Problem with my 20D or 580EX?

I have noticed a problem that keeps on popping up on my camera and flash...

Basically, the screws in the hotshoe on the camera get loose easily and don't create a tight gap for the flash.

This causes a problem where, unless I tighten the screws all the time, the flash will tilt forward slightly and one of two things will happen:

1) The flash will fire but not communicate with the body quicky...so the shutter will go off AFTER the flash has fired.

2) The shutter will hit too early and the image will be way too bright.

Usually I have to just hold the flash back while firing to get a good regular shot...

I replaced the shoe on the flash and the hotshoe on the 20D a bit ago which seemed to fix the problem for a little bit, but now it's doing it again.

Does anyone know which one, or both, could be an issue? Both the flash and camera are just over 2 years old now, so I'm not sure if maybe the flash is just getting too old...any opinions?

That's weird... haven't heard of that before. If the hotshoe being loose is causing the flash to lose contact with the camera that would mean the problem lies in the 20D, wouldn't it?

I would think so...my best guess is that when it first started happening, it just made the screw holes worn out..so even though I can screw as tight as I can, they still will get loose.

Have you given Canon a ring to see what they have to say about it?

Dunno mate. My old 20D and 580 I had a problem where the shoe on the camera was loose abit (due to me carrying the cam by the flash sometimes)
I had someone tighten it up and it was fine from then on. The flash would move left slightly and cause the flash not to fire. in portrait mode I had to support my flash with my hand so it made contact.

try the next size biger screw? re-tap the holes? can you actuall get at the piece the screwes go into? try using some LOC-TITE in the holes...as long as youll NEVER have to take the screws out it should work but id do that only as a last resort. Id try to find out if the part the screws actually screw into to hold the shoe down is replacable by you.. then just buy a new one.