Can't select second curtain synchro on 550EX

I can't seem to be able to select the 2nd curtain synch on either of my 550Ex flash units. Pressing the + & - buttons simultaneously just toggles the lightning bolt on and off to the left of the "M" symbol between the "ETTL" and the "Zoom" on the screen on the flash.
When I go to the flash control section of the menu on my 40D, the flash synchro option is not lit, and it won't let me reset it.
What am I doing wrong.
Thanks in advance.

Is the flash, by chance, set to Master mode?

Yes, it's set to Master.
HenryTS

Then that would be your problem. Get it out of Master mode and you'll be fine. If you did want the flash in Master mode, then, as you already know now, 2nd curtain sync is not available in Master mode.

Wow! You guys are brilliant - I turned of Master, and it appears that I can select the second curtain. I would have never figured that out, nor from the manual. I'll be busy tomorrow now.
Thanks a million.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

HenryTS wrote in post #6116309
Wow! You guys are brilliant - I turned of Master, and it appears that I can select the second curtain. I would have never figured that out, nor from the manual. I'll be busy tomorrow now.
Thanks a million.

thats the best thing about this place - you do something really simple, but tricky to figure out, and someone here has done it before, figured it out and you generally get an answer really quick

Echo63 wrote in post #6116421
thats the best thing about this place - you do something really simple, but tricky to figure out, and someone here has done it before, figured it out and you generally get an answer really quick

And then there are others who go and try to recreate the problem to see what's causing it and hopefully come up with a resolution or a fix.

lets not forget the ones that try to make you feel stupid by giving a smart ass answer. I wish people like that would just stay off this forum. The times I have seen someone do this to a new member just burns me up. this site was made to help others that have problems. lets try to make them feel welcome.

Marbeck wrote in post #6123993
lets not forget the ones that try to make you feel stupid by giving a smart ass answer. I wish people like that would just stay off this forum. The times I have seen someone do this to a new member just burns me up. this site was made to help others that have problems. lets try to make them feel welcome.

If you encounter such as post, please click on the "report" button on the left side of the offending post. One of the moderators will take care of educating the offender in the proper etiquette of posting a reply.

-----wait a minute, this is Henry again. I just discovered that I possibly could set the second curtain flash synchro via the menu on my 40D, except that when I go to Flash control > External flash func. setting, the Shutter sync. option is greyed out so that I can't select 1 vs 2 curtain. There is also a note at the bottom saying "INFO. Clear Speedlite settings". So I try to Clear all Speedlite settings, by turning off the speedlight, nothing changes. What am I doing wrong?
thanks
Henry

That function is reserved for the 580EX II.

HenryTS wrote in post #6124956
-----wait a minute, this is Henry again. I just discovered that I possibly could set the second curtain flash synchro via the menu on my 40D, except that when I go to Flash control > External flash func. setting, the Shutter sync. option is greyed out so that I can't select 1 vs 2 curtain. There is also a note at the bottom saying "INFO. Clear Speedlite settings". So I try to Clear all Speedlite settings, by turning off the speedlight, nothing changes. What am I doing wrong?
thanks
Henry

When the 2nd curtain sync feature is available on the flash (and it is on the 550EX), then it can only be set via the flash even if the feature is available on the camera. In other words, it doesn't matter what the camera's 1st/2nd curtain sync is set to. It's what's on the flash that counts.

On the 40D (and the 1Dmk3 models), the 1st/2nd curtain sync feature in the external flash menu is only available if you have the 580EX II or the 430EX II flash mounted.