Losing communication with flash

<p>Hi All,<br>

I recently bought a used 7D mark 1, and when shooting last night at a club it kept losing communication with my flash. I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, however I have used this same flash on my 7D2, and there have been no problems, so I can only imagine it's the camera. I tried removing the flash and resetting it, but that didn't work, then it would inexplicably decide to work again after doing nothing.<br>

Anyone have a clue what's going on here?<br>

Thanks,<br>

Russell</p>

<p>There is a switch on the side of the Hot-shoe Mount underneath the slide. I have encountered a malfunction on two of my Canon DSLRs, a 20D and a 5D, both these cameras were used with an Hot-shoe Flash attached - <strong>extensively.</strong></p>

<p><a href="http://www.conraderb.com/flashrepair/">This link should be of assistance to you, it was to me.</a></p>

<p>BTW Conrad used to be quite active here, I trust he is OK.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>That little microswitch has generated its fair share of issues in this forum over the years, that's for sure. Some other possibilities to consider, not necessarily in any particular order:</p>

<ul>

<li>Does the flash fit as securely in the 7D's hot shoe as in the 7D2's? Since the history of this 7D is unknown, it's possible that it's had a rough life and perhaps the shoe has been bent a bit, and the flash is not being held as securely as it should, and therefore not making as good contact as it should.

<li>Does orientation affect it? If it works in landscape mode (where the weight of the flash unit tends to push it down onto the contacts) but not in portrait mode (where the weight of the flash would tend to pull one side of the shoe away from the contacts), that would also suggest an issue with physical fit.

<li>I suspect you're right that it's the 7D, not the flash, that's the problem. Do you have access to another flash unit (perhaps a friend's) that you could use with both bodies to try to duplicate the problem? If a different flash has the same behaviour, then that would confirm that it's the body.

<li>Have you cleaned the contacts on the 7D's hot shoe? Maybe they're a bit grimy.

</ul>