ST-E10 Connectivity Drops Constantly with the EL-5 (ST-E10 Not Reliable?)

[JCin]

Hello, I was shooting a wedding this weekend and wanted my flash off camera on a stand. Worked great until it didn't. I'm shooting with R6 MKII and have an EL-5 speedlite. The first time it became unlinked, I ended up turning it off and back on again. It work for a few shots then became unlinked again. This kind of makes the EL-5 speedlite not worth it if I can't do off camera flash. Is there something I'm missing here or is the ST-E10 as bad as the reviews it's received?

[John_Q]

Hello JCin,

I would recommend going into the Custom Functions menu on the flash and disabling all Auto power off options. C.Fn-10 is the auto power off timer for when this unit is used as a receiver. I would still disable C.Fn-01 as well as this auto power off option kicks in after only 90 seconds. I had a customer recently who was having a similar issue and it seemed to help and stay connected once we disabled the auto power off on each unit. We can also try resetting the flash unit to factory defaults in the event that does not help. Press the sub menu button and select Set. clear. This will clear all shooting functions and wireless shooting settings. 

We can also clear the transmitter settings from the red camera menu #3. In the [External Speedlite control] menu setting, you will find[Clear settings]. This does not clear the transmission channel, wireless radio ID, or Custom Function settings.

[JCin]

Thanks John_Q for the detailed reply. Makes sense and will test out your suggestions tomorrow. I also see that there is a recent firmware 09.09.24 for the ST-E10. I will have to test it out in multiple locations as well. I need it to be reliable in a professional setting, on location, wedding venues, etc.