Is there a Canon compatable hotshoe adapter that retains ETTL and Zoom funciton. I thought the Pixel TF-321 would work, but it just fires the flash in manual mode.
I like to shoot with a 580 on camera in ETTL with another strobe firing remotely. I converted my 580s to allow hooking up triggers and have been very happy until now. I have a 5DMKII that seems to have a faulty PC socket. Sometimes if fires, sometimes it doesn't. Same cords work flawlessly on 7D and 40D, so it's not the cords. I've tried the screw in kind too. Same mis-fires. I know the logical thing to do would be to send it to Canon service but I was hoping I could work around that.
That would work IF there was an input for a trigger. I need something like this http://telldraper.com/fm/tf321.jpgBut this one doesn't retain communicaton with the camera. It just fires full blast in ETTL and doesn't zoom with the lens.
What it seems you need is a not just a adapter that retains ETTL, but an alternative to connecting your radio triggers to the PC socket of the 5DmkII because its PC socket is defective.
Paramount Cords makes a ETTL cord that attaches to the hot shoe which has a second piggy back manual hot shoe extension for triggering a PW or other radio slaved flash in sync with the main flash of the Canon in ETTL mode: http://www.paramountcords.com/ttl.asp which would work. Michael Bass might also have a similar design which may be cheaper.
This would force me to use a bracket. I'm often in the middle of 13 year old mosh pits (bar mitzvahs) so brackets and excess cords won't work. Maybe I ought to just suck it up and send the 5DMKII off for service. Hate to do it though as I've had NO LUCK with them fixing the ETTL/TTL phenomonon on my 580EXII.
tell wrote:
Is there a Canon compatable hotshoe adapter that retains ETTL and Zoom funciton. ...I like to shoot with a 580 on camera in ETTL with another strobe firing remotely.
If I understand correctly what you're trying to do, you want a hotshoe-mounted trigger for a non-ETTL remote strobe that has a pass-through to allow mounting a Speedlite that will retain full functionality.
If that's correct, then a Pocket Wizard MiniTT1 on camera, tripping a regular PW receiver would work. Not cheap, but it would do the job.
tell wrote:
I need something like this http://telldraper.com/fm/tf321.jpg But this one doesn't retain communicaton with the camera. It just fires full blast in ETTL and doesn't zoom with the lens.
I'm curious. This device has all the required pins for ETTL and zoom operation. Unless they're just decorative dummy pins, the fact that you're not having success with it suggests that maybe more than your camera's PC socket is malfunctioning.
Do all your Speedlites work fully if connected directly to this camera's hotshoe?
Wouldn't you think so?! All the connections are there on top and bottom, but it does not pass through ETTL nor any other camera communication except for "fire". The flash becomes a manual flash. Hold on...
Okay, I'm an idiot. I have a 580 that has been retro-fitted with FlashZebra's hotshoe which adds a sync port. I had assumed I needed to have my Cybersync trigger plugged into the camera's pc sync terminal and that the port on the 580 was only for a receiver, not a transmitter. I just tried it with plugging the transmitter into my camera mounted 580EX and it fired my manual off camera strobe while maintaining all on-camera ETTL function. It also triggers even if the on-camera flash is off for those instances when I only want to use the room strobe. Whoohoo!
Thanks to all who replied.
TEll
huh, the above works when the 580EX retro-fitted with the FlashZebra shoe is mounted on camera, but it does not work when when the 580EXII is mounted on camera. The remote strobe will not fire in that instance. Must be different wiring. Too bad, but at least I have two 580EX flashes. I never trust the 580EXII in ETTL anyway. It always picks the worst time to switch into the dreaded TTL full blast mode.
BrianO wrote:
I'm curious. This device has all the required pins for ETTL and zoom operation. Unless they're just decorative dummy pins, the fact that you're not having success with it suggests that maybe more than your camera's PC socket is malfunctioning.
Do all your Speedlites work fully if connected directly to this camera's hotshoe?
Yeah Brian, it's really pretty deceptive. The Pixel TF-321 didn't pass along ETTL info in a 5DMKII, 7D or 40D. It just delivers a full blast when in ETTL. Fortunately it only cost $10.
cgardner wrote:
Seems odd to go to the trouble to include the contacts then not use them. Have you considered it might just be defective?
If you are the curious type you might open it up and have a look at the innards. The most you have to lose is $10
boy oh boy I hope this doesn't void my warranty!!! No idea what I'm looking at and don't really care anymore, but I know you dig this tech stuff Chuck. I have gained so much knowledge from you over the years, I figure posting these pics is the least I can do
Thanks,
Tell http://telldraper.com/fm/tf321open1.jpg http://telldraper.com/fm/tf321open2.jpg
Well its obvious its not wired to use the four TTL control pins. The thing to check next is whether the pins that contact the camera hotshoe are connected to the traces on the PCB in the top shot and whether or not the pins themselves are spring loaded and contacting the camera contacts. If the answer to both is yes then it looks like it might be possible to connect the TTL pins on the bottom with the contacts on the top.
