5D Mk II NO PC sync Off!?

[arpipap]

 

<p> Hello everyone.<br>

First a very BIG thank you for being out there and contributing to this great community.Been around it/learned for years.<br>

Now, my concern,<br>

I own the 5D first and the 5D mkII. On the 5DMk1 I was able to turn off the flash triggering function from the menu ,but NOT on the M5DMk II and it is something that leads to many ruined pictures in my shooting...<br>

So, to explain myself, I will tell you how I use this. Let's say you're at the church shooting a wedding, there's ambient light and there's my artificial light that I use with my pocket wizards and stronger strobes at the back of church to lit up the whole thing. <br>

So , I set up my camera to MANUAL mode(iso 200, s100/ F 5.6) and fire the strobes , and then I use the custom function Cf mode to set the camera up for ambient light (iso 1200 50/f1.4) where I set the flash fire off feature and am able to switch in a jiffy between ambient and flash lighting . That on the 5D first generation.<br>

Now, I was so excited to get the MK II with all its bells and whistles, but there's no way to turn off the triggering of the PC sunc port ,nor the hot shoe. Of course the Speedlight's can be told/set not to fire through the menu, but NOT the PC Sync (or the hot shoe for that matter)<br>

I am wondering if any of you have any good words of advice for me, this is driving me crazy and ruining...well I just don't want to tell you how many pictures( keep forgetting to turn off the flash transmitter in the little time I switch between these 2 modes)<br>

Thank you<br>

Arpi</p>

 

 

[dallalb]

<p>Hi, I own a 5D II and a Speedlite 430EX I... I've noticed the same thing: I cannot control the flash functions from the camera's LCD. It's a problem of compatibility between the old flash and the new camera: the ETTL technology is of course supported, but not the interface, so you need to control the flash with its own commands or you need to upgrade to the 430EX II model to control the flash via the camera's LCD.<br>

Alberto.</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Yank the sync cord out of the socket and let it dangle when you don't want the manual strobes to fire. I suppose you could wire a switch into the cord. It's a lot less complicated than the E-TTL cords...</p>

[arpipap]

<p>@Puppy Face<br /> I guess I could do a small swich on the cord, but then I can always swich off the pocket wizard, it's just that even that takes too much time in some cases (like when at a christening when the baby is dipped in the water...) <br /> I was thinking maybe I could find someone to hack into the firmware and change it in there, I'm pretty sure it's just a code thing..<br /> Thanks for your imput. and Alberto as well<br /> Arpi</p>

[picturesque]

<p>I use the one custom mode (on the mode dial) to set up a non-flash firing/ambient setting that I can switch to by just turning the mode dial to the C setting. Can you not set up that C setting with the flashes set not to fire with the in camera flash menu? I don't have a 5D MKII, so I don't know. I also don't know if that will quench the PC port.</p>

[arpipap]

<p>Nadine,<br>

Yes, that's what I was trying to say that the First generation 5D has that and then on MkII you can only control flash through the Dedicated flash menu. So if you're using the pc sync connector it cannot be shut off.Nor the hot shoe triggering if you're using a non dedicated flash(or the pocket wizards)<br>

Thanks,<br>

Arpi</p>

[picturesque]

<p>So the 5DII does not have C settings?</p>

[picturesque]

<p>I just looked up the 5DII instruction manual. It has 3 C settings, C1, C2, and C3, and it says that the external flash menu is a registerable item, so I would think what you want is possible. However, I'm doubting the PC socket on the camera is controllable in any case.</p>

[arpipap]

<p>Nadine,<br>

The 5Dmk2 has C1 C2 C3 custom function modes, however from the camera menu one can only control the dedicated speedlights to not trigger but the hot shoe and Pc socket still fire when something else conected (like pocket wizards or non ttl flash like an old metz)</p>

[picturesque]

<p>OK, so what you're saying is that on the original 5D, the Custom Function quenched both the hot shoe and PC sync port from firing?</p>

[picturesque]

<p>OK forgive me, I am not being argumentative--I just want to understand the situation. From the picture of the 5D ii Flash Function menu at the bottom of the page in the following article, there is a Flash Fires setting under Flash Function. I have both a 580EX and 580EX II, and a 5D original and 40D (which has similar External Flash menus).</p>

<p>Unless there is no Flash Fires setting under Flash Function, which does show up even if I put a non-EX flash on the hotshoe, one should be able to do as you did with the 5D original. I tested a plain Sunpak flash on my 40D, with a Cybersync transmitter and off camera flash. And, I never noticed this before, but yes, the PC sync is also quenched when you Disable the Flash Fires setting.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E5D2/E5D2FLASH.HTM">http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E5D2/E5D2FLASH.HTM</a></p>

<p>So--does the Flash Function menu (with Flash Fires) not show up on the 5D ii when a non EX flash is put in the hotshoe? The 5D ii menu also says that the Flash Function menu changes according to what settings are in play. I don't know if this means certain settings don't show up on the menu or they are just grayed out.</p>

[arpipap]

<p>Nadine,<br>

Thanks for your input and research, however it seems to lead nowhere but explaining what I'm saying from the first post title/body..<br>

The menu you're seeing in the link in only active when a dedicated flash is attached.<br>

I'm wondering if there's others in the same situation/need and if maybe a firmware hack would solve this issue (I know there's a cinematography forum that did a hack called Magic Lantern..)<br>

Thank you,<br>

Arpi</p>

[picturesque]

<p>Arpi--thanks. Having no 5D II to look at, I was confused about what you were saying, since my 40D, which has similar flash menus, shows the Flash Fires item under the Flash Function menu even when a non-dedicated flash is used on the hotshoe. Now I understand the problem, and I didn't do the research to prove anything--I sincerely wanted to know, in case I get a 5D II. I may want to use my non dedicated flashes on it too. My opinion--this is silly on Canon's part and an annoyance on the user's part, but sadly, it is not surprising. It is a head scratcher.</p>