HELP - 580ex ii is FIRING when it's been disabled? (in master)

[kmgsakoian]

Hey guys! So I have a 580exii that was working great as a master to my 430exii slave, up until last night. I was using it for a product set up, where I used the 430exii with my rapid box off to the left, and kept the flash off on the master. Now my 580exii keeps firing even though it's disabled, and it looks like it's no longer connected with the 430exii because it's no longer firing. What could have caused this? Does this sound like I need to get it fixed, or maybe a new one?

Thanks!

[kvbarkley]

I think we need more data. You do know that the 580 will fire in E-TTL wireless mode to talk to the 430EX, right?

What camera? Are the settings in the camera correct?

[kmgsakoian]

I did not know that! You'll have to excuse me, I'm a newbie in OCF. I disable it all the time and it's never gone off, so this is a first for me. It is in ETTL as of now, so that might explain it. But the slave still isn't firing. It's on the Canon 5D Mark iii, and the settings are 1/125, 7.1, ISO 100.

[diverhank]

There are reasons the flashes are doing what they're doing. Apparently something has changed.

Since the Master started to fire when it wasn't told to... Let's start there.

How was it told not to fire? At the flash or at the camera? Start at the camera first. Because the camera settings will override the flash settings. If the camera settings are correct then check the Master flash settings. The settings should be master, not firing, channel, ID. Then check the slave - slave, same channel and ID.

Kvbarkley was probably thinking of the built-in flash firing. The 580 will not fire visible flashes when told not to. By the way, the 430 is fully capable of being the Master use it. Use the 580 as the firing slave. It's more powerful and has more precise ETTL

[kvbarkley]

No I am not. Even as a master in wireless flash mode the 580EX will fire the flash to talk to the slave. This is not an RT!

I do recommend Syl Arena's Speedliters handbook. It will cover *everything* you need to know.

[kmgsakoian]

kvbarkley - Great - I'll definitely check that out! Thanks! So you're saying it will always go off? Because in the past I'm pretty sure I've been able to set it so it doesn't go off...maybe I'm wrong and never noticed it going off?

[kvbarkley]

If you are using the flash as a controller (and don't have an RT flash!) then it has to fire to control the slave.

[diverhank]

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@kvbarkley wrote:

If you are using the flash as a controller (and don't have an RT flash!) then it has to fire to control the slave.

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Yes, but it's using the infrared stuff...you won't see the flashes like in the case of the built-in flash.  Think about the ST-E2-RT...how does it control the slaves without having a flash? Answer: infrared.

[kvbarkley]

No, they use the flash, the inrared does not have enough power to work in the sunlight. The ST-ET uses a low power flash tube with a red filter to cut down the annoyance factor. From the 580EX manual (note the note):

I really wish you guys would make sure about things before confusing the issue with false information.

[kmgsakoian]

I tried disabling the flash on the flash unit, as well as on the camera, and it continues to flash. I did notice that the flash was going off right before, not affecting the shot, so maybe as a pre-flash? But I still don't want it to go off at all. Those settings you mentioned are what I have set on both of them. I tried clearing the settings on the camera as well, and then put them back to those settings, and it's still going off when it's disabled.

I'm confused - I don't think the 430exii is able to be used as a master?