580EX II external battery in slave mode

essickphotovide — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 02:22:27 GMT

Not sure if this is by design or not: I bought a Canon CP-E4 external battery pack for my 580EX II when it's in slave mode for umbrella shooting. When the flash is mounted in the hot shoe of my camera, it uses the external battery pack and recycle times are greatly reduced. However, when I place the flash on a light stand in a softbox, the flash simply will not utililize the external battery pack. I've tried ETTL and manual modes, still no dice. I've tried setting the internal flash settings to use either "internal & external power source" and "external power source", still same results. I'm I doing something wrong? Seems kind of pointless to always have to strap the large external battery to your camera to use it. Also defeats the whole "off camera flash" approach.

Re: 580EX II external battery in slave mode

Tim — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 22:11:14 GMT

Hello essickphotovide,

With regards to the powering of the CP-E4 with the Speedlite 580EX II off camera, we would like to find out some more basic information about this issue.

- when this happens are there batteries in the Speedlite 580EX II? You will need to have them inserted.

- Also, what is acting as the Master when your 580EX II is used off camera?

topic 580EX II external battery in slave mode in Speedlite Flashes

580EX II external battery in slave mode

Re: 580EX II external battery in slave mode