540EZ and Rebel XT/350D

[billyace]

I just bought the new XT/350D and was hoping to use my old 540EZ flash on it. I understand that this combination won't work in TTL mode and I need to use the flash in manual mode. I've played around a little with the flash settings a bit and have gotten some acceptable shots. Are there any good rules or recommendations for flash and/or camera settings in the manual mode to increase my chances of getting good exposure? I haven't used this flash in many years and I lost the manual. Also, could I use the 540EZ as a slave triggered my the on camera flash? I see that the flash has a "multi" mode and I don't know what that means (like I said, I lost the manual plus I'm a novice just getting back into photography after a few years away). Thanks in advance for your input. :)

[robertwgross]

You will find that trying to use the 540EZ is difficult, if not impossible.

No, it does not optically slave from the camera. It can work as a Canon wireless slave.

You really want one of the -EX models, such as 550EX.

---Bob Gross---

[scottbergerphoto]

You will save yourself alot of aggravation/confusion if you refer to Canon's flash metering as ETTL or ETTLII, depending on which camera body you use. TTL, ATTL and the like are older technologies and don't apply to Canon digital cameras. EZ series flashes are not ETTL compatible. In addition EX series flashes don't operate as optical slaves that are triggerred by a single pulse of light. They require a coded series of pulses from another EX Master(550, 580) or STE2.

[d'homme]

There are slave units that screw on to the bottom of your EZ flash. It will fire the flash optically when it sees your main flash go off. U can adjust the sensitivity, and since its not connected to your camera, you can adjust the power from full on down. They cost maybe $20 to $40 each. I have a few.

[robertwgross]

There are slave units that screw on to the bottom of your EZ flash. It will fire the flash optically when it sees your main flash go off. U can adjust the sensitivity, and since its not connected to your camera, you can adjust the power from full on down. They cost maybe $20 to $40 each. I have a few.

I suggest that this will fire the 540EZ optically when it sees the PRE-flash go off, not the main flash.

---Bob Gross---

[dai vu]

There are slave units that screw on to the bottom of your EZ flash. It will fire the flash optically when it sees your main flash go off. U can adjust the sensitivity, and since its not connected to your camera, you can adjust the power from full on down. They cost maybe $20 to $40 each. I have a few.

Could you be more specific about the slave units : names, brand, how and where to buy those? Thanks .

[robertwgross]

I think they were referring to an optical slave trigger, not a flash unit. There are some intended for film cameras, and there are others intended for digital cameras.

The trigger fits onto the foot of your flash unit. You turn the power on at the flash unit. The trigger is powered from the foot. When a brilliant flash of light happens, the "electric eye" in the trigger will become a short circuit. That causes the flash unit to fire.

You know, there are some people that have made this to work in manual mode. However, to a certain extent, you will be investing money into your solution to get this to work halfway. If you intend to stay in the EOS digital world, it might be easier to bite the bullet and get into an -EX flash, or something else that is compatible with ETTL in the camera.

---Bob Gross---

[David Price]

Bob is right, the pre-flash will trigger your optical slave. HOWEVER, for off camera flash with your 540EZ, you can set the flash to Manual Multi (I think it's the second manual option on your menu) and you will see a number followed by the letters HZ. I think (again, not sure exactly) you will have a button on the back of the flash labeled HZ. Press that button for a higher number than 1. So the back of the menu would say 2HZ or 3Hz. Now, the preflash will set your slaved (more on your question about slaves in a minute) flash of but it will fire again when the regular on camera flash fires the exposure flash.

Sorry, I just re-read what I wrote and I'm not a good enough writer to explain what I'm trying to. :(

About optical slaves, you can get them from B&H and several other places. Wein is the mfg name and you can get a regular optical slave from them for about 40 bux. Wein also makes a XXXD slave for digital camseras for about 80 bux. The digital slave ignores the preflash and fires on the exposure flash. Ive been playing with this stuff for awhile now and am making it work but it takes a bunch of test shots to get set up. If you understand how flash works, you can deal with it. If you're weak in flash knowledge it becomes very aggrivating.

Here, try this link and see if it helps any.

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/

Long story short, you can do what you're asking about but it ain't gonna be easy. I'm too stingy to buy the 580EX so I tinker with what I have. :)

Sheesh!! I wish I could explain this better.

Regards,
~dp

[dgcorner]

From the opinions posted, and IMHO, you might be better off to sell your old stuff on eBay (or other similar e-markets) and then save up for a decent flash. You'll be surprised to see that what others consider rubbish is "gold" to someone else. I've been able to sell a little over $1000 worth of stuff in the last couple of weeks... and expect to sell another $1000 before the end of the month. Now my drawers have a little more room for my newer stuff ;-)

Depending on your needs and shooting style, you might get away with the 420EX, but for longer term use, and as your style evolves, the newer (and more expensive) 430EX or a 580EX will be the best bet.

Good luck!

[rob_from_ca]

I don't know anything about slaving, but I've gotten some good shots with my 540EZ on a Rebel XT. Camera goes in Av mode, flash goes in manual mode. With things set like this, the shutter speed will lock at 200. Because of this, this limits your ability to do a slow-sync type of shot, since your scene has to have at least enough ambient light to light the background at your widest aperature at 1/200s.

Notice the display on back shows a distance scale (m or f, switchable by a switch in the battery compartment). The more you stop down, the shorter distance the range bar will indicate. That's where your subject will be properly exposed. So check the bar, see if your subject is about that far away; if not, either use your feet, change your aperature, or change the power on the flash. To do that, hit the set button so the "1/1" flashes (which is full power), and use plus or minus to reduce/increase the power (1/2 power, 1/4 power, etc...)

The fixed at 1/200 is the most annoying part for me, I'll probably have to move to a EX series thanks to that, but this does work.

[PacAce]

The fixed at 1/200 is the most annoying part for me, I'll probably have to move to a EX series thanks to that, but this does work.
So why not set the camera to manual mode. That way you can set the aperture and the shutter speed to anything you want. :confused: