With my slave flash in manual mode the "M" continues to blink and won't stop. Is it supposed to do that? Is it some kind of indicator that it's a slave and in manual mode? The master slave (580EXII on bracket) doesn't blink in manual mode.
Also, when I change the power of the slave from the master, to say 1/2 and shoot, the display on the slave still shows 1/1. Does the display on the slave stay the same, no matter what you've set from the master?
You got it into that mode by pressing and holding the mode button for 2 sec., which puts the flash in the SLAVE wireless setting into the "dumb as a brick" manual mode intended for use with radio slaves or an ST-E2 trigger in M mode. It prevents the flash from turning off after 90 sec. as it would in wireless OFF position. Its a legacy setting from the original 580ex.
Just press the mode button - briefly - and it will revert back to normal wireless control mode. When in wireless slave mode you simply set the channel and group. The manual doesn't make it clear that the Master always defaults to Group A, so you'd want to set the Slave as Group B.
From the Master select ETTL and the ratio, or in M mode the desired power setting for each group. The slave will follow whatever is set on the Master, but you will not see its display reflect the new settings until after the first shot is fired because the commands to set the slave are sent via visible pre-flash after fully pressing the shutter. If you alternate on the Master from ETTL to M, shot-to-shot, the slave will change accordingly with the slave display changing after every shot.
When shooting in ETTL I always also set the flashes for manual A=1/1, B=1/1 power setting as a back-up. That way if I think I'm at the limit of flash power in ETTL mode -- difficult to tell because there's no feedback in ETTL on power used -- I can tap the mode button and switch to M, fire off a full-power test shot and use it to gauge exposure and whether its time to raise ISO to get more range.
If you click the WWW button below and look in the Canon section you'll find my tutorials which explain some of the features the manual doesn't explain very well
Thanks Chuck. No matter what I do, I can't get the flashing M to go away. If I briefly touch the mode button nothing happens. When it shows ETTL and I quickly push the mode button, nothing happens. I have to hold it for a second or two and then it goes to the flashing M. If I quickly push it again it goes to flashing multi.
This is a brand new 580EXII, I wonder if there is a problem? I can't find anything in the manual about restoring to default settings or anything. What should I try?
ON EDIT: I ended up having to go into the custom function 01 and disabling the auto power off and it works fine now. I hadn't messed with the custom functions, so maybe it came set that way? Or maybe I pressed the M button for two seconds and set it? That isn't explained at all that I can find in the manual. Thanks for the help.
EDIT/EDIT: This is weird. When I have the flash that I'm using as a slave in ETTL mode I can push the Mode button and toggle between modes easily. As soon as I put it in slave on mode, when I quickly press the Mode button nothing happens. It makes me hold it for two seconds before it will change modes, and then it's the flashing M mode. What the heck is going on? Is this a bad unit? As soon as put the unit it slave on mode it goes to ETTL, no matter what mode it's in. Then to change modes from ETTL I have to hold the mode button down and it goes to the flashing M mode, then with another push goes to the flashing Multi mode, and after that a steady ETTL is displayed again. Is there some setting that is off?
EDIT/EDIT/EDIT:
Okay, it must not be the new flash. I reversed roles and set my one year old flash up as the slave and it does exactly the same thing. The only way I can get to manual mode when it's a slave is to hold the botton and then i get the flashing M too. I held the zoom button to get the ratio flashing so I could control the power of the slave from the master. Same thing, I can set the ratio of B to 1/2 shoot, and in testing it's obvious the power is halved, but the display on the slave still shows 1/1, even though on the master B shows 1/2. It did it reversing the rolls of the flashes. Is this something new to the II's that wasn't the same with earlier versions? Oh well, everything seems to be functioning, it's just the flashing M and the power not showing up on the slave to where it is actually set, but I assume since two flashes do the exact same thing that it's probably normal?
After setting channel and group on the Slave no additional human contact is needed, except to change the batteries. Like any obedient slave it follows the commands of the Master.
In SLAVE mode you need to make whatever mode / power change on the Master unit, then >>>>fire off a shot <<<<<, before you will see the mode / power change reflected on the display of the slave.
The power change in never being reflected on the display of the slave though Chuck, no mater how many shots are fired it still shows 1/1. It is obvious that the power is indeed changing, it just isn't reflected on the display of the slave.
pixNW wrote:
The power change in never being reflected on the display of the slave though Chuck, no mater how many shots are fired it still shows 1/1. It is obvious that the power is indeed changing, it just isn't reflected on the display of the slave.
I just confirmed on my 580ex the slave changes in M mode when I change group B (slave) power level from 1/2 to 1/4 or go back and forth from ETTL to M.
Are you sure that in M you have "ratios" turned on at the Master via the zoom button and the slave in Group B? If you don't turn ratios on at the Master in M mode the slave will default to group A and fire at the same setting as the Master. I just confirmed that also.
In M mode the user interface is a bit confusing because the display uses the same indicator word "Ratio ON/OFF" it uses in ETTL mode to enable wireless control of the slave in M mode via the zoom button even though its really not enabling ratios but rather remote setting of power levels on the slave.
On the Master flash press zoom until you see "Ratios OFF" flashing, turn the wheel until you see "Ratios ON flashing and press the center "set" button.)
Chuck, I turned ratios on the master off, and then back on. I push the set button after that and the power for A starts flashing, I set it at 1/1. I push the set button and the B starts flashing, I set 1/4 and push the set button again. I set off the master, the slave fires. The slave still shows 1/1 on the display.
The slave is set to B, though the only time that B slave shows up is when the flash is in ETTL mode. When it is in M mode it just shows slave, but doesn't show B like it does in ETTL mode. Also, as I mentioned previously, the M is always flashing when in manual mode. I can make it go away by going into custom function 1, but as soon as I put it in slave mode the M starts flashing again.
These are both EXII's. Is it possible that they behave differently with regard to the display? If so, not having it display would seem to be a step backwards.
ON EDIT:
Things deffenitely are not working. When I change the power output of the slave from the master it makes no difference at all in the flash output, and the setting does not appear on the slave. I thought I would swap flashes, putting what was the slave on the camera and changing it's setting to master, and vice versa. I set up the master, channel 1, turn ratios on. I set the off camera flash as slave, channel 1, B. I set the master at 1/16 so that I can see more easily if there is a change in the slave's output. I set B to 1/1 for a shot, shoot. I select B on the master and dial it down to 1/16 and take a shot. No difference in flash output from the slave, and the display on the slave still says 1/1.
I should point out that with the 580EXII that I've had for a while, the M is flashing on it when it manual slave mode, just like on the new flash. For some reason the setting information isn't getting communicated between the two flashes when in Manual mode, and I am pulling my hair out trying to figure out why. Any help would be very much appreciated.
I can manually change the power setting on the slave and it works fine. I am not able to change the power setting on the slave from the master though. I've checked to see if there is a custom function that might control this, but can find nothing. I am assuming that maybe there is something wrong with one of my flashes?
Figured it out by googling the problem and going through several pages. I was setting both flashes to manul by pushing the mode button on each. That doesn't need to be done, it only the master needs to be set to Manual. I left the slave in ETTL mode, set the master to M, set the B slave to 1/4 via the master, fired, looked at the display on the slave and it showed a solid M (not blinking) and 1/4.
Stupid little problem, but something not at all explained in the manual, at least as far as I can find. I made the eronious assumption that both flashes had to be put into manual mode by selecting it via the mode button on each flash. Apparently not the case, and to do so causes the flashing M and the problems I was having where the power of the slave could only be changed via the slave itself. Lesson learned, frustrating for sure, but satisfying to have figured it out.
