ETL II Question

[MDJAK]

I just sprung for the 580ex flash. Ya see, I was standing around the camera shop, right after paying for the 1Ds Mark II, charging the battery. I began to think about the flash. I have the 550ex. Having read that the new flash technology was better, I figured, what the heck, might as well have the best flash with the best camera.

Now I read that the cameras equipped with the "II" flash technology, use it with any of the canon flashes. I thought only the 580ex took advantage of this.

True or false?
Thanks
mark

[Hellashot]

I believe what you've read is correct. A big advantage of the 580EX is that it compensates for the 1.6x factor of the 10D, Drebel, 20D, DrebelXT in its focal length calculation. Also the 580EX has half the recycle time of the 550EX. You there's probably not that much of an advantage for you buying the 580EX instead of the 550EX since you have a 1-series.

[MDJAK]

Half the recycle time is good for me as I sometimes shoot quickly when I do sports.

Also, for now, I still have the 20D, so the ability of it to work with the crop factor is another plus. I was unaware of those two apparent pluses.

thanks
mark

[Tom W]

Hellashot is correct in that the 580EX does take the narrower field-of-view of the 1.6X sensor into consideration in zooming the flashead. I've also heard that recycle time is improved.

That said, the actual E-TTL II technology lies within the camera, meaning that any "EX" flash will be compatible with it.