Canon Speedlite 550EX and Digital Rebel Xt

Has anyone heard of any problems with the Speedlite 550ex and a digital rebel xt? I have a friend who purchased the 550ex on ebay, and it doesn't work on his rebel, but when taken to a camera store, it did work on a film, and a 10D. Any suggestions? He's tried changing the E-TTL modes and cleaning the contacts.

Rodemusprime said:

Has anyone heard of any problems with the Speedlite 550ex and a
digital rebel xt?

Click to expand...

Nope.

Rodemusprime said:

I have a friend who purchased the 550ex on ebay,
and it doesn't work on his rebel, but when taken to a camera store,
it did work on a film, and a 10D. Any suggestions? He's tried
changing the E-TTL modes and cleaning the contacts.

Click to expand...

That narrows it down to "not the fault of the 550ex". Maybe an issue with the hotshoe on the xt?

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Forgot to say, the new 580ex did work on it.

Rodemusprime said:

Forgot to say, the new 580ex did work on it.

Click to expand...

OK, what are the symptoms besides "does not work". If in E-TTL mode (on the flash) do you get a preflash when you shoot? What happens in manual mode (again, on the flash)?

Is the flash accidentally in TTL instead of E-TTL? Check CF 3, it should be 0. If 1, the flash won't fire on a 350D. To check/change CF on the braindead user interface on the 550EX:

• Make sure remote switch is OFF (i.e. not master or slave)
• hold down the light bulb/CF button for a few seconds

You should see F1 0 (or whatever was last set)

• Hit SEL/SET until you get to F3,
• You should see F3 0. If you see F3 1, press - and then hit SEL/SET.
• Hit light bulb button to get out of CF settings.

BTW, the F3 1 setting of the 550EX and 580EX is useful on the 350D. It lets you use the flash for AF assist without firing the flash.

--
Seen in a fortune cookie:
Fear is the darkroom where negatives are developed