580EX II - Manual Firing Setup (How to??)

[vgajnky]

I'm using a EOS 77D (love it BTW). I'm using the camera as a remote trigger for a 580EX II Speedlite . I'm trying figure out how to get the Speedlite to fire Everytime I press the shutter vs when I point the camera towards a dark area.
Scenerio: My model was wearing a top and I needed some fill light.

My Camera was set to manual and Spot metering so I could meter off of her face. When I aimed at her face the speedlight would not fire. However, when I pointed the camera slightly away from her into a darker area, the speedlite would flash every time.

When I pointed it back at her face it would not fire. So I know the Flash is working because it always fired when I pointed it at the darker area behind her. I finally disconnected the speedlite and used the pop-up flash. The pop-up flash fired no matter where I pointed the camera because I set the Flash to on.

So my long question is, how can I get the speedlite to fire when I want it to. Id like it to behave like the pop-up flash in that I want to fire when I choose. The speedlite is not broken or anything like that.

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks.

[jrhoffman75 · Accepted solution]

Glad to jhelp.

Camera manual.

[jrhoffman75]

Sounds like you may have the camera set to ETTL? Exposure senses that face is properly lit so flash isn't required?

See page 227 of your manual; maybe yiou need to set the flash to Manual and adjust the power output.

[vgajnky]

Right you are sir! I Did have it setup in ETTL mode. I'm new to the remote flash setups and was happy to get it working with my 77D which was pretty seemless.

When you say check page 227 in the manual. Are you talking about the manual for the camera or the manual for the speedlite?

Either way, thanks for the reply. If I cant find eithe manual, I'll google how to set the flash up in manual mode.

Much appreciated!

[jrhoffman75 · Accepted solution]

Glad to jhelp.

Camera manual.

[vgajnky]

Hey Thanks again I was able to figure it out without the manual but you pointed me in the right direction and got me thinking.

In case someone else has this issue, here is what I did.

- Setup the Speedlite in slave mode

- Set the camera to manual (it may work in AV or TV modes too)

- Press the button on the top left of the camera to open the pop - up flash, this will act as a remote trigger

- Hit the "Q" button and locate the Flash Icon 3rd row from the bottom (3rd row from the bottom, 1st icon on the right)

- select the custom flash option and press info

- Press the Flash Mode and change from ETTL-II or ETTL to Manual.

From there, you can then change the firing groups and even adjust the output settings! Awesome!

77D, 6D, 1D IV, S120, SX60HS (Too many lenses)

[kvbarkley · Accepted solution]

You can get the manuals online google "canon manual"