Hi all,

I just picked up a 1D MKI and have been trying all afternoon to get it to fire my 580EXII. The primary reason I bought it was for the 1/500th sync speed so it's just a little bit important that I get it working.

I've tried the following:

ETTL, M, HSS, second-curtain sync, master:slave, and strobo. None worked.
Every shutter speed from 1 second to 1/500. Nada.
Reset every custom function in the camera and my flashes. Zip.
Tried playing with Cfn 05. (changing from E-TTL to TTL to auto and then manual) Nope

The funny thing is that if I set it to E-TTL, the flash DOES fire. So I know it's making contact with the body. But the flash makes no difference on the exposure so I believe it's only the pre-flash exposure check. When set to M, HSS, or strobo, it doesn't fire at all.

Has anyone ever seen this? This happens with three 580EXII's. That's the only flash model I have right now. I've cleaned the contacts, changed the batteries of the flash and body, and tried the exact same flash at the standard highest-sync settings on a 5D and 1D2, which both worked perfectly. Thanks in advance!

Have you tried the flashes using P mode on the body? Might be the one use of P mode, it'll at least try to do almost everything for you. With that, you might be able to pin down the problem better.

I'm sorry that I don't have any ideas beyond that, I no longer have the 1D classic, and I have the original 580EX, not the II. I'd love to pick another 1D up for the same reason as you though - the 1/500th would be great...

Tried in M, Av, Tv, and P. Same thing. When I turn the flash off, it'll give an independent exposure until I turn the flash back on, so it's definitely detecting the flash's presence.

My firmware is 1.4.0, BTW.

Happens with mine too. I shoot with E-TTL right now, or just pop on a prime...

Keegan Bursaw wrote:
Happens with mine too. I shoot with E-TTL right now, or just pop on a prime...
Seriously? I could live with just E-TTL and FEC, but I'm not getting anything right now. Having a (working) 1/500 x-sync isn't about getting all the light in, it's about deleting sunlight and replacing it with your own.

I'll change the flash batteries and try it in a moment. It hasn't been that big of a deal the past 2 months since I haven't needed the flash much, but still.

I bought two new 580exII's and both were horribly erratic with my 5D bodies, often doing exactly the same thing, firing the preflash but not the main flash. I had both hotshoes on the cameras replaced by Canon and now they work 99% of the time. That stupid tightening switch just doesn't give enough downforce for a good connection 100% of the time, especially if your camera has had a lot of use as I assume your 1D has.

I'm sorry to revive an old thread.. But I figured this would be better to update on as opposed to making a new one.
The only time the flash will fire is when I hit the Pilot button when it's not connected to my 1D. Nothing in any other mode...
It's a bit loose on the hot shoe. I'm hesitant to send it in, but if you guys think it's the only solution?

My 1D did this with a 420ex & 580ex. When I tightened the wheel on the flash it would lose contact with the camera. If I left it loose it would work most of the time. It turned out that the hotshoe on the camera was spread up on the rear enough so I could see the difference. The fix for me was the wooden handle of my pocket knife. I gently tapped on the part of the shoe that was loose to close it up a bit and it has worked fine ever since and that was about 6 months ago. It took all of a minute to do. The proper thing to do would have been to send it in to Canon, but I just couldn't help myself! Hope this helps.

Rod Anderson

maybe this will help you
http://shimworld.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/speedlite-580ex-ii-hotshoe-fix/

My 580EX (Mk I) works flawlessly with my 1D and 40D. If I were in your shoes I'd go to the nearest Canon's lab.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

Sounds like a hot shoe problem. Does the flash fire properly on another body? Do other flashes fail to fire on the 1D? I've got 420ex, 550ex, 580ex and 580exII flashes and they all work on my 1D.

My 580EXII is fully functional on my 1D "classic". Not ETTL-II, but all automated functions and no problems.
Since you just picked up the camera, I'd guess the problem is there, rather than in the flash.

Just tried the fix neemo suggested to look into... flash works again now. Thanks!