topic The M is blinking on my 430ex II in Speedlite Flashes

The M is blinking on my 430ex II

windsorll — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 01:26:04 GMT

When shooting wirelessly with my Canon 430ex II the "M" is flashing and I am unable to control the output of the flash through my Canon 60D. What have I done wrong?

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

TTMartin — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 16:25:16 GMT

@windsorll wrote:
When shooting wirelessly with my Canon 430ex II the "M" is flashing and I am unable to control the output of the flash through my Canon 60D. What have I done wrong?

You changed the Mode to Manual.

Press the Mode Button until ETTL reappears.

If you do not have a hard copy of your 430EX II manual it is available for download here.
http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/6/0300004116/03/sl430exii-im4-en-es-fr.pdf

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

windsorll — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 12:19:35 GMT

Thanks for the link, but I have gone through my manual and couldn't find what I needed to know.

Am I understanding you to say that the only time I can control the flash output through the camera is when I'm in ETTL? Isn't that the automatic mode where you give full control to the flash???

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

TTMartin — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 13:39:29 GMT

@windsorll wrote:
Thanks for the link, but I have gone through my manual and couldn't find what I needed to know.

Am I understanding you to say that the only time I can control the flash output through the camera is when I'm in ETTL? Isn't that the automatic mode where you give full control to the flash???

Not exactly, you still have flash exposure compensation (you can adjust flash strength relative to the exposure), and you can control the ratio between flash groups.

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

RobertTheFat — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 15:24:06 GMT

@windsorll wrote:
Thanks for the link, but I have gone through my manual and couldn't find what I needed to know.

Am I understanding you to say that the only time I can control the flash output through the camera is when I'm in ETTL? Isn't that the automatic mode where you give full control to the flash???

No, I think it's probably more accurate to say that ETTL is the automatic mode where you give almost full control to the camera and the flash understands what the camera is telling it. I believe that in at least some Canon flashes there is a mode where you give full control to the flash, just like in the film days where the flash judged the illumination the scene was getting and shut down at the right instant. But that's not ETTL.

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

windsorll — Sat, 06 Feb 2016 19:21:37 GMT

Thanks for the replies, folks, but I guess I haven't asked my question properly.
I'm trying to shoot with the flash off-camera, and normally on my 60D, I can control the flash output power through the menu on the back of the camera. I'm not able to do that any more and I don't understand why. For some reason, the "M" indicating that I'm in manual mode on the flash is blinking, which it has never done before. It's almost like it's waiting for something from me, but I've no idea what it is.

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

BurnUnit — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 22:26:23 GMT

Is the flash within the maximum distance range, and within "line of sight" of the camera? Also, apparently the wireless signal from the camera may be affected by certain types of flourescent lighting.

Re: The M is blinking on my 430ex II

windsorll — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 02:19:17 GMT

Yes, it is within range. The flash will fire every time - I'm just not able to adjust the power through the camera. As for the flourescent lighting, I've tried it in various rooms and lights.