300D & 550EX/420EX Problem.

[mjm]

Last night I went out to shoot some DJs. Since it was dark I needed to use one of my flashes. I put new batteries in my 550 and got ready to shoot. The flash would charge up but the light would never turn green. The camera didn't recognize that the flash was charged and set the exposure like there was no flash. When I actualy hit the shutter release, the flash would fire and the the shutter would stay open 6+ seconds.

I also tried using my 420 and had the same results.

Anyone ever heard of anything like this? What could be causing this? What can I do to fix it???

HELP!

[schuchmn]

I'm not a Canon user, but a common cause of flash problems these days is poor contact between the flash and the camera. So first make sure that the flash is firmly mounted on the body. Then check the electrical contacts on the body and the flashes -- if contacts are dirty or oxidized, the flash and body might not be exchanging all of the right signals. The most common advice for cleaning contacts is to rub them with a pencil eraser. I prefer a little cleaning tool that I bought at Radio Shack -- with an eraser, sometimes little bits are left behind. Now, while I've never had a problem with these methods, an electrical engineer once warned me once to not use either of them because some contacts are very thinly plated and you can actually rub the plating off. His recommendation was to use a TINY bit of alcohol on a cotton swab (emphasis on TINY -- you don't want alcohol seeping into your equipment).

If that doesn't do the trick I think you'll need a trip to the repair shop.

Regards
Dennis

[Peter_AUS]

MJM,

Just as a matter of interest, with the 550EX, the little switch that is master/slave, has three positions that you set it to. The far left, middle is master and right is slave. Where did you have this set to ?

I have found that you really need to ensure that the 550EX is physically sitting all the way in to the hotshoe, I had a similar problem with my 550EX on my G3, it didn't quite fit straight in, even though I thought it had done, had to push it just that little bit further to properly make contact. I haven't had a similar problem on my 10D or EOS 30.

Would be really interested to know where the switch was switched if you can let me know. Then I will tell you why I asked that question.

[paulnj]

use MANUAL on your camera and the FLASH will be your light source ;)

in Av or P you will get SLOW shutter speeds from your camera. the flash is CONTROLLED by the CAMERA

I have no clue about Tv since I never tried that setting in the DARK

[Sebastian]

Paul's correct, in Av the shutter will be set to expose for ambient, which will result in long shutter speeds in the dark. Manual is the way to go.

[mjm]

schuchmn, I will check those contacts. Thanks.

Peter, I had it set on Master initially. Then when trying to figure this out I turned it to OFF with the same results. The flash may not have been fully on the shoe, it was really dark when I was shooting so I couldnt tell. I will test this out later today. Thanks.

Paul & Sebastian, I did in fact have it set to Av. That would explain the LONG shutter speeds. Thanks guys.

[Peter_AUS]

mjm,

I had it set to the same thing, Master and was having all sorts of problems. I couldn't figure it out and it was at a time, when the photos where just so important to get. My daughters First Communion.

When I got home, I was really disappointed with most of the images, although I have some that will pass, after a lot of post working on them.

I reread the book again, for the umptenth time and saw what I think I was doing wrong. I had it on Master when I should have had it on the left of master, the switch that looks like high sync.

The other thing I didn't notice was, I had it on ISO 100, so that didn't help either, I thought it was sitting on ISO 400 as that is what I had set it to on a previous occassion for indoor church shots.

I tried it at home with the switch to the most left and it seemed to work fine, flashing well, recharging very quickly. Why there is a difference I don't know, but give that a go too and see what you think.

[mjm]

here is what i have found...

camera in AV with flash in ETTL, camera meters for available light. it doesnt take the flash into account.

camera in AV with flash in M. shutter is set at 200.

all the connectors look perfectly clean (equipment is only about 6 months old). the only thing i notice, is that the very front connector on the camera looks pushed in. i will examine my friends 300D to see if his is like that too.

question, what type of batteries will give me the fastest recycling times? i am using regular old Energizers right now...

[Peter_AUS]

I use rechargeable batteries called "BIG", as they are 1.5V batteries, the only ones I could find, that gives me the proper Voltage that normal batteries are, not like most rechargeables that are 1.2V. they seem to work fast, now I have the setting where it was supposed to be.

Have you tried setting the switch to the left side, not on master or slave, that is the Off side. I don't mean the main on/off/SE switch, but the off/master/slave switch on the 550EX.

If you are looking for fill flash, try using P mode.

[Irie Times]

I was having the same problem with my 420EX until I set the ISO to a higher setting 400, 800, or 1000. That seemed to take care of the problem for me, I don't know what your ISO was set at maybe take a look at that. Just my .02 cents.

[mjm]

i shoot at 100 most of the time, i tried bumping it to 200 then 400 with the same results. getting off of Av mode fixed it.