Does anyone have any knowledge where a decent, dependable, off camera cord (Canon OC-E3) type can be purchased? I've just had my second cord from Canon break apart in my hands. The construction is the cheapest any company could ever possibly put their name on. I've seen & read from others on various sites & forums that this is an ongoing, reocurring issue with this piece of equipment. Any help in locating a premium quality cord would be appreciated. As for Canon.... get your name off this product or do something in the way of improving it.
About a month ago, I asked where I could get the canon unit, since I didn't know the model number.
When replying, several folks said not to buy anything BUT the Canon-branded product, as all the others are known to break.
Maybe Canon recently changed their OEM suppllier?
I'm going to call Really Right Stuff on Monday. Since they make several top-end flash-brackets, and are anal-retentive about quality, they will likely know which unit is best.
I actually just ordered a RRS wedding bracket and asked them this very question - they said they use the canon product and have had no problems, so I'm trusting their opinion.
"I've been looking into this and appears lots of problems."
I assume you were referring to shuttersnapper's original post. Were you NOT talking about the Canon unit?
shuttersnapper's post (and, possibly, yours) is the only negative comment I've ever seen about the Canon unit. However, what I wrote above IS possible. Canon may have recently changed sources, and perhaps RRS has yet to see one of the new ones.
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Shuttersnapper, can you tell us when you bought the first defective one?
Was it from an authorized dealer? That is, are you sure it is a true Canon product, and not some Taiwanese knock-off?
I just bought one of the OC-E3 cords from B&H last week and it's FANTASTIC. I have no idea where you get this idea that it's built like crap. If you think it's junk and falling apart too easily, I'd have to assume you are abusing your equipment.
Another buddy of mine bought a couple cheap off-shoe cords for his new flash bracket. At a wedding on Saturday, he had to fiddle to get his to work while my Canon OC-E3 worked great. The Canon is MUCH larger, more heavy duty, and the cord is much thicker than the off-brand ones. It's like comparing a tank against a VW Bug.
Again, you are either too hard on your equipment or you aren't buying genuine Canon.
I was referring to several threads I found on google as well as the rather dismal reviews on amazon.com.
As I said, I ordered the canon unit, so I've no personal experience yet, and quite frankly was shocked at all the negative feedback on it. Generally if you buy genuine Canon gear you might pay more than needed, but you can trust what you get, which is why I was concerned enough to post my question here.
I own 3 of them and they see constant use. One of them is modified into a 10' long cord as well. That one also works fine. Never had a problem. Either sounds like you had a lemon or you're really rough on your gear
I heard that about the OC-E3. After my first one fell apart, I plastic cemented the 2 main halves of each end on my second. Plastic cement is like chemical welding. The two halves are now one piece of plastic. I's practically impossible for them to break again. Even when I took out the screws to test it, I couldn't pull the halves apart.
It's exactly those types of comments ("after my first one fell apart..." EEK!) that have me worried. I'm waiting on my new RRS bracket and will hopefully not have a 580EXII hitting the ground anytime soon.
I came across this thread because I'm looking to get my flash off-camera. The reviews I have seen for this are stunningly bad. Especially for a $60+ item. I was hoping to find a workable alternative, but this topic here only confuses me more. For those of you who claim that it's not really a Canon or they're too hard on their equipment, check out some of the reviews.
"I hate this plastic crappy base with metal screws. It has problems with the 580 EX II. The weight of the flash will cause it to crack in the middle. I go through one of these a month."
"Broke instantly when I attached my 580EX II onto the mount. Cracked in half. Left my flash hanging in the air. Terrible design. Perhaps not using cheap plastic on a part that has a fair amount of torque would be better. Not impressed. Waste of money."
"Broke within 5 minutes of use. Split right down the middle and sent my flash tumbling. Completely useless. DO NOT BUY. "
"The first time I tried to use this, it snapped in half just like those of the other reviewers."
"When I brought this to my first gig it cracked within the first few minutes. "
There sure are a lot of people that are so hard on their equipment that it breaks on the very first day. But it sounds like all their other equipment they're hard on manages to survive. (At least that's my impression.)
"I wrote an earlier review on this and was quite happy with it. I was shocked last weekend during a shoot that it just simple broke and split in half."
"I decided to buy the expensive Canon product because I wanted the reliability. After filming 2 high school football games, I noticed the screws coming out of the top shoe that held the flash on a bracket. I use a 580 EX II flash. All of the tubes that the screws screw into cracked and the two halves separated."
"I purchased this product to replace my broken CANON shoe cord 2 which is now discontinued and it broke within an hour of use."
Also, in virtually every case, Canon told each of these reviewers, tough, we don't warrantly physical damage.
Maybe I'm missing something, but there's no way a cord like this ought to cost more than $10...so when it costs $70, I don't want to see ANY reviews like these...(ok, maybe one for the oddball who actually did abuse it...) but I'm very not interested in throwing away that much money on something that first off is way overpriced anyway, but second has apparently zero actual warranty and it sounds like a huge likelihood it'll break.
Hoping for someone to bring along a good alternative here....but I'm not buying the responses about abusing the equipment.
I've had my canon cord now for several months. I've not used it heavily, but have used it on a bracket on a couple shoots in both portrait and horizontal use (580EXII sideways). It's been very sturdy and I haven't had any problems thus far.
I'm not using it daily or abusing it, so I can't speak to that, but I found it a well made device and thus far I can't complain.
Of course, now that i've said that it will probably break tomorrow.
