Is my 550EX working properly ?

I have a question for you guys.
I had just received a 550ex from KEH . The flash does fire and I can take pictures. I can access all functions on the flash ,however I am not
able to conrol the functions of the flash from the camera.
I cannot access
externa flash C.Fn setting I tells me that it is an incompatible flash

I can only access the Flash exp.comp and E-TTL and choose between evaluate and average.
I can access all these functions thru my camera on the 580exii .

Is my 550ex normal ?
Should I send it back to KEH?

Incompatible is correct.....
The 550EX has no custom functions menu, just your standard "bare bones" E-TTL Flash.

The Loft Studios wrote in post #10539941
Incompatible is correct.....
The 550EX has no custom functions menu, just your standard "bare bones" E-TTL Flash.

That is quite a let down !

Sorry to put it blunt but the let down would be not checking this first since it was an earlier flash.

The ability to control flashes was released not that long ago and not really cost effective for Canon to go back and update their older products.

The upside, I assume you got a good deal on a good flash.

john123 wrote in post #10540063
That is quite a let down !

The let down would be if you paid more than $200.oo.....

What custom functions do you need to access? No, nothing can be changed from the camera, but there's always the 550EX's custom function menu. Hold down the backlight button for 3s or so, and you'll be in the custom function menu.

As for the functions themselves, you'll need the manual or some reference to tell you what is what, because you're only going to see CF 4 01, telling you that custom function 4 is set to value 1.

There's no nice description of the settings there, but you might not even need to play with those at all.

You still have a powerful shoe-mount flash that's able to control others via Wireless TTL, and can be a slave itself. It's a steal at under $200 (Just bought two of the BGN quality ones myself, after downgrading from 580EXs), and they're still much more feature-laden than anything that YongNuo has come out with yet.

External speedlite control only came with the 40D/1D Mark III, and this flash is MUCH older than those units, so isn't compatible with those camera-driven controls.

It's a completely normal 550EX, and is functioning exactly to specifications. There's nothing wrong with it.

"The let down would be if you paid more than $200.oo....."
I paid a little less than $200.00 for it.

Thanks Agamemnon for the reply.
I have been using the 580exii for awhile and i guess I expected more of the 550ex.
It is definetly powerful but I still prefer to control my output power for OCF.
I prefer my 430 exii for that reason .

Why did you downgrade from the 580ex if I may ask ?

If it does all it was designed to do you got a deal. The 550EX is a very capable flash that can act as a master or slave in a Canon ETTL Master/Slave environment. I use mine with my 7D with no issues. It doesn't allow modification via the camera menu but as stated above, that is a newer feature.

If you didn't get a manual for it there is one available as a PDF somewhere. If you would like a copy in English send me a note and I'll email it to you.

Thanks Dave for the offer . I was able to figure it out and I did locate the manual online.

john123 wrote in post #10549408
"The let down would be if you paid more than $200.oo....."
I paid a little less than $200.00 for it.

Thanks Agamemnon for the reply.
I have been using the 580exii for awhile and i guess I expected more of the 550ex.
It is definetly powerful but I still prefer to control my output power for OCF.
I prefer my 430 exii for that reason .

Why did you downgrade from the 580ex if I may ask ?

I don't use them very much, and when I do, it's either for wireless TTL, or on-camera TTL. They function very similarly when using both, and the 550EX is about half the price. I figured I'd save some money by down-grading.

I guess the 580EX can be adjusted in 1/3 stop increments, but apart from that, they're both controllable for off-camera work