5D mkIV continuous shooting in live view is slow when using a flash

[Tostra97]

Hi, I've encountered an issue when using my 5D in live view mode. The high speed continuous shooting does not work with a flash mounted, I think it shoots around 1.5 fps. This problem does not exist when shooting through the viewfinder or in live view with the flash turned off.
I assume it's an issue in the settings, but I haven't been able to solve it. Does anybody in here know what might be the cause and how to fix it? 
The flash is a Godox V350C in manual mode.

[p4pictures]

Is it possible to try with a Canon Speedlite just to see if the issue is caused by the Godox V350C?

What silent live view mode is set in the camera Live View menu, mode 1, mode 2 or disable? 

Secondly what firmware is the V350C? I checked on the Godox website and version 1.1 was a viable to download. You can check your V350C by switching it off, then press and hold the MODE button while turning it on. The display will show something like U 1.0 for version 1.0 and should say U 1.1 for version 1.1.

[Tostra97]

Silent LV shooting is disabled, and the flash shows 1.1 when I hold mode while turning it on. Unfortunately, I do not have access to a Canon flash.

[wq9nsc]

Does turning exposure simulation off in Live View make a difference with this flash?

Rodger

[Tostra97]

I tried turning off exposure simulation, but it didn't help unfortunately. 

[p4pictures]

I don't have access to an EOS 5D Mark IV, but the nearest I do have is the EOS 7D Mark II, I also have Canon Speedlites 430EX III-RT and 600EX II-RT. 

I set the EOS 7D Mark II to live view, manual exposure with 1/200s shutter speed and enabled high speed drive mode. With the camera in Live View mode the shutter operation with and without the flash sounds different, almost slower. I say sounds as I wasn't able to specifically check the frame rate. 

What I did think was that the sound difference might be due to the operation of the camera mirror with and without the Speedlite. With the Speedlite set to E-TTL then the camera needs to determine the flash exposure and it does that with the flash metering sensor in the camera body. I'm not sure of the exact location on the EOS 5D4 or 7D2, but it's either in the bottom of the mirror box or up in the top with the pentaprism. Either location means the mirror has to drop out of the position it's in for live view, and then the pre-flash fires, camera meters ambient and flash to determine the flash exposure then makes the picture before raising the mirror to resume live view and then repeats. I thought that I sensed the speed sound was different between E-TTL on the Speedlite and M manual exposure mode on the Speedlite, but that could also be the noise of the flash firing at different power levels. 

I then checked the EOS 5D Mark IV manual and in the live view section there's a note that with flash there will be two shutter sounds and that the time to take the picture is longer than without using the flash.

[Tostra97]

I have to admit I don't completely know what you mean. I think what I'm reading is that the sound is "faster" on your camera due to the mirror position changing. But what I'm talking about is not slightly slower, it ges from ~5 fps without the flash to ~1.5 fps. And it is all in manual, so there is no flash pre-firing etc. 

[Hazel_T]

Hi Tostra97,

Through Canon support we only have information on products made by Canon, so we do not have information on your Godox flash. Canon does not test non-Canon accessories so we are unable to confirm whether non-Canon devices are fully compatible. For trouble shooting the non-Canon accessory we would recommend contacting the manufacturer of the device.

On the camera the only setting that would apply would be Silent Shooting mode. I see you already responded that you have that disabled. The other thing would be to make sure the shutter speed is between 1/30 to 1/200. The EOS 5D Mark IV cannot sync a non-Canon flash with shutter speeds outside of that range.

The other thing would be to try a Canon flash on the camera to see if the same thing happens. Since we cannot guarantee if non-Canon equipment will function correctly we do not have a way to say if this issue is a limitation of the flash or if it is an issue with the camera. If the same thing happens with a Canon flash that would indicate there is an issue with the camera. If this only happens with the Godox flash that would indicate the issue is related to that flash.

[FloridaDrafter]

Hello, Tostra!

FWIW, I basically got the same results as Brian, but I was able to test the 5D mark IV with the Canon 600EX II-RT. Shooting with E-TTL, I barley could eek out 1fps and you could hear the mirror lift. But If I set the flash to either Manual or MULTI, I was getting about 4fps.

I'm not sure this will translate to your rig, but it confirms that the 5D IV can shoot higher frame rates when using a flash, except under certain settings like E-TTL.

Newton

[Tostra97]

Thank you for tghe reply. I will try again with the Godox, making sure the shutter speed is in that range. If it is still an issue, I will try to see if someone near me can help me with a Cann flash to test it.