580 EX ii flass performance and ligthing

[ernestoqr]

I just bougth a new flash 580 ex ii. the instruction manuel says that qhen the camera is in M or P mode the flash will fire a preflash and the main flash.
I call today to Canon and they said that I will not actually see the 2 flash( because is too fast for my eyes) . Do you see the 2 flash or my flash is not working fine?

[PacAce]

If you want to know if you're preflash is firing or not, you can do either or both of the following:

1) Look through the eye piece with one eye and keep the other eye closed or covered. Shoot the camera with the flash in ETTL mode. If you see the flash go off through the eye piece, then what you saw was the preflash. If the resulting photograph was properly lit by the flash, then you know that the main flash went off as well.

2) Set the camera to 2nd curtain sync and then set the shutter speed to 1 second or longer. Looking at the flash, take a picture. You should see the preflash fire as soon as you press the shutter button and then the main flash go off a second or so later, depending on the shutter speed you set the camera to.

BTW, if the flash is set to ETTL mode, the flash will also fire a preflash in Av and Tv modes.

[ernestoqr]

Thanks Leo
but do you ( looking the flash ) actually see the 2 ligths?

[CliveyBoy]

You see the two flashes, but it appears to be one single flash because our eyes are still reacting to the light of the preflash when the extremely brief break occurs.

[ernestoqr]

Talking about ilumination thanks for the tutorial you wrote I have some other questions(canI ? they are several?

[ernestoqr]

yes But today I filmed with a Vixia camcorder abd I only could see one
Ths photos are ok but as I never use one before I donnt know if it is performing well

[ernestoqr]

yes , I thinks thats rigth . I syc the flah to 2 curtain and at 0.3 I can see the 2 flash but when is set to 1/14 or faster I cant see the 2 flashes , it should be firing 2

[Tiberius47]

The only way you can see the preflash is by looking through the viewfinder of the camera. This is closed when the actual flash is fired, so any flash you see is the preflash only.

If you just look at the flash, then the too flashes will be so close together than you will not be able to tell that they are two separate flashes.

Try this. Put the flash on ETTL mode and take a photo (doesn't matter about the exposure). You will see a flash through the viewfinder; this is the preflash. Now, switch the flash to manual mode. This eliminates the preflash (because the camera doesn't set the flash output itself, you do, so it doesn't need a preflash). Now take a photo again. This time, you won't see any flash through the viewfinder. This shows that any flash you see in the viewfinder is the preflash only, even if it appears to be just a single flash.

[ernestoqr]

ThanKs you are a genius :D!!!! It work as you said ... jejeje and I call the company today asking about this :o,,, I didnt Know about this I I just bougth it yesterday at Best Buy.
Thanks again guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!