Off-Camera Shoe Cord OC-E3

I purchased and off brand, Meike Digital, OC-E3 a while back to use with my 580 EXII and my Pocket Wizards. Its work, from time to time when I've used it, which hasn't been a whole lot. The cord itself is still in good shape, very tight coiled still.

Anyway, I purchase a RSS bracket to mount my flash on so I could get off camera flash while just using my camera, for like weddings etc...but when I mounted it and I'm using this Meike OC-E3, its not firing off the flash at all and the 580 EXII shows up as TTL when I thought it should work in ETTL as well...?

Do you think I've been the victim of a cheap off camera shoe cord?

I went ahead and ordered the real Canon branded one, it should be here today, I just can't really understand if this cheaper one is really gone bad already, without hardly using it.

Check out this thread.

I had issues with my cord a couple weeks ago, checked and the screws on the "far" end (where the flash attaches) were indeed quite loose.

Worth a check if you have some small screwdrivers.

mbellot wrote in post #13436468
Check out this thread.

I had issues with my cord a couple weeks ago, checked and the screws on the "far" end (where the flash attaches) were indeed quite loose.

Worth a check if you have some small screwdrivers.

Well my cheapo cord doesn't have screws there, but I did determine it was the cord, as my new Canon model came in and it worked immediately. So that cable has gone bad somehow, and probably wasn't even worth this post. Thats why I usually don't buy cheapo stuff...and once again have learned a lesson, I hate buying twice.

ChrisMc73 wrote in post #13435795
...the 580 EXII shows up as TTL when I thought it should work in ETTL as well...?

This happened to me when one particular contact in the flash shoe got dirty and wasn't making good contact with my flash. I cleaned it up with a pencil eraser and got "ETTL" back on the display. In your case, it could be a bad connection in one of the shoes or it could be a bad connection inside your cable.

It's my understanding that TTL mode (as opposed to ETTL mode) works with film cameras only. On my (digital) camera, the flash always fired at full power, regardless of any adjustments, when the display read "TTL."

I want to get a hot-shoe cord too, but I've been discouraged by the plentiful negative reviews and tales of woe almost all of them seem to attract.

The Canon cord is great. However, it is pricey and short.

OCFGear.com has high quality non-coiled extended length (16 and 33 feet) cords, but the site shows they are currently on backorder until Nov 25.

There are also several brands sold via Amazon. Some have very positive reviews. I ordered the Rainbow Imaging 10 meter coiled version. After it arrives, I can post a followup.

Also know that the pull-out wide angle diffusion panel and white catch light card must be fully inserted into their slot. The Speedlite's sensor prevents the Speedlite from operating normally if they are not fully inserted!

Always check to make sure that the diffusion panel and white catch light card are fully seated!