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NH82
29th of April 2008 (Tue), 10:43
I have a Rebel XT and and 380ex flash. The problem is the flash will not work on any auto mode, and when switching to manual, the shutter speed has to be turned way way down reguardless of how much light I have to shoot with. I'm really new to photography, but I do know the flash works fine on a 35mm Rebel. Any thoughts??
Gatorboy
29th of April 2008 (Tue), 10:49
You can't use flash at shutter speeds above sync speed -- unless you are using High-Speed Sync.
Zansho
29th of April 2008 (Tue), 10:51
Find out the sync speed of your camera (most likely 1/200th of a second or less), and stay below that for your shutter speed. High Speed sync mode is doable, but not recommended.
Jim M
29th of April 2008 (Tue), 19:32
What do you mean by auto mode? What do you mean by shutter speed has to be turned way, way down?

I switched from film to digital with a 380EX and everything worked just fine. My film cameras the used the 380EX were an A2 and an A2E and I've used the 380EX with a 10D and a 30D. Have you tried it back on the film camera and does it still work? Have you tried another flash on the digital and did it work? Is the flash seating fully on the hot shoe? Something isn't right.
DC Fan
29th of April 2008 (Tue), 20:34
First, make sure the 380ex is solidly indexed in the XT's flash shoe. Those flashes can misbehave if the contacts aren't in the right place.
NH82
29th of April 2008 (Tue), 21:00
Auto mode as in any sport, macro, portrait etc... In manual mode my settings stay around 20/ 3.5f, has to be very low shutter speed in order for the flash to actually work. I don't have another flash to try on the digital, and I no longer have the film camera to try it on. It acts like it seats good on the hotshoe.
Jim M
30th of April 2008 (Wed), 00:40
Does it work in P mode or just M? And do you mean that the flash doesn't fire at all if the shutter speed is faster than 1/20 sec or are you getting a meter reading that sets the shutter speed at 1/20?
nadtz
30th of April 2008 (Wed), 11:02
Manual mode will depend on what you set the camera/flash to, you don't want to use the camera meter to decide final exposure as its not taking the flash into account until you actually prepare to expose. I don't know the auto modes at all but http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/ is a good read for actually understanding how canon flash works.