ETTL Flash on a ETTL-II Body?

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I have a Canon XTI (which has ETTL-II correct?) and I am looking at picking up a Sigma EF-500 Super DG, but this one only has ETTL(v1)

is there going to be a problem with putting a v1 ETTL on a v2 body? what am I going to lose?

fyi, I don't use any secondary flashes or anything fancy llike that

[Curtis N]

The Sigma EF-500 DG flashes (ST and Super versions) work fine on E-TTL II cameras.

There were some other third-party brands that needed to be updated when E-TTL II was introduced so you need to be careful buying used ones, but I haven't heard of this issue with the Sigmas.

[PacAce]

I have a Canon XTI (which has ETTL-II correct?) and I am looking at picking up a Sigma EF-500 Super DG, but this one only has ETTL(v1)

is there going to be a problem with putting a v1 ETTL on a v2 body? what am I going to lose?

fyi, I don't use any secondary flashes or anything fancy llike that

Any flash that supports ETTL will also support ETTL-II since that function is determined by the camera, not the flash. If there are incompatibilities between the flash and the camera, it is because of non-ETTL related issues.

[Curtis N]

Any flash that supports ETTL will also support ETTL-II since that function is determined by the camera, not the flash. If there are incompatibilities between the flash and the camera, it is because of non-ETTL related issues.I do not concur.

There has never been a compatibility problem with the Canon EX Speedlites. Even the ones produced before the introduction of E-TTL II will work fine on E-TTL II bodies.

But some of the reverse-engineered aftermarket units had issues. My Promaster 7500DX, for example, worked flawlessly on my 300D but not on my 20D. It works in manual mode but not E-TTL mode, so I would definitely call it an E-TTL related issue. When I first discovered the problem, I emailed Promaster and the response was that they had to redesign their E-TTL units to make them compatible with E-TTL II. Since they did not change the model number or otherwise make any visible changes to the unit when they updated the electronics, this makes buying used units a bit of a crap shoot.

I believe Quantaray, Sunpak and possibly other brands had the same issue, but I have not heard of any problems with Sigma units.

[PacAce]

I do not concur.

There has never been a compatibility problem with the Canon EX Speedlites. Even the ones produced before the introduction of E-TTL II will work fine on E-TTL II bodies.

But some of the reverse-engineered aftermarket units had issues. My Promaster 7500DX, for example, worked flawlessly on my 300D but not on my 20D. It works in manual mode but not E-TTL mode, so I would definitely call it an E-TTL related issue. When I first discovered the problem, I emailed Promaster and the response was that they had to redesign their E-TTL units to make them compatible with E-TTL II. Since they did not change the model number or otherwise make any visible changes to the unit when they updated the electronics, this makes buying used units a bit of a crap shoot.

I believe Quantaray, Sunpak and possibly other brands had the same issue, but I have not heard of any problems with Sigma units.
You may think that it's an ETTL issue but if the reverse engineering didn't get the ETTL done right and there are problems, it's not an ETTL issue. It's an issue with the flash not being correctly reverse engineered to be ETTL compatible.

[AirBrontosaurus]

I had the same thing happen with my Sigma EF-430 Super. It was only ETTL (not ETTL II) and worked perfectly on my 300D (which only has ETTL).

But, on my 20D, it would only fire at full power, and only fired sporadically. It worked in manual mode, sometimes.

Put it back on my 300D, and it worked perfectly. I think there are some real core differences between an ETTL flash and an ETTLII body that don't allow them to be interchangeable. My experience is that it isn't.

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well I will get a chance to try them out.....whats the fastest/easiest way to tell if it will be compatible with my camera?

[Curtis N]

Take a picture with the flash in E-TTL mode.
The flash should illuminate your shot in a controllable way.
Hit the FEL button and see if it fires the pre-flash.
Adjust FEC on your camera and see if it makes a difference.
Adjust FEC on the flash and see if that setting is reflected in the image info on the LCD.
Make sure there is a flash ready indicator (lightning bolt icon) in your viewfinder.

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sorry, n00b still, FEC is....

[PacAce]

sorry, n00b still, FEC is....

Flash exposure compensation. On the camera it's the "+/-" with the lightning symbol on the left hand side. The flash might have FEC on it, too.