ETTL not working with OC-E3 (off-camera cord)!

[SOLVED!]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping my first post would be more of a contribution than this, but after reading so many interesting posts on this forum I figured this might be one of the best places to ask.

I just received a used OC-E3 ETTL off-camera cable (the official Canon 60cm one), and did some test shots when I realized that the flash was firing at full strength every time! Pondered, I tried over and over again, and when I turned the flash towards me I could feel how warm the light from the flash was every time I pressed down the shutter. All shots come out completely white, and I stopped messing with it quite fast because I thought it couldn't be a good thing to have the flash fire at full strength over and over again (not to mention my vision still hasn't returned to normal).

Still connected via the cable, I tried setting the flash manually, and it behaved according to the settings I made. After putting the flash directly back on the body again to see that the ETTL actually works on the body to begin with (I've used it several times before, but checked to make sure), I'm thinking maybe I've been sold a damaged cable, or that it got damaged on the way.

Any ideas? Do I need to set up anything in particular, or be in a particular mode on the camera for it to work properly with the off-camera TTL-cord?

My body is a Canon 30D.
Flash: 580 EX II
Cable: OC-E3

I have exactly the same kit as you - OC-E3, 580EX II, 30D - and they all worked fine out of the box. E-TTL works perfectly for me without changing any settings.

If the same flash and 30D can use E-TTL when mounted right on the hotshoe I agree the cable must be faulty. Good luck getting a replacement!

Sure the flash and cable were seated correctly?

René Damkot wrote in post #5580223
Sure the flash and cable were seated correctly?

Thanks for both replies.

@ Renè Damkot:
Is there more than one way to do it?

Nobu wrote in post #5580266
Is there more than one way to do it?

It may be possible to have the cord seated backwards. Look at the contacts when you mate the cord to the camera and also where you connect the flash. Make sure that ALL of the contacts are in the proper direction at both ends.

There is one remote possibility but unlikely.
When I bought my OC-E3, it wouldn't work properly on my 350D but would do fine on my 30D.
My 580EX (Mk1) worked fine on both camera's.
The new OC-E3 has a different pin "pressure" (for want of a better word) arrangement compared to the 580EX and it wasn't making contact correctly with the 350D hotshoe.
Had to gently sand/file the plastic top of the 350D hotshoe to ensure it was making contact, perhaps the reverse is occurring in this situation.

Double Jeopardy for Mark Vuleta. You are exactly right. I just fumbled around with it for a while and realized that I would sometimes get the focuc-assist, and that the flash would say ETTL and just TTL on and off, so I figured that there was a weak connection somewhere.

Upon closer inspection, the pins only have full contact if I ever so gently lean the flash backwards, if I hold the piece it's mounted to. What I've already done is to bend the sides of the shoe on the piece on the flash-end a little, and that helped. I'll bend it a little more once I find some tools, to see if I can't make it all ETTL and no way back.

Thanks for your replies, and hopefully this could be useful to someone else as well.