I was shooting a wedding last night and had the 580EXII on a 5D for the processional shots. It was in ETTL, camera on manual. During the recessional, the flash changed over to TTL (and I did not change anything, other than turn it off during the ceremony and then turn it back on... after the restart it came up as ETTL). Then during the reception, I put my other 580 EXII on the same camera. ETTL came up fired a few times and then changed to TTL, I tired power cycling the flash with no luck. I then changed to a 580EX I and finished the night out with no issues. Has anyone else had this issue? Two different flashes, one camera body. I'm going to try a different camera body today. Strange and not to mention costly for the blown opportunities.
It's a well documented problem with the 580mkII, the new locking mechanism isn't tight enough to ensure good contact. I get this happening about twice a wedding and they just came back from canon, sigh. Same thing happened with a friends 580mkII when I was shooting with it and it's brand new. A good thump at the rear of the flash usually brings ETTL back on the screen, failing that taking it off and reseating it usually works. I wish they still sold the old 580ex...
Beni wrote:
It's a well documented problem with the 580mkII, the new locking mechanism isn't tight enough to ensure good contact. I get this happening about twice a wedding and they just came back from canon, sigh. Same thing happened with a friends 580mkII when I was shooting with it and it's brand new. A good thump at the read of the flash usually brings ETTL back on the screen, failing that taking it off and reseating it usually works. I wish they still sold the old 580ex...
super +1
and I don't like the way the 580II warns me to replace the battery. too many wasted shots.
Thanks. I thought I was the only one and had not heard of this problem before. I'll give it a good thump for sure....... good thing I kept the MK1 version.
Never had the problem. Could be because on day one I tore the flash hotshoe in half. Canon replaced it under warranty (though I suspect dropping camera and flash three feet had something to do with it) and it has worked miracles ever since.
4Honor, TTL is bad if you're not expecting it. When the flash decided to change, it was when the bride and groom are walking down the aisle, stop at the back of the church for a kiss and a dip. If you're expecting ETTL operation and it goes into TTL (which is where the flash/camera is to measure the light at the film) and you're shooting a digital camera, then it's crappola. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
TTL can't work with digital period so the flash just fires at full power. Sometimes there is enough RAW headroom to save the file. Othertimes you're screwed.
On my MKIII the darn 580EXII sometimes will not fire at all due to seating. If I put it on my 5D, no problems at all. I end up using the 580 on my MKIII and the 580II on my 5D. Stinks because the MKIII controls the EXII nicely via menus (when it seats properly).
I have reseated the rubber on the EXII and that seems to have helped, but it makes me nervous to use in important moments.
Aha! Had this problem on Saturday night! Was clicking away and all of a sudden my flash was putting out a LOT more power than I was expecting. Reseating the flash fixed the problem but still left me in a *WTF* state since I hadn't experienced this with the older 580s. Body was a 1D III.
Wait, so this is a common problem that everyone have? Do you think I should get rid of my 50EX II then (and maybe get a 430EX II like I originally planned)?
Or only the people with the problems are posting here, so maybe there are thousands of normal 580EX II's out there?
Your story is pretty much identical to mine and seems to be a fairly common problem. From what I hear the same thing has happened with some Nikon flashes as well that have the new locking mechanisms.
I personally don't mind the old locking mechanisms... I just wish they would shape/groove the locking wheel differently so it is a little easier to loosen when it is too tight. Seems like we could then have the best of both worlds cause this problem sucks and I don't trust my 580exII.
TTL: Used for film bodies. Exposure was metered off of the film during the actual exposure.
E-TTL: Used for early digital bodies. Metering done off of viewfinder. Flash metering done based on pre-flash. Used active AF points in flash calculation and had an auto-fill algorithm which changed the amount of flash based on EV level of ambient light.
E-TTL II: Introduced in 2004 in 20D and other models. Uses evaluation of ambient vs. preflash over 35 or more metering zones (depending on body) and also uses focus distance information from some USM lenses (but only in direct flash mode).
The EX flashes will automatically detect whether a digital body is E-TTL or E-TTL II, but a CF.n setting would normally be required to put it into TTL mode for backwards compatibility with a film body. A loose camera hot shoe can also cause the same erroneous shift to TTL mode due to faulty contacts.
The locking mechanism on the Canon flash is actually a retractable round pin and mating hole in the hot shoe and TTL extension cable. On the older 580ex turning the ring lowered the pin. The lever on the 580exII does the same. Be aware if using the flash off-camera in a third-party hot or cold shoe that the friction of the wheel / lever may not hold the flash securely in place!
Some other useful E-TTL II / metering info not in the manual to be aware of:
The pre-flashes and flash metering occur off the viewfinder between the time the shutter is fully pressed and the mirror flips up to cover the viewfinder. But in evaluative flash mode the comparison of ambient and pre-flash is based on the point where ambient AE is locked. By default in Av and Tv mode AE and AF are both locked when the shutter is half pressed. That can result in incorrect evaluation if focus / recompose is used. If AE is locked in a darker or lighter area than the final recomposed scene the shot will be over- or under-exposed, respectively. That can be prevented by moving AF lock to the * button and waiting to half-press of shutter to lock AE until after the scene is recomposed.
Also keep in mind that since metering is done off the viewfinder, if using a tripod or any situation where your eye is not covering the viewfinder eye piece any stray light entering the eye piece will likely skew the camera metering. A cap for the viewfinder eyepiece is supplied on the camera strap for those situations. This is mentioned in the camera manuals but not very prominently.
Jimbobp wrote:
Thanks. I thought I was the only one and had not heard of this problem before. I'll give it a good thump for sure....... good thing I kept the MK1 version.
I noticed the same problem at a recent wedding. It really left me in quite a worried state, and a lot of my shots were lost because of it. Lucky for me I have the Sunpak flashes (potato mashers), and I've now switched to using them exclusively. I can't use a flash that's unreliable.
I agree on not usuing an unreliabe flash. I have two of these (what $700 invested) and I can't rely on them for the money shots....... I'm a bit disappointed. I'm going to drop a line to Canon and see what they say. This is just sucky.
