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aymanmb
12th of January 2008 (Sat), 16:48
Can I use it as a slave flash with my EOS 400D and 430EX.

thanks
PacAce
12th of January 2008 (Sat), 16:57
Does it have manual flash capability? If so, you can use it as an optically triggered slave if you get an optical slave triggering unit and you work the 430EX in manual mode.

You won't be able to use it in ETTL mode, though.
FlashZebra
12th of January 2008 (Sat), 17:02
The 420EZ is very annoying for off camera use.

It has a nice manual mode with power levels, but it also has a standby mode that cannot be disabled.

So, in use you have to constantly return to the flash to wake it up.

In use this makes it mostly impractical.

The 430EZ shares the same annoying attribute.

The 540EZ standby mode can be disabled, but I have heard that even some of the early 540EZ units cannot disable the standby mode.

Enjoy! Lon
MT Stringer
12th of January 2008 (Sat), 18:38
The 430EZ shares the same annoying attribute.


Yep, I discovered that the hard way!

The 540EZ standby mode can be disabled, but I have heard that even some of the early 540EZ units cannot disable the standby mode.


Lon, I have two 540EZ flashes and both have the feature on the power switch.
It has three positions - O | SE. If you set the switch to |, it won't go to sleep. I'm not sure about earlier models.
Note: SE = Save Energy.
Mike
FlashZebra
12th of January 2008 (Sat), 19:08
Lon, I have two 540EZ flashes and both have the feature on the power switch.
It has three positions - O | SE. If you set the switch to |, it won't go to sleep. I'm not sure about earlier models.
Note: SE = Save Energy.
Mike
Mike,

My info is just from what seems to be credible web postings about the "early" versions of the 540EZ lacking the ability to disable power savings. But, it could also just be incorrect. That is why I stuck "I have heard" in front of the statement.

But, I have not been able to pin this down to anything more concrete (serial numbers ranges, etc). From your description it seems that just looking at the flash should do the trick. I had a 540EZ loaner for a couple of months, a few months ago. I was making some physical measurements of the gross flash. I should have paid more attention.

The 540EZ is a very nice flash unit for off camera use, lots of power control, plenty of power, and accommodates optical slaves.

But, used prices remain relatively inflated due to the stampede of foraging for good off camera manual flash units.

Enjoy! Lon