ronny1 Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Hello to all the Photographers! I'm a new member to the photo.net community, which I find extremely helpful.So I use this space also to thank you all for sharing and teaching.I will do my best to contribute here as well. For my question:I'm using 580EX II flashlight on my 5D.Most of the times it works fine, besides minor "problems" when it switches from ETTL to TTL, or other exposuremistakes.I'm aware of these problems and learning to "live" with them.What causes me the most worries is that when I turn the flashlight to Manual mode, it blocks my aperture or shutter.Meaning when the flashlight is set to manual and the camera to Av priority, the camera will automatically give methe slowest aperture of f32 ( for example) and when the camera is set to Tv priority then the camera does thesame and gives me 1/8000.When trying to change the settings, it won't work. Did anyone experience similar problems?I want to know if there is some kind of a technical problem with the equipment.(I can still send it to Canon under warranty) cheersRonny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcolwell Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Hi Ronny, welcome to photo.net. It sounds like you have some interesting behaviour on your hands. I generally set Custom Function 03 on the 5D to 1/200sec. (fixed) sync. speed, so I get consistent shutter speeds for Av mode shooting. Having the camera go to min aperture or max shutter speed sounds kind of strange. The first thing I usually do when things go on the fritz is to put in fresh batteries. In this case, that would be for both the camera and the flash. Also, you have to make sure that the 580EX II is firmly pushed all of the way onto the camera flash shoe, and the mount lock is engaged, by rotating the tab at the base of the flash mount fully to the right. If you continue to see this bizzare behaviour, then maybe you have a problem. Before sending it in, I'd take the camera and flash to a camera store and ask for help - sometimes you can get great advice this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuppyDigs Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 clean contacts... Sometimes the light’s all shining on me. Other times I can barely see. - Robert Hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjb Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 `besides minor "problems" when it switches from ETTL to TTL, or other exposure mistakes` Mine has never switched from ttl~ettl by itself, some have when new, I`d remove batteries and as Puppy says thoroughly clean All contacts flash and hotdhoe, and make sure there is no movement with the hotshoe, they have a tendanc to loosen up :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronny1 Posted November 1, 2008 Author Share Posted November 1, 2008 I've used new batteries and cleaned the contacts. Later checked the flash on another camera and the problem repeated on itself. So the only logical conclusion is that I have to bring it back to the shop! Thanks for your responds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjb Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 Please let us know how you go Good luck :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjb Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 BTW reason I ask is that all to often we hear the negatives, rarely hear about any happy vegamites :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markonestudios Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Mine also does the ETTL -> TTL switching thing. Usually goes away if I switch off and back on, or at most open the battery compartment and then close it again. And yes, my contacts are clean. I do find that sometimes it has a bit of play when mounted (I have a 400D/XTi) I've not got frustrated enough to want to send it back (it happens very rarely) and besides, that would be a long way back to send it, from my part of the globe ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronny1 Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 <p>We had here (Netherlands) Canon day about a week ago, so I took the 5D and the 580II, hoping that my salvation is soon to come.<br> To my surprise no one down there could answer why this is happening (you can read about the problem in the first thread of this page), not talking fixing the problem on the spot. And they were guys from Canon's official technical services. If they don't know it, who does?<br> Disappointed! I went to play with some other 5D's bodies and same speedlights, switching them around with my own stuff to find out where the problem actually comes from.<br> And it happened to be that there is nothing wrong with the 580II flash unit, it works perfectly.<br> So yeah...the 5D gives the hard time, that worries me much more!<br> It's not all solved yet... I still have to send the body to Canon, just trying to figure out the best time to do that, as once I send, then I have to go back to my 10D for more than a month.<br> Should they actually provide me temporary with alternative body? just a thought...<br> I'll let you know once it's over...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donald_pratama1 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 <p>hey Ronny, I had the exact same problem (5D + 580 EX II)...have you figured anything out ?<br> the ETTL kept switching to TTL and back. When it does that, the flash won't fire...I had to buttonmash the fire button in order to bring it back to fire, but then it just messed the exposure up, shooting the flash in full power and just washed everything out...pressed the shutter button to no avail as well<br> I think it's a firmware problem, but looked everywhere for a clue but nothing was found...the solution I had is to pull out the batteries and plug them back in, then it works fine...but it happens frequently and it's very annoying when shooting a job.<br> Anyone can help us on these ? Thanks a lot....</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronny1 Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share Posted January 16, 2009 <p>Hi Donald, No I didn't figure it out yet! I do know that switching (ETTL -> TTL ) is a known and common problem among many users. You could try to check the contacts and maybe to tight up the screws.<br> I know it's annoying when it happens while shooting a job...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotiso_hanganu Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 <p>Hi there, I have the same over exposure problem when 580 moves form ETTL to TTL while combining an EOS 450D with Speedlight 580 EX II (both bought last summer from Amazon). Had the chance to check also both units in combination with an EOS 350D and a Speedlight 430, and I concluded my both units were working fine with the others, but kept the problem while working together, especiialy when using bounce flash. I believe it's quite a shame for Canon to have such incompatibility ! Especially after upgrading from 350D and 430, which were working quite smoothly together... :-(<br> Any solution, beside downgrading the flash back to 430 !?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_emrich Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 <p>I'm sure you've already tried this, but have you set the Custom Functions (CF) on your 580EXII? If your CF #5 is set to option number 1, you may experience the problems you described above. This option (TTL) is only designed for film cameras. Option number 0 (E-TTL) is designed for the Canon digital cameras.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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