Please help me with Canon 40D external flash settings

<p>Hello to everyone, I`m a young photographer, just had my Canon 40D with a Speedlite 430EX, but when I try to use the settings it says: cannot use this settings, or the power is turned off...is my camera wrong, or it doesn`t recognise my external flash? My camera has the latest firmware 1.08, I don`t know what to do.<br>

I did use my camera in manual and also in AV , both auto sync and 1/250 settings, but when I tried for external flash settings I can only use flash enable/disable. but can`t use the other settings.</p>

<p>Can someone help me ?</p>

<p>Dritan, to begin with, set your camera to (P) mode and see if the flash is firing. I suspect that it will work fine in that mode! Next you need to read to manual that came with your 430EX, as well as the very informative article here at PNET on Canon flash photography. You need to understand what happens when you set your camera to Av - the camera will measure for ambient light and use the flash accordingly - that hgives your picture a more natural apperance, but it alos means that the shutter speed might be too low for hand holding, or too fast for your flash synchronization and you need to switch the flahs to high speed synch.</p>

<p>Again, do some reading to understand how your flash behaves.</p>

<p>Dritan, I think your trying to access the extra menus through the camera in the flash settings menu(of the camera). Keep in mind that that flash was made a few years before Canon tried doing this sort of thing. It's basically not compatible with the menu in the camera. The 430EXII is compatible, ad a few dollars more expensive.</p>

<p>Fear not, everything you could have done in the camera are readily available on the flash, and it's less of a menu to deal with. About the only thing that's really lacking on the flash is documentation of the custom functions. Sure the flash's manual will tell you what they are, but it doesn't really go into detail as to what they are used for specifically. Read the manual on the flash and keep in mind that those settings will not be able to be set from the camera with the exception of 'flash enable/disable' (flash is on, but doesn't fire. The AF assist light is very useful in low light) and flash exposure compensation. But in the case of flash exposure compensation if you have the compensation adjusted at all on the flash the bodies instructions are ignored.</p>

<p>Set the camera settings in the camera, set the flash's settings in the flash. Keep it simple.<br>

Dan</p>

<p>Thank you so much Dan, I apprichiate your help....All I want to do is taking great pics and no worries about malfunctions or incompatibilities with the flash, so what can be some good settings that I could set with the 430EX Flash?</p>

<p>For learning I'd suggest that you just set it to full auto (ETTL), set the zoom to full auto as well, tilt the flash head up and press the zoom button, then left arrow until you see -- mm displayed, then put the flash back down and it should display a number instead of the -- (as you zoom the lens on camera the zoom on the flash should match it, at least when you press the shutter button half way). To get a zoom of 14mm you need to pull out the difuser panel. The zoom on the flash directly corresponds to the field of view of the same length lens. @50mm zoom the light is the same width as the view of a 50mm lens.</p>

<p>If you want to get more in depth you can start to zoom the flash more when your bouncing the light off the ceiling and it's pretty high. You can also cut a white index card to slide into the slot for the difuser panel and bounce some of that light forward or you can visit the site www.abetterbouncecard.com.</p>

<p>If you want to exceed your max x-sync speed of 1/250th (your cameras max sync speed) press the [lightning bolt H] button until you see the [lightning bolt H] in the display. If you want to use rear curtain sync press that button again and you will see >>> displayed. NOTE: HSS (High Speed Sync) turns the flash into a very short duration constant light (sorta, it's more like pulses), it does not stop action any better than your max x-sync speed and you start to lose light (because the flash is pulsing instead of a full on flash). This is designed to kill ambient more than stop motion.</p>

<p>Now, a word about using your flash with different modes. I'll skip the auto modes since there's virtually nothing to do with the camera part and the flash will act sorta like you'd expect it too.<br>

<br /> P mode: The flash will be considered the main light. Shutter speed and aperture will be set by the camera (and you wont be able to shift the settings any like you can without a flash) to try to avoid too much camera shake (i.e. 1/60th and the aperture wide open when it's dark).<br>

<br /> Av mode: The camera will ignore that there is even a flash attached with regards to how slow a shutter speed it will use. If your in bright lighting and you just need to fill some shadows this is a good setting. If your in the dark and theirs enough ambient to do anything you will get camera shake. (there is a custom function in the camera to set the shutter speed to 1/250 when using your flash, eliminating camera shake)<br>

<br /> Tv mode: The camera will ignore that there is even a flash attached with regards to aperture. Good for a fill situation. If you have a shutter speed that makes the aperture wide open and your closer to your subject than the lowest setting on the flash for your ISO then this will result in an overexposure.<br>

<br /> M mode: You set the aperture and the shutter speed, the TTL flash will take care of the rest (well not really but almost). If you want to drag the shutter you can, if you want to max the shutter out with a decent DOF and have the flash work it's butt off you can. You have the freedom here, and it's pretty liberating once you get the hang of it. Of course this does mean that you can screw it up just as much as the other modes, but people have been doing this sort of thing for decades.</p>

<p>Leave your flash's slave function set to off unless you get a master to control it (ST-E2, 550EX, 580EX, etc...) Your flash can not act as a master.<br>

<br /> If the flash loses eTTL contact with the camera it will fire at full power every time (suddenly everythings blown out). Sometimes a simple very gentle twist in the hotshoe will reseat the flash. Other times you will need to clean contacts with a pencil eraser (don't get that crap into your cameras shutter chamber though, baaaad voodoo).<br>

<br /> If you try to use a handheld flash meter in a studio type environment put the flash into M mode. The eTTL preflashes are at 1/64th power and the flash will readjust the actual power for every shot. Manual mode isn't nearly as confusing if you download this <a href="http://www.night-ray.com/PhotoCheatSheet.pdf">cheatsheet</a> . You will find your flash (along with a few others) with guide numbers for all of your zoom lengths/ISO combonations.</p>

<p>That's enough for now, I'll let you digest that before drowning you with more information. (and yeah some of this is in the manual, but some of it aint)<br>

<br /> Dan</p>

<p>Thank you so much Dan, you`ve been very helpful, I really appricheate your input and your advises....</p>