580ex II broken or me very stupid?!

I think you said there was some play in the flash when attached to the camera hot shoe from when you dropped the camera (and caught it with your foot). Pushing the flash down into place as I suggested did allow the flash to fire...It sounds like the hot shoe of the camera is loose and needs to be tightened. You have to remove the thin metal plate by carefully lifting up the front edge and then sliding it backwards (it is usually glued in place), and then tighten all four of the screws, even applying a tiny drop of thread locker before tightening the screws. Then replace the spring plate from the back, and all should be fine without any filing needed.

Thanks Mike - I will certainly give that a try!

jmb4370 wrote in post #5820264
I think you said there was some play in the flash when attached to the camera hot shoe from when you dropped the camera (and caught it with your foot). Pushing the flash down into place as I suggested did allow the flash to fire...It sounds like the hot shoe of the camera is loose and needs to be tightened. You have to remove the thin metal plate by carefully lifting up the front edge and then sliding it backwards (it is usually glued in place), and then tighten all four of the screws, even applying a tiny drop of thread locker before tightening the screws. Then replace the spring plate from the back, and all should be fine without any filing needed.

This is the process.

http://www.conraderb.c​om/flashrepair/

This is for a 20D but the OP's hotshoe should be almost identical.

I would not use the LocTite.

Enjoy! Lon

Thanks my friend - your effort is not in vain - I shall try this technique right now