Canon 540 EZ, wireless?

[amol]

Hi,

I recently aquired a used Canon 540 EZ. It has been a great flash, (a

little too big for my Rebel 2000 though.) My question is whether I

can use the flash as a wireless slave, or off the camera. A friend of

mine had a Minolta camera and flash, he was able to take the flash

off his camera and trigger the flash *using the built-in pop-up flash

from his camera.* Is the 540 EZ capable of doing this? I have a

feeling not without some sort of other device. I searched photo.net

and found references to a "ST-E2 wireless" device. What does that do?

Is wireless only available on E-ttl flashes? The rebel 2000 is a type-

A camera so it would support E-TTL, but the 540 EZ is A-TTL or TLL.

 

Lastly would I have been better off buying a 420 EX? I had really

wanted manual control so I went with the 540 Ez (can't afford

550ex..yet). Should I trade in the 540ez for a 420 ex or even a Sigma

Super or ST (the kind that has e-ttl).

 

Thanks in advance, Amol

[catchlight]

Canon's wireless flash system, including the ST-E2, only works with flashes whose ID ends in "EX". As you know, the 540 is an "EZ" model.

 

The 420EX would work with an ST-E2, and/or with another EX flash.

 

You can use the Off-Shoe Cord 2 with the 540EZ and a Stroboframe or other bracket, just to get the off the hot shoe far enough to avoid red-eye and control shadows.

[wiktor_skupinski]

The 540EZ was designed for EOS 1N which is no longer produced. Check the spec on canon's site. As far as I know the 540 will not wireless with anything not even when you use the ST-E2. The 550 has recently come down in price by 100$CAN. and it will serve you well in the future if you choose to upgrade your body. It is still double of the 420EX. EX will work with the digital bodies.

[bill_goldman]

The ST-E2 is a wireless E-TTL transmitter for controlling E-TTL slave Speedlites. You cannot use your 540EZ as a wireless slave because, as you say, it is A-TTL or TTL only. Wireless E-TTL requires an ST-E2 or 550EX as a master and 550EX or 420EX as slave, as a minimum.

 

The Sigma equivalent of the 550EX will also work but is of lower quality construction and less reliable, although at a lower price.

 

You can get an inexpensive optical slave to fire your 540EZ from your built-in flash but you will have no TTL control of the 540EZ, which you will have to use in manual mode. You will also need a flash meter.

 

Another solution, which will give you TTL control, is to get an Ikelite Lite-Link. You mount your 540EZ on the Lite-Link and it senses when your built-in flash fires and synchronizes with it, shutting off when the built-in shuts off (quenches).

[mike_kim]

If you just want to use it off the camera, you can do that by using off-camera cord (under 50.00) upto two feet. If you need to place it further away or require multiple flash, one other option is to use as a wired-TTL (as a wired slave on multiple-flash setup). This was commonly used method for 1N users who wants to use multiple EZ series flash lights. You will need a Canon's hot shoe adaptor, connecting cable, off camera adaptor and "OPTIONAL" distributors (for three or more flashes). It preserves the TTL, but you will loose ETTL (not a major issue since you are using EZ). BTW, if you connect EX series this way, only TTL function will work (not ETTL).

 

The TTL Hot Shoe Adapter 3 allows TTL multiple off-camera flash photography. It should be used in conjuction with EOS Connecting Cord 300 (3m in length) and off-camera shoe Adapter OA-2. Last year, I bought the system for around 130.00 USD at BH photo (59+41+27). If you are interested, I can sell you mine for 90.00 USD plus shipping, but my suggestion is go with multiple 550EX/420EX setup if you can afford it.

[michelle_peterson]

Hi, I was just using my 540ez today with my 10D. I use the off-shoe cord and I attach the flash to a light stand. This gets me about two feet away and above my camera. It's far enough away to not get the on-camera flash look and if you use a pocket bounce (I use the 80/20 with the silver insert) you get a really nice light. I have a 420ex and I would not trade the 540 for a 420. You don't have any manual controls with the 420. It's totally ettl. Use the 540 for now and save up for the 550ex.

[NK Guy]

You might want to have a look at:

<P>

<A HREF="http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/">http://photonotes.org/

articles/eos-flash/</A>

[jim_strutz]

Get an Ikelite Lite-Link for $80 and your 540EZ will retain TTL metering and be wirelessly controlled by your built in flash. It will also trip your 540EZ as a manual slave flash. It's a pretty handy device and works for a greater distance than Canon's wireless E-TTL.

 

Also, with Canon's system you have to have a 550EX or ST-E2 for a master and another 550EX or 420EX for the slave. With multiple Lite-Links you can drive several lower cost slaves all from your built in flash. Canon's system has several bells & whistles that are very nice, but using the Lite-Link is cheaper.

[michelle_peterson]

Hi Jim, How are you? I know nothing about these gadgets. Can I use my flash in manual with the Ikelite?

[jimstrutz]

<I>"Can I use my flash in manual with the Ikelite?"</I>

<P>

Yep, manual flash is fine with these. Lite-Links are the best way to fire a Canon Speedlite as an optical slave, since conventional optical slave devices are unreliable with Canon flashes, and often cause the flash to lock up after one pop.

[amol]

Everyone, thanks for the responses, info, and recommendations.

 

Jim & Bill: Thanks for pointing me to the "Ikelite Lite-Link". After reading your recommendation I Googled it and found that this device will do exactly what I was looking for.

 

NK Guy: The EOS flash page is a great resource (so are the other pages that you usually recommend), I have looked at them several times for answers to many of my questions... though I must at admit I have yet to read all three parts from beginning to end. I will continue to use it regularly, Thanks

 

Everyone thanks again,

 

Amol