topic Re: External Flash “Not Compatible” in Speedlite Flashes

Speedlite EL-100 “Not Compatible” with EOS 850D

Laurawish — Tue, 27 May 2025 12:38:06 GMT

Hi I wonder if anyone can please help. I’m struggling to get my EL-100 Speedlite to fire when I take a photo on my EOS 805D Canon camera.

I currently have both the trigger & receiver talking to each other. When I press the trigger the flash does in fact work. However when I go into my camera ‘flash control’ settings the below is stated.

External flash func. setting & External flash c.Fn setting:

“This menu cannot be displayed. Incompatible flash or flash’s power is turned off”

The EL-100 flash is in fact compatible with my camera therefore anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Re: External Flash “Not Compatible”

deebatman316 — Sun, 25 May 2025 14:17:28 GMT

What trigger are you using? The in camera flash menu only works when the EL-100 is mounted directly on the camera. So if it’s off camera it will display the error message which is normal. Non-Canon flash triggers are NOT COMPATIBLE with the in camera flash menu. Also the old Canon ST-E2 flash transmitter isn’t either. This is due to the age of the transmitter and hardware limitations of the time. The ST-E2 was released in 1998 almost 10 years before the in camera flash menu was available. The in camera flash menu became a standard feature in 2007. Hence it not being compatible with it.

Re: External Flash “Not Compatible”

Laurawish — Sun, 25 May 2025 16:29:21 GMT

Hi, thank you so much for your reply, that explains why it wasn’t working because at the moment I’m using a non-canon trigger (JJC). Does that mean I need to get a Canon trigger & receiver for the EL-100 in camera flash menu to work? If so, do you know what trigger model is compatible?

Sorry if that’s a silly question and thanks again for your help!

Re: External Flash “Not Compatible”

deebatman316 — Sun, 25 May 2025 16:53:10 GMT

The EL-100 alone supports wireless connectivity built in. But you need a Sender speedlite or Transmitter on camera. Another EL-100 can be used on camera to trigger the off camera EL-100. Or another high end speedlite such as the 580EX II, 600EX-RT, 600EX II-RT & EL-1 speedlites. Can be used on camera to trigger the off camera EL-100. Older high end Speedlites such as the 550EX & 580EX (classic) can also be used. But those speedlites don’t support the in camera flash menu. The ST-E2 is another option too but it’s a transmitter and doesn’t support the in camera flash menu. Your flash supports the older Optical Transmission method for firing off camera flashes. A lot of Canon’s newer speedlites support both systems and they’ll usually say “RT” in the product name. Those speedlites should be set to Optical wireless instead of RF wireless. Going forward Canon has been releasing new speedlites only supporting the newer RF wireless system.