Yesterday I was experimenting with my new TT5's and while they worked great with my 430EX II flash I was a bit confused about the zoom functionality on the remote flash. If all the ETTL functions are being communicated to the flash, why doesn't it zoom to match the focal length of the lens - like it does when the flash is in the hotshoe? Should I be manually setting the zoom on the remote flash?

when the flash is off camera you'd get potentially STRANGE results if it auto-zoomed with the lens.

When it's off camera, you treat zoom as an aesthetic or effects choice. Do you want it a wide-beam to cover the whole room or zoomed in to give more spotlight on a certain area.

If you don't manually zoom it, it will default to 35mm when on top of the Flex.

John--G wrote:
Yesterday I was experimenting with my new TT5's and while they worked great with my 430EX II flash I was a bit confused about the zoom functionality on the remote flash. If all the ETTL functions are being communicated to the flash, why doesn't it zoom to match the focal length of the lens - like it does when the flash is in the hotshoe? Should I be manually setting the zoom on the remote flash?



You definitely do not want the remote flash auto zooming. The remote flash has a different relationship to the subject that is independent of what you do with the lens zoom. For example, if you use the remote flash to light the background, you still need the background lit even if you zoom in on the subject.