Rookie needs some help with 430 EX

[JohnGaltNY]

Hi all,

I've had the 430 EX for my S5 since Wednesday and I have a question for those who have this setup.

The manual says that when the 430 is attached to a "compatible" camera there will be an squarish icon in the upper right of the LCD display and the zoom will be indicated from 24 - 105 mm. The S5 is supposed to be a compatible camera.

Initially, I'm sure I saw the Zoom readings but I never noticed the icon (or lack thereof). Now, however, there is neither theicon nor theZoom reading in any of P, Tv, Av or M modes. I suspect this is telling me the camera and flash aren't communicating.

Would people with the S5/430EX combination be so kind as to chaeck their equipment and let me know if you get the icon and the zoom reading?. Further, does the lack of this data mean the 430 isn't reading the mode or exposure info either??

I'd appreciate some help here since it's less than 7 days old and I need to call Abe's pretty quickly if this is a defective unit.

Thanks in advance.

JG

[mtclimber]

JohnGalt-

I believe, but I am not absolutely positive, that the statement that you are quoting applies to the Canon DSLR cameras, not the the Canon point & shoot cameras such as the Canon S-5IS, which you own.

Sarah Joyce

[JohnGaltNY]

Interesting and weird update.

I started the whole rig this AM and now the icon, the Zoom meter and another measurement below them are all visible. I really need to go back over everything I did to try and figure out why this difference.

Any ideas?

JG

[mtclimber]

John-

I misinterpeted what was happening the first time. Yes, when the EX-430 is mated to the camera, and the camera is switched on first, followed by the EX-430, you should be able to read the zoom on the EX-430's LCD screen, as I understand it. The EX-420 which I am using does not have a LCD screen as you can see in the attached photo, whereas the Opteka EF-600DG does have a LCD screen.

If the info is not visible on the EX-430's screen, it indicates that the flash has not made contact on all of the contacts that are a part of the S-5's hotshoe and that the flash and the camera are not communicating with each other.

Turn the flash off first, followed by the camera and then, separate the two units. be sure that the contacts on both the camera and the flash are clean and that all the contacts of the flash are in the extended position. Once again mate the flash and the camera together. Turn the camera on first, followed by the flash, the LCD screen should show the expected information. It appears that the problem was caused by a contact problem. At least without being on the scene, that is my best guess.

Sarah Joyce

[JohnGaltNY]

thanks SARAH,

Good thought but not the answer. This afternoon I fired up the whole rig again and now -- nothing. No Zoom, No Icon, no ranging info. I cycled the units together and apart several times. NOPE.

Does anybody have a number for Canon Tech support??

JG

[Nathan Shane]

John, the LCD display on my 430EX and S5 will only display the actual zoom data when the flash head is fully down in the direct position. As soon as you move the head upwards towards the 45 degree position, the zoom info (and icon) goes away and what the LCD shows is:

ETTL Zoom - - mm

When the head is in the down/direct position the LCD reads:

ETTL Zoom 35mm (icon) then as you zoom in it will change to

50mm
70mm
80mm
105mm

And then this changes to read 14mm if you pull out the wide-angle flash panel.

[JohnGaltNY]

Nathan,

Number 1 -- Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your solution and explanation works and have saved me a lot of potential aggravation. I was doing bounce experiments so, of course, the head was all over the place.

Number 2 -- Canon tech support owes you a consult fee. After 20 min on hold, I spent half an hour with a very nice young man who managed to (a) connect his S5 and 430EX, (2) tell me that his setup was working just fine;(3)scratch his (metaphorical) head over why mine wasn't and (4) kindly suggest I drive a mere 80 miles (one way) to a Canon Service Center. Really quite useful solutions.

Anyway, problem solved by a member of the board. Thanks to Sarah also.

By the way, Nathan -- did I say thanks?

JG

[Nathan Shane]

JohnGaltNY wrote:

Nathan,

Number 1 -- Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your solution and explanation works and have saved me a lot of potential aggravation. I was doing bounce experiments so, of course, the head was all over the place.

Number 2 -- Canon tech support owes you a consult fee. After 20 min on hold, I spent half an hour with a very nice young man who managed to (a) connect his S5 and 430EX, (2) tell me that his setup was working just fine; (3)scratch his (metaphorical) head over why mine wasn't and (4) kindly suggest I drive a mere 80 miles (one way) to a Canon Service Center. Really quite useful solutions.

Anyway, problem solved by a member of the board. Thanks to Sarah also.

By the way, Nathan -- did I say thanks?

You're welcome John. I'm basically in the exact same boat as you in that I just got my Canon S5 and 430EX this past Fri/Sat. and I'm still going through all the learning just like you. I've emailed my own 430EX question to both Canon and posted it over in Sarah's Flash Tutorial thread because I'm still uncertain of exactly when the flash is supposed to be automatically adjusting its flash output.

At this point it's a matter of dialing in all different kinds of settings and having to pay close attention to exactly what the flash is doing (or what I think the flash is doing). On pg. 93 of the S5 manual, it says:

Although the built-in flash and an externally mounted flash will fire with automatic flash adjustments (except for M mode), it's also possible to set them so that it fires without any adjustments.

Well...if you notice on pg. 93 as well where I'm quoting from, it shows the shooting mode as being just the Tv and Av (in bold letters) - so am I to assume that automatic flash adjustment DOES NOT occur when the camera is set for P mode? That's been my question for Canon and no reply yet...unless you have some thoughts on this too. I was waiting for Sarah (or someone else more knowledgable) to reply in the other thread

[JohnGaltNY]

Nathan,

We have an obvious problem here -- we both read the manuals and Sarah's stuff thereby causing expectations which cause problems. Especially when they are the typical Canon English/Sanskrit combination.

I tried out the flash adjustments in P mode going from +2 (WAY blown out) to -2 (pretty dark). Thus it appears that P mode also sends Flash adjustments to the 430.

As we say in New York "Excelsior" which means either "ever onward" or "please recycle your bubble wrap". I always forget which. Keep in touch with the next set of questions. Sarah is always just a topic away.

JG

[Nathan Shane]

JohnGaltNY wrot

I tried out the flash adjustments in P mode going from +2 (WAY blown out) to -2 (pretty dark). Thus it appears that P mode also sends Flash adjustments to the 430.

JG

This is exactly what I was doing in P mode, making the flash adjustments from within the camera to compensate for what I thought was too much flash happening. But I kept thinking to myself, why am I having to manually adjust the flash like this, I thought it should be much more automatic in determing the flash output needed on its own.

Granted, I'm all for learning the complete ins and outs of using both the camera and the flash in a fully manual manner for a better understanding overall so I can have complete control and knowledge about what can be done. But as with anything new, it sure helps to get in the shallow end of the waters at first and understanding what the camera and flash are actually capable (or not capable) of doing at their automated best. :lol:

When reading some of the other articles and comments about flash photography on the internet, it just makes things more confusing in some ways and less confusing at the same time. One article I read talked about how an attached flash will operate differently depending if the camera is set for P, Tv, or Av. But then these articles are not talking about the "exact" same gear we are using, so how much of what I'm reading may actually be valid for our equipment ?!?