420ex Flash Question

[Saber]

I noticed a strange thing on my 300d when using the 420 flash.

In the auto modes and the A-Dep mode you get both horizontal and vertial AF beams however in M, AV, TV and p modes you only get the vertical AF beam. The hoziontal one does not fire.
Does anyone know why?????

Also, I am sure I have read this somewhere, I find that when I use the ext flash I tend to get underexposed pics more times then not. It is esspecially noticable when I try to bounce the flash. It donsn't seem to matter what mode I am in. It used to work so well on my G3, I don't understand. :x :x :x
Any suggestions, Thanks.

[Saber]

Dosen't anyone out there in camera land have an answer.

[Motorsports Photo]

Hee hee, I think you and I are the only ones to admit we even HAVE a 420ex. :D

I never noticed the behavior you speak of since I have never used adep with the flash.

-Pete

[drisley]

I noticed a strange thing on my 300d when using the 420 flash.

In the auto modes and the A-Dep mode you get both horizontal and vertial AF beams however in M, AV, TV and p modes you only get the vertical AF beam. The hoziontal one does not fire.
Does anyone know why?????

Also, I am sure I have read this somewhere, I find that when I use the ext flash I tend to get underexposed pics more times then not. It is esspecially noticable when I try to bounce the flash. It donsn't seem to matter what mode I am in. It used to work so well on my G3, I don't understand. :x :x :x
Any suggestions, Thanks.

Are you talking about the red AF assist beam from the flash?
It NEVER worked with any of the G series of cameras.
Only the EOS lineup of cameras.

[Saber]

I noticed a strange thing on my 300d when using the 420 flash.

In the auto modes and the A-Dep mode you get both horizontal and vertial AF beams however in M, AV, TV and p modes you only get the vertical AF beam. The hoziontal one does not fire.
Does anyone know why?????

Also, I am sure I have read this somewhere, I find that when I use the ext flash I tend to get underexposed pics more times then not. It is esspecially noticable when I try to bounce the flash. It donsn't seem to matter what mode I am in. It used to work so well on my G3, I don't understand. :x :x :x
Any suggestions, Thanks.

Are you talking about the red AF assist beam from the flash?
It NEVER worked with any of the G series of cameras.
Only the EOS lineup of cameras.


NOP.

On the bottom of the Flash unit there is a red plastic bit which emits an auto foucs beam.

But as I said "In the auto modes and the A-Dep mode you get both horizontal and vertial AF beams however in M, AV, TV and p modes you only get the vertical AF beam. The hoziontal one does not fire."

So the question I guess is, WHAT'S WITH THAT......

[Saber]

Hee hee, I think you and I are the only ones to admit we even HAVE a 420ex. :D

I never noticed the behavior you speak of since I have never used adep with the flash.

-Pete

But I am corret are't I.

In the Auto Modes you get both horizontal and vertical AF beams and in creative modes you only get vertical beams.

[drisley]

I just tried it on my 420ex and rebel and I get the same results.
Only vertical beams on creative, and both on Auto modes.
Now I too am wondering why?!
ANyone???

As far as exposure goes, I find the 420ex works much better on my rebel than on my g3.
However, many people find that the rebel does underexpose the flash by about 2/3.
You can get a little utility called FECset that will allow you to set the flash exposure compensation to whatever you want. Most people find a +2/3 to do the trick nicely! Many here have used it and love the results.

http://revolution.cx/rcx/fecset.htm

Also, there is the hacked russian firmware floating around that is getting rave reviews, and it allows you to set FEC on the fly, and adds a few other features.

[Saber]

Yea I use the hacked firmware and it works a treat on those tricky flash exposures.

I hope some one can answer this flash question.

[drisley]

Let's try again.

Does anybody here know why the 420EX flash only fires the vertical AF Assist beams when the camera is in a creative mode (M, AV, TV..) but fires both vertical and horizonal AF Assist beams in Auto modes?

[Malaxos1]

I have the 420 EX and just got rid of my Rebe. I did notice that it did give me a little trouble at first, then I noticed that I can control the flash by what I metered off of. For instance, at weddings I would meter off of the bride's dress and would not have a problem with flash being underexposed...Dean

[drisley]

Yes, but what about the way the AF Assist beam behaves?
Might have to write canon support about this one.

[drisley]

I'm sending a message off to Canon.

BTW, does anybody notice this same behaviour with the 10D and 420EX, or 550EX?

[saikidesign]

I'm not sure about this but I'm posting my reply just because I just bought a Canon 550EX and I'm using a 10D. It looks to me that in auto I have vertical and horizontal lines and any other creative mode only vertical lines. I think I have to sleep instead of keep surfing in this site and trying to figure out what my flash and my camera are doing or not... :)

[GrayLock]

Behavior using my 10D with a 420EX is as follows:

Basic (auto) modes: horizontal and vertical lines fire.

Creative modes with all 7 focusing points active: horiz and vertical

Creative modes with only central or top or bottom focusing point active: vertical only

Creative modes with either of two leftmost or either of two rightmost focusing points active: HORIZONTAL only!!

Of course, in the auto modes, all 7 focusing points are used, so the flash's behavior seems to relate more to which focusing points are used rather than the mode. I have no idea why this is so, but since it seems to focus adequately no matter what, I don't lose sleep over it! :wink:

[Saber]

Behavior using my 10D with a 420EX is as follows:

Basic (auto) modes: horizontal and vertical lines fire.

Creative modes with all 7 focusing points active: horiz and vertical

Creative modes with only central or top or bottom focusing point active: vertical only

Creative modes with either of two leftmost or either of two rightmost focusing points active: HORIZONTAL only!!

Of course, in the auto modes, all 7 focusing points are used, so the flash's behavior seems to relate more to which focusing points are used rather than the mode. I have no idea why this is so, but since it seems to focus adequately no matter what, I don't lose sleep over it! :wink:

GENIUS!!!!!!

I didn't even think to check my focusing points.

Thanks

[drisley]

Thanks mucho for that! :o
Let's see what Canon replies... :wink:

[GrayLock]

Behavior using my 10D with a 420EX is as follows:

Basic (auto) modes: horizontal and vertical lines fire.

Creative modes with all 7 focusing points active: horiz and vertical

Creative modes with only central or top or bottom focusing point active: vertical only

Creative modes with either of two leftmost or either of two rightmost focusing points active: HORIZONTAL only!!



As an update... the above observations made perfect sense to me after I stumbled across the following diagram today, which shows the actual configuration of the AF sensors in the 10D:

http://www.pbase.com/image/18920257

To ensure the best possible focus, one would want the IR focus-assist lines to be perpendicular to the elongated shape of the sensor, which is exactly how the camera/flash combo operates. The only anomaly I see in this is that when using only the center point for focusing, both horizontal and vertical assist lines do not fire (only vertical)!