topic Re: EOS R3 and EL5 Operation in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

How to get EOS R3 to recognize Speedlite EL-5

sperkplerg — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:31:33 GMT

Hiya.

I think I need to know whether I'm just being dense, or if something's not working correctly.

I have purchased an EL5 flash for my EOS R3, and am stumped on how to get the body to even recognize the flash. I have the flash set to out-of-the-box defaults, in ETTL mode.

On the R3 body, I have:

*Switched on External Speedlite control (flash firing -> Enable)

*Ensured that the R3 is set to mechanical shutter

*Disabled Display Simulation.

No matter how I set things, the flash will not fire. Additionally, when trying to view settings (C.fn, Flash Function settings), I get the error "Menu cannot be displayed. Incompatible flash or flash's power is turned off.

I must be doing something wrong.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Many thanks

Re: EOS R3 and EL5 Operation

sperkplerg — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 21:36:26 GMT

Ooof. Strike that. I was, indeed, being dense.

Re: EOS R3 and EL5 Operation

jrhoffman75 — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 22:03:16 GMT

We've all been there :-).

Please mark thread as solved.

Re: EOS R3 and EL5 Operation

Danny — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:30:26 GMT

Hi, sperkplerg! To help future photographers who might be having the same problem, please let us know what you did to correct it. The information could really come in handy.

We look forward to your reply!