Zoom --mm") because it has not yet received any communication from the camera. See if it "wakes up" when you half-press the shutter button. Re not being able to switch it out of ETTL. ??? I don't know why the mode buttons wouldn't respond. I don't have a user manual handy, so I can't review the button/wheel control sequences. Another thing to try is "resetting" it by removing the batteries for maybe an hour, then reload.
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Wendy Ellis |
Thanks for responding Jon. Right now I'm just trying it with the stock lens that came with my digital rebel. I thought it might be that it wasn't fully seated in the hotshoe, but it is doing the same thing when I have it off camera and mounted on the stand that came with it - and it shouldn't need any connections for that to work, right? I've taken shots with it, and the flash fires, but I still cannot change any of the settings, so pressing the shutter button doesn't seem to be working either. None of the buttons are responding at all, and I can't find anything in the user manual about a flashing "zoom--mm" message. I just wanted to make sure I had tried everything before I took it to a camera shop and asked what was up. I'm afraid it will be something dumb that I am doing wrong and then I will look silly! Should I take it in somewhere?
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Joe Jarosz |
Hi Wendy, it sounds to me like there's a problem with the flash. When powering up you should have access to all buttons on the back. For example if you press zoom once, Zoom should start blinking and you should be able to use the dial to manually change the distance. It does that regardless o fits ifs on the camera or not.
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