550EX Tips

Just received my 550EX from B&H, the worst packing I've ever seen but is not damaged. Anyway, I was looking for some tips other then RTFM to jump start learning how to most effectively use it with my DReb. Shooting situations? Things to try etc.

TIA and I LOVE this forum and find myslef spending way too much time lurking around the place.

DReb-MO wrote:
Just received my 550EX from B&H, the worst packing I've ever seen but is not damaged. Anyway, I was looking for some tips other then RTFM to jump start learning how to most effectively use it with my DReb. Shooting situations? Things to try etc.

TIA and I LOVE this forum and find myslef spending way too much time lurking around the place.

Start by sitting down with the 550's instruction book and slowly work your way
through it, with that book in one hand and the flash in the other. There are
commands under commands, under commands, and it'll take awhile for you to
change things intuitively.

Then have a look at this site

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

Although this is an in-depth study of all Canon flashes it has enough
non-instruction book information on Canon's E-TTL system to be invaluable.

Some things that will freak you out (they’re in the instruction book but ...)

The flash head zooms internally when you zoom the lens, UNLESS you have the
flash in a bounce angle position. “Why isn’t it zooming? Why isn’t it zooming?�
Same thing if you have the flash set as a MASTER. It wants to default to being as
wide as it can so the slaved flash can “see� the signal from the MASTER. Now
it’s unlikely that you have another 550 or a 420 flash as a slave. But it IS likely
that you’ll flip the switch on the base of the flash over to MASTER, just to see
what it’ll do, and “messing up� the auto zoom is one of the things!

If your flash won’t fire or seems to fire at 100% and way under or overexposes
the picture, the reason is that the flash is not quite in the hotshoe. I use the
remote cord to get the flash off of the camera and I find that as secure as I think I
have the flash coupled to the end bit of the cord, it finds a way of loosening.
When you tighten the ring a little pin deploys to lock the flash in place, but alas
that pin may or not be in position itself. Anyway if the flash is grossly
misbehaving check to see if it’s seated all the way in the hotshoe.

Thanks for the great info. That's why I LOVE this place. I think I already said that but WT? it bears repeating... Thanks again.

I agree completely with what DaveG stated. I read my 550EX manual over when I first got it, and a lot of it seemed to make sense. But I had to read it over and over, page by page, until it started to really sink in. You have to get to the place where results from Av will seem natural to you, and results from Tv, and P.

Then, whenever I am getting ready to go shoot something important, like a wedding, I always get the manual out one more time just for a refresh. Also, I have personal notes that I made for myself when I was new with it, and I keep those (in microscopic print) on a card in the 550EX case.

---Bob Gross---

That's about the same technique that I've used with the 10D - read it, read it again, and then reference it and experiment with it. The only thing I haven't done was take notes - but I may just try that as well.

I just got hold of a 550EX myself - so far, its been a wonderful flash. I still have much to learn with it, but it has performed quite well so far.