Ordered my 550EX today

[timmyquest]

:-D

Now i have no money :(

[belmondo]

TQ:
Prepare for the most bewildering experience related to photography....

The 550EX user's manual!

128 pages of unintelligible gobbledygook.
:? :?
:lol:

[iwatkins]

Ah, grasshopper, welcome to the challenge that is the way of the 550EX.

You will need great patience and strength to see you through this training.

But he who perserveres will become known as "The Master of the 550EX".

:D

It still staggers me how much I forget about the 550EX the moment I shut the manual and reach for the flash. It just falls out of my head.

Does take a nice photo in combo with a 10D*

Cheers

Ian

* - In most cases, and when it doesn't it is always my fault for not reading the manual properly, again. :wink:

[PacAce]

TQ:
Prepare for the most bewildering experience related to photography....

The 550EX user's manual!

128 pages of unintelligible gobbledygook.
:? :?
:lol:

I just don't get it. What's so difficult about the 550EX manual? I think your problem is you're just trying too hard to read the words and make sense out of it. Just do what I do...just look at the pictures! After all, you know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! :lol:

[iwatkins]

I just don't get it. What's so difficult about the 550EX manual? I think your problem is you're just trying too hard to read the words and make sense out of it. Just do what I do...just look at the pictures! After all, you know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! :lol:

I tried that method, but I failed.

Page 35 clearly shows that to get FE Lock to work you need to be in a bar with a nice looking girl behind the bar. This isn't true, but I had a few drinks while I was there, and actually, she was quite nice.

Page 58 is another instance. It appeared you needed to get a cat balancing on a ball for wireless usage, but it plainly isn't true. Took me two hours of trying to get our cat to balance on a ball to discover this.


:roll: :roll:

Cheers

Ian

[Cadwell]

TQ:
Prepare for the most bewildering experience related to photography....

The 550EX user's manual!

128 pages of unintelligible gobbledygook.
:? :?
:lol:

:shock:

The solution is simple. Do the proper manly thing and throw the manual away. :P :P

Real men only open the manual after testing the device to destruction. Once we eventually do read the manual to find out why we have a smoking, smoldering and slightly melted lump instead of the thing we purchased... we find out that pressing button "X" followed by button "Y" is "not recomended". :cry:

:wink:

[RichardtheSane]

TQ:
128 pages of unintelligible gobbledygook.

:lol:

I thought youd have notices that your manual was the polish one Tom....
The english one has a a few pages of unintelligible gobbledygook less because the contents page and the bit on how to mount it makes perfect sense to me.....
:D :D

[PacAce]

Who wants to be the one to tell Tom that half the pages in the manual does not apply to his 10D and that he should be reading the FIRST half of the manual and not the second half.

I just don't have the heart to tell him that he's been reading the wrong instructions for the 550EX all this time. :(

[timmyquest]

LOL, now i'm really worried as i cheaped out and bought the...

IMPORTED VERSION!

i hope it's imported from england :-P

[PacAce]

LOL, now i'm really worried as i cheaped out and bought the...

IMPORTED VERSION!

i hope it's imported from england :-P

Well lucky you. The imported version comes with both the English manual AND the French manual. If you have a hard time with the English manual, like Tom does, you might want to give the French one a try. It might make more sense. :LOL:

[belmondo]

I've even slept with the damned thing under my pillow. No help

My goal of mastering wireless is on hold until I get at least one decent picture with my 550EX.

:? :shock: :roll: :wink: :oops:

[timmyquest]

LOL, now i'm really worried as i cheaped out and bought the...

IMPORTED VERSION!

i hope it's imported from england :-P

Well lucky you. The imported version comes with both the English manual AND the French manual. If you have a hard time with the English manual, like Tom does, you might want to give the French one a try. It might make more sense. :LOL:

So wait...there isnt a pakistani version!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo

[IanD]

LOL, now i'm really worried as i cheaped out and bought the...

IMPORTED VERSION!

i hope it's imported from england :-P
According to Canon Professional Services the latest imported 550EX manuals are in braille, with sub titles in Inuit. :lol:

[where1]

LOL, now i'm really worried as i cheaped out and bought the...

IMPORTED VERSION!

i hope it's imported from england :-P
According to Canon Professional Services the latest imported 550EX manuals are in braille, with sub titles in Inuit. :lol:

because it is hard to read braille with big mittens on. :wink:

[stopbath]

LOL, now i'm really worried as i cheaped out and bought the...

IMPORTED VERSION!

i hope it's imported from england :-P
According to Canon Professional Services the latest imported 550EX manuals are in braille, with sub titles in Inuit. :lol:

because it is hard to read braille with big mittens on. :wink:
Braille is a great idea. After suffering too many flash pops while checking out the new flash, you could then feel through the manual while you wait for your eyes to get their sight back. :)

[timmyquest]

I'm mad.

