20 Most Recent Canon SPEEDLITE 580EX TTL Flash - Page 4 Questions & Answers

Hey,
Mine seems to be in a bad shape too. It is not charging, and I have no control to the ETTL. I can't go either in the custom functions, or things like that.
Do you have the same symptoms ?
KR

If you are not in P, AV, TV or M then the camera will not allow that feature. The picture modes disable many higher, more sophistocated features.

Hi Doug,

Try putting in 4 brand new batteries Lithium Energizer.
Or feed the Turbo Battery into the 3 pins port.

You flash is over 5 years old.
Or your NiMh are no longer holding a charge.
Do you have a DVM?

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Hi Bob,
Try runs some wax on the edges or WD-40 (not much). You can also sand it down with fine sandpaper.
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You can get the proper manual from the manufacturer's web site at http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=DownloadDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=316&modelid=14998

I´ve been having the same problem with my 2 580´s. Sent one to Canon but still has the same problem. How did you solve your problem?

I think that the rechargeable batteries are defective, bet if u buy new one4s the problem will go away, the sysmptom u have is a failing battery issue and not the flash, 143 milliamps is not excessive draw.

The capacitor is going bad. Replace the flash unit

1 - Check the battery contact and make sure the batteries in the flash are good.
2 - check the plug for the turbo, make sure it is not damaged, as well as, the high voltage plug on the 580 flash. If those contacts look dirty or mushroom shaped, you will nee the flash repaired.
3 - obviously make sure the turbo is charged

Send it in to canon for service. This is not a simple problem that can be fixed in this forum.

Because of the high voltage inside the camera, that will have to be sent to Canon for repair.

Send it back for repair. This is an internal circut problem.

Make syre you have the camera set at the synchronized speed. Being off by one number, either war will mess pictures up.

I would say either, considering they are linked.

the  Ratios for the two independent halves of the macro ring are set A:B. he third channel C, which is what fires the 580(s) as slave IS ONLY USED TO ILLUMINATE THE Macro SCENE BACKGROUND, it is not computed as part of the metered exposure. So, the 14EX really works like Ratios(A:B):C. Channels A and B do not even fire the 580 if you set it as slave channel A or B. If you point the slave on Channel C into the metered scene, the scene will be overexposed. This (A:B):C is good for macro work, but it does NOT work the same as the 580EX as a wireless E-TTL master with slaves on A, B, or C channels. The 580 as master does factor multiple slaves on each channel as part of the exposure. 
You CAN vary the ratio between A and B halves of the ring with ratios. And you vary the C output with FEC. But, these two actions are independent in terms of exposure

I would recommend M mode for flash (the flash will still be automatic in E-TTL mode).

You might consider going manual, maybe iso 800 or 1600, shutter speed fast enough to control motion blur and f/stopped down enough to make up for the lack of light to focus tightly. Maybe 1/80th at 5.6, I'd start testing there. Let the flash do it's thing. Another thing to test is + or - flash exp comp, depending on the situation.

In TTL mode the Canon system meters the A:B ratio with a series of pre-flashes: A then B, then A and B together to adjust the ratio and exposure of the main foreground subject.
The ability of a flash unit to act as a "slave" to a master flash is fairly old technology. It's simply a matter of closing a circuit to fire the flash when the presence of another flash is detected. The term "slave" has been used for decades to describe this technology.

refer this site for more details on ur 580EX.....
http://super.nova.org/DPR/Canon/


thank you good luck...

I posted this over at POTN:

I posted this over at POTN:

Bringing up a minor-aged thread; but I wanted to add some information that may help others. Here's the best I can remember of what happened earlier...

Tonight, I had one of my three 580II's sticking in TTL. I grabbed another 580II and got the same issue. Then, I grabbed another 5DII, mounted one of those flashes and everything was fine. So far, it seemed to be a camera issue. Out of curiosity, I took the flash that was working and put it back on the first 5DII. Again, the TTL sticks and I think it's more mount related than camera.

I was baffled and a little pissed, but in a hurry; so I didn't think on the spot to take a moment to go into the camera's menu and check settings. I can say that I did check all CFn's, the exposure comp and both flashes on both cameras and everything was fine according to the LCD panels (not screen) on all. I also hand checked all the settings on the flash(es).

Here's how to fix it... it's generally NOT a connection issue from what I have concluded. If you have a 580II sticking in TTL...

I can confirm that the ONLY thing that fixed the issue was to check the settings THROUGH the camera's menu. By doing so, I found the flash exposure comp was dialed down 2 stops on the flash in question - BUT it DEFINITELY was NOT showing this on any screen - either camera or either flash. Everything was set right on the LCD panels. (not screens - I generally only use those for chimping. :D) The result was images were near completely white. Shooting in any mode would not fix the issue. You could not compensate. Even adjusting the EC at cam had no effect - even in M. So, check your FEC THROUGH the camera's back screen. This is (and only) where you will see the issue if it's not a connection problem.

I do believe there's some kind of internal (software?) issue with the 580II's and that's how I remedied it. However, it did only happen on one camera. And while it only happened on that one camera, I can say that as soon as I changed the EC through the screen, it was fine - without touching the connection. I did not experience any loose connection; that's for sure.

From a little research, I found this is a fairly common problem with the 580II's and resides in nearly 100% of the time with the flash as it happens on multiple camera models. However, it's easily remedied if you do the above in bold. ;)

Just FYI and hope it helps.

edit: Just wanted to add that these flashes have never seen moisture and even the camera menu showed "ETTL" when it was in fact not showing that on the flashes screen. Anyway, look at the FEC in the menu. ;)

I just got the 580 and had trouble with it blinking all the time, the bounce card was out about a mm and I did not realize it, once that was pushed all the way back--voila.

Does the pilot lamp light up? If so can you fire it manually by pressing on it? If the batteries are low it may simply just be taking a while to charge, the camera will not wait for it to be ready to fire and it may seem to be not working. If your flash can be fired manually however, there may be a problem with the cameras shutter or the hotshoe. You can do a basic check by pressing the star button at the rear of the camera, you should get a pre-flash. If not, there is a problem with the cameras hotshoe which you will need addressed by a service centre. If you get a preflash you can next check the cameras shutter by setting the second curtain to sync with the flash. This can be done via the cameras "Custom Function" menu, c-Fn 15. Set the camera to TV mode and chose a 1 second exposure. Take a shot with the flash attached, if the shutter is working correctly, the flash should fire a pre-flash and then a main flash. If it doesnt, the switch inside the shutter is broken and the shutter needs to be replaced. This is a pretty labour intensive repair and you may consider an upgrade as more economical.