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Canon 550EX IS Crapola!

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Eric Jamison

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I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
 
Hi Eric,

It's posts like these that made me steer away from the 550 and buy the Metz 54MZ3.

It nails the correct exposure almost every time. The odd time that it doesn't it is always my fault and can be tweaked in PS.

Regards,

Richard
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
 
Canon's E-TTL system can be hard to understand. I suggest reading this entire article, and maybe you'll understand how the 550 works a little better:
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/

(Helped me understand my 420EX a lot better!)
  • Eric Gunter
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
 
My 550ex arrived yesterday and my first impression (300 shots) is that I agree that the 550ex is pathetic. I previously owned a Metz but went to over to Canon for the focus assist feature but I am disappointed in how erratic it is ( under exposure and over exposure). (I know it depends on how much white or black is under the focus point.) On the positive side it does greatly assist the autofocus in dim light.

Al
Richard Goulden said:
It's posts like these that made me steer away from the 550 and buy
the Metz 54MZ3.

It nails the correct exposure almost every time. The odd time that
it doesn't it is always my fault and can be tweaked in PS.

Regards,

Richard
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
--
Click to expand...
 
This is Horrrible! Hasn't anyone had success using the 550ex on ettl? What a huge waste of money and a big mistake! Thanks for the responses, this confirms my assumption.

Eric J.
Alex said:
Al
Richard Goulden said:
It's posts like these that made me steer away from the 550 and buy
the Metz 54MZ3.

It nails the correct exposure almost every time. The odd time that
it doesn't it is always my fault and can be tweaked in PS.

Regards,

Richard
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
--
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I have 6 EX type flashes and when I use them on any of my TTL bodies they provide fine results. When used with bodies that have ETTL feature they are inconsistant. I believe the ETTL systems are much more easily fooled. Personally I wish Canon would go back to TTL. I find it easy to adjust flash comp. according to the subject/background with flash comp. However, most of the time with the older (but better) TTL system results were pretty consistant without any adjustment. Canon please work on this.
 
I just did a wedding using a Canon 420EX and Sunpak 120J with great results.

I use the 420EX mostly for fill, indoors and out. It works great in low light situations when you want to keep the mood without adding a lot of light.I use it with my D60 set on M or Av.

The Sunpak 120J is used for formals and groups with camera set on M and flash set to A.

If you want every shot to have the same exposure, than use a thyristor flash set to auto.

The Canon EX flashes in E-TTL