I placed my order at 6am CST on tuesday. I paid for 3 day shipping, checked the tracking number today (because it didnt work yesterday) and it is not going to get to my house until Monday. Why do they call it 3 day shipping when it indeed takes 6...4 buisness days.

:evil:

[IanD]

I'm mad.

I placed my order at 6am CST on tuesday. I paid for 3 day shipping, checked the tracking number today (because it didnt work yesterday) and it is not going to get to my house until Monday. Why do they call it 3 day shipping when it indeed takes 6...4 buisness days.

:evil:
My guess would be that they have hired ex-Pony Express jockeys that are using mounts related to Gitzo. :lol:

[timmyquest]

When i got the flash i also got an omni bounce. Was this purchase a waste with the 550's "built in difuser"???

[iwatkins]

Well that all depends.

1) Why did you buy an Omni Bounce ?
2) Does the 550EX really have a built in diffuser ?

Cheers

Ian :twisted:

[timmyquest]

Well that all depends.

1) Why did you buy an Omni Bounce ?
2) Does the 550EX really have a built in diffuser ?

Cheers

Ian :twisted:

1.) Because i hate that blast of flash in peoples faces, and i have used a high quality flash on my 35mm and sometimes (depending on the location) "point up" or bouncing the flash off the walls doesnt always give you all that great pictures.

2.) I'm not entirely sure, i have read about this feature but i dotn know if it's actually a difuser, rather a deflecter that is supose to give the subject a sparkle in their eye. Based on photograhps with this in use it does work, i'm just not sure if it's actually a difuser, nor do i quiet understand (yet) how it works.

[iwatkins]

1.) Because i hate that blast of flash in peoples faces, and i have used a high quality flash on my 35mm and sometimes (depending on the location) "point up" or bouncing the flash off the walls doesnt always give you all that great pictures.

I know what you mean. Bounce flash can give variable results and sometimes you don't have anything to bounce off at all. I actually have the OmniBounce for my 550EX and have used it quite a bit. It doesn't really give the bounce effect (like its name suggests) but does indeed soften the light when the flash head is pointed directly or up to 45 degrees above. The light also tends to drastically soften shadows from the flash which always look horrible if using the flash "bare" and direct. The only gotcha is that the OmniBounce tends to take quite a bit of light out of the flash, so the flash has to work harder to maintain the right light levels when used in E-TTL mode. This means you batteries work harder and also lessens the flashes overall working distance.

2.) I'm not entirely sure, i have read about this feature but i dotn know if it's actually a difuser, rather a deflecter that is supose to give the subject a sparkle in their eye. Based on photograhps with this in use it does work, i'm just not sure if it's actually a difuser, nor do i quiet understand (yet) how it works.

OK, I had to check that manual for this one (and I hold you personally responsible for my continuing slide into insanity :wink: ) as I've never used it myself. It is what I thought it was and is called a "wide panel". Pulling it out and folding it down over the face of the flash switches the flash head from it's lowest zoom distance (IIRC) 24mm down to 17mm. I.e. it is just a lens that pushes the flash light out wider to cover the 17mm "cone" when using a wide angle lens. The flash head itself has to be at the 0 degrees or -7 degrees setting facing directly forwards.

You can also just pull the panel out so it sticks up at 90 degrees to the flash face. This isn't shown in the manual (that I can find) but I have seen it done. The head is then rotated upwards to 45 degrees. This then gives you main bounce flash but a little flash bounces off the panel directly towards the subject to give a little catchlight.

I must give all this stuff a go. :)

Cheers

Ian

[timmyquest]

Thanks, makes me feel better :-D

Now i just gotta wait for slow ass UPS to get here...i was hoping to get a chance to play with it over the weekend, alas because of school/work i wont get more then 20 mins with it until wednesday

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

[timmyquest]

WEEEEEEEe

UPS just came, lets have a look shall we :-)

[IanD]

WEEEEEEEe

UPS just came, lets have a look shall we :-)
Well there goes work and school out the window. :lol:
Congrats and for heavens sake don't turn the flash head towards yourself and hit the TEST button. :lol:

[timmyquest]

WEEEEEEEe

UPS just came, lets have a look shall we :-)
Well there goes work and school out the window. :lol:
Congrats and for heavens sake don't turn the flash head towards yourself and hit the TEST button. :lol:

LOL...well i sure didnt go to school, i will go to work.

I dont see what all the fuss is about, it seems pretty simple to me. And although i havnt done any tests it (kind of obviously) makes taking pictures a heck of alot easier then with the built in flash.

Histograms are more...mellow i guess. And the colors are not so washed out. I've also been playing with some it's cool features.

Any reason one wouldn't just stay in high sync mode?