EDIT: I've retitled the thread, so that we can discuss incompatibilities with other 3rd party flashes and transmitters, beyond just the Sunpak RD2000.


I picked up a Sunpak RD2000 to have as a small portable flash unit for my 5D2. They make a version that is supposed to work with Canon:

Sunpak RD2000

However, mine won't fire on my 5D2. I've tried everything, but cannot get the camera to trigger the flash. The camera will trigger my 580EX II flashes with no problems.

I don't have any other Canon bodies to test the Sunpak flash with at the moment, so I'm wondering if any of you have tried this combo.

I may have a faulty Sunpak flash, or there may be a compatibility issue with the 5D2.

Thanks,
Mike

I keep hearing this now--flash compatibility issues with the 5D2. I'm not sure how it's even possible for a flash not to be triggered if it's in manual mode--you can usually trip them with anything--but maybe the 5D2 is being more clever than it should.

Do you have another body to try it with? Works well on my 5D and XTi. Still waiting the 5D II I ordered from Amazon on September 17!

Mike Hatam wrote:
I picked up a Sunpak RD2000 to have as a small portable flash unit for my 5D2. They make a version that is supposed to work with Canon:

Sunpak RD2000

However, mine won't fire on my 5D2. I've tried everything, but cannot get the camera to trigger the flash. The camera will trigger my 580EX II flashes with no problems.

I don't have any other Canon bodies to test the Sunpak flash with at the moment, so I'm wondering if any of you have tried this combo.

I may have a faulty Sunpak flash, or there may be a compatibility issue with the 5D2.

Thanks,
Mike



oh man, i specifically bought it just for 5dmkii (and 50D) and
it seems canon did some trickery to make them very unreliable when it comes to firing on the new bodies, it is really, really tricky to coax it into firing on the 50D (haven't tried it with 5fd mkii yet)

on a 40D it works great.

i thought maybe my 50D had a bad hotshoe, bu tnow that you say it doesn'y work on your 5dmkii i'm thinking it's something they changed to kill third party flashes

Could be the same issue as this thread
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/714676/0#6453517

Would a canon 220ex be a better bet

Hmm... I'll be disappointed if that were indeed the case.

I've test my RD2000 to work very nicely with the 40D and 5D, it can't function with the 5DmkII ??

Lots of flash problems, were having crazy stuff with Sigma. They claim they can fix it though.

its always the risk with 3rd party stuff that new 'features' can be added to newer bodies that make the 3rd party stuff not function. Canon not the only ones at it, I gather the latest Ipods dont function with some 3rd party docs.

Just out of interest would the non functioning flash fire if it were connected via an off camera cord?

I have the Sunpak RD2000 as well. Worked with my 5D. Haven't tried it with my 5DII. I'll report back later to add my $0.02...

Ian - good idea!

I just mounted the RD2000 on to my off-camera cord, to test that out. No, it doesn't work. The camera won't trigger the flash, either directly mounted on the camera's hot-shoe, or via the off-camera cord.

The 580EX II works either way (on the camera, or on the off-camera cord).

The RD2000 will fire if I push the button on the flash unit, so I know it's capable of firing. But I cannot get the 5DII to trigger it, no matter what I do. It's possible that I have a failure/defect in the mounting portion of the flash head.

I don't have any other Canon bodies to test out the flash, to verify that the mount works properly.

I'm waiting for someone else here to check their RD2000 on a 5DII, so that we have more data to work with.

Mike

It sounds like you have the same issue as the thread I link to earlier.

Ian.Dobinson wrote:
It sounds like you have the same issue as the thread I link to earlier.

the annoying thing is they dont put in a built-in flash and then they apparently purposefully disable stuff like the Rd2000 that would replace a built-in flash....

BAD canon.

anyway i'll give it a try just to make sure, but since it fails on yours and failed on my 50D but it works fine on our other canons, sounds not good.

skibum5 wrote:
Ian.Dobinson wrote:
It sounds like you have the same issue as the thread I link to earlier.

the annoying thing is they dont put in a built-in flash and then they apparently purposefully disable stuff like the Rd2000 that would replace a built-in flash....

BAD canon.

anyway i'll give it a try just to make sure, but since it fails on yours and failed on my 50D but it works fine on our other canons, sounds not good.


It's unlikely anyone at Canon made a conscious decision to disable the RD2000. I think it's unlikely they even consider the third-party flashes like the Sigmas to be real competition worth worrying about, and they know that people wanting to use third-party flashes will find a way.

Rather, all they did was change the camera-flash protocol to add new features, without giving a damn about backwards compatibility for any but their own gear. I agree that this is very disappointing. Canon should at the very least make a very small bounce-capable flash!

They also changed the thickness of the shoe so if you fix the flash it might not reach the connectors! Try to push the flash downwards, and not secure it (don't tighten the nut), and fire one shot. Not sure if this is the issue as you have tried an offshoe too!

It works nicely on my G7 and the 1D2, even with when I thighten the nut to secure the flash.

Got the RD2000 off e-bay, from China.
/Lasse

WebDog - I tried what you suggested (pushing down on the flash to make sure it makes contact), but it didn't help or make any difference.

Mike

Is there a receptacle for a sinc cord?

john_edwards wrote:
Is there a receptacle for a sinc cord?

Nope. It's a very basic flash, with 3 buttons: power, EV adjust, test/ready.

No other ports, switches, etc.

Mike

Does it fire when you short out the pins with a paperclip? Just because the test button works doesn't mean the hotshoe connector/pins are working.

That said, its suspicious that multiple people have this issue - its probably real. Just a good idea to do due diligence.

I tried my RD2000 with my 1DMK2, XT and G9. It triggered fine with all of them. I still have not received my 5DMK2 so I can't test that.

Taylor Barrett wrote:
Does it fire when you short out the pins with a paperclip? Just because the test button works doesn't mean the hotshoe connector/pins are working.

That said, its suspicious that multiple people have this issue - its probably real. Just a good idea to do due diligence.

Not sure how to do this, and I don't want to fry my unit. Do you know which pins need to be connected in order to trigger the flash?

Darn...i bought this a few months ago on amazon...just pulled it out. Does not work on my 5DII however, fine with the 40D?? I have a Canon 580, just thought this would work well because of its small size. I am sad.

tbartick wrote:
Darn...i bought this a few months ago on amazon...just pulled it out. Does not work on my 5DII however, fine with the 40D?? I have a Canon 580, just thought this would work well because of its small size. I am sad.

Thanks for your input. You are the first to confirm my issue, so it sounds like I don't have a faulty flash-head, and there is indeed a compatibility problem.

Mike

I dunno, just fool with it. You won't hurt it. Bridge each of the pins and see which one makes it fire off (I know which ones it is looking at the bottom of the flash from my forays into strobism, but I couldn't tell you with words).

what does the sunpak do that the 220ex cant? They are about the same cost. The OP says he got this flash for the 5d2. why not get the 220ex instead.

And there a couple of comments above saying that canon should have had a built in flash on the 5d2 but just about everyone berates them as useless pieces of cr@p, and that "proper cameras dont have flashes"

For those that have the sunpak maybe talk to sunpak to see if it can be updated as per the sigma issue.

sorry for the rant above. I just found the sunpak site and see that it has bounce which is quite cool (but is it powerful enough to be of much use?)
so a call to sunpak would be in order to see about an update.