550EX Inconsistent?

[eric_guel]

<p>I switched over from Nikon about 1.5 years ago. I previously was shooting with a D70 and SB-800. Back in the day, with the Nikon gear, I got pretty consistent results across the board.<br>

However, now that I'm using old 550EXs I seem to get more wildly inconsistent results when using TTL. Manual is fine. Some images will be hot. Some will be underexposed. Etc. All of the images are fine after I tweak them in LR, but I'd rather not spend the time. <br>

<br />I'm using the 550EXs with 5D2 and 50D primarily. <br>

<br />Would a newer speedlite (like the 580EX or 580EXII) give more consistent results with TTL shooting? </p>

[ed_k__north_carolina_]

<p>Without seeing examples, I can only guess....<br>

But, the 550EX is over 10 years old and depending on the condition of the flashtube and capacitor; it could be inconsistent.<br>

I use 3 580EXs and they are very consistent. YMMV.</p>

<p>Ed</p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>I've had this problem with my 550s before (once it just happened, once the hotshoe was broken off the flash in a fall -both returned to service after repair). In my case it was due to loose connections to the hotshoe. Exposure was all over the map, and there was no consistency with the problems. Generally though, the flash would indicate that it had lost ETTL sync w/ the camera. Is that occurring in your case?</p>

<p>I wouldn't suspect the capacitor/ flashtube first (though it is remotely possible one or both are faulty), as both have a tendency to fail completely when they fail at all. A much more common intermittent/inconsistent fault is due to loose/broken internal wiring.<br>

The repair was simple, I simply replaced the hotshoe. it cost me about $8, and I did the repair myself. <br>

However, despite this, overall, my 550s have proved as reliable or more than the 580s I've owned (which go through flashtubes like crazy!). Replacing the flash will fix this problem (obviously), but it could occur with a 'new' 550 or 580 (since neither is available new any longer). The metal hotshoe on the 580EX II largely alleviates this common problem, but of course at a premium in cost.</p>

[eric_guel]

<p>Thanks, guys. Will check those solutions out and run some more tests.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>"<em>However, now that I'm using old 550EXs I seem to get more wildly inconsistent results when using TTL. Manual is fine</em>."</p>

<p>TTL/ETTL has basically been problematic with Canon flash. My 550EX underexposes by about 2/3 stops but it does it consistently. Very bright or very dark backgrounds seems to throw the ETTL off by 1 sometimes 2+ stops. </p>