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mastertech01
9th of July 2008 (Wed), 07:58
Hi,
With all my other Canon flashes Ive had, when you turn on the flash the ETTL indicator remains off until you push the shutter button halfway the first time and the camera communicates with the flash. On a 420EX that I just purchased the ETTL indicator comes on instantly, even when not attached to the camera.

Is this normal for the 420EX?

Thanks!
aridan
9th of July 2008 (Wed), 08:13
Yes it's normal because the 420EX cannot be controlled manually - it's only ETTL compatible. When on the camera the power is adjusted by the camera. When off the camera the power is transmitted to it when it is slave mode. You cannot adjust the power on it when it's off the camera (or on it for that matter).
PacAce
9th of July 2008 (Wed), 11:33
Hi,
With all my other Canon flashes Ive had, when you turn on the flash the ETTL indicator remains off until you push the shutter button halfway the first time and the camera communicates with the flash. On a 420EX that I just purchased the ETTL indicator comes on instantly, even when not attached to the camera.

Is this normal for the 420EX?

Thanks!

I'm not sure what other Canon flashes you've had but all the Canon flashes I have always show ETTL on the LCD (assuming the flash is set to ETTL mode) when the flash is first turned on whether they're mounted on the camera or not. The flashes not showing ETTL would be abnormal in my case. :)
mastertech01
9th of July 2008 (Wed), 12:11
Ive had a couple 380EX and a 580EX II but I didnt have the 580EX II long enough to remember for sure. But yes, the indicators were not on until the camera was initialized with half press of the shutter button on both the 380EX I had for sure.

Thanks for the information folks!
PacAce
9th of July 2008 (Wed), 15:22
Ive had a couple 380EX and a 580EX II but I didnt have the 580EX II long enough to remember for sure. But yes, the indicators were not on until the camera was initialized with half press of the shutter button on both the 380EX I had for sure.

Thanks for the information folks!

I've never had the 380EX but I did have the 420EX and still do have the 550EX, the 580EX and the 580EX II and they all show (or showed in the case of the 420EX) ETTL on the LCD display when turn on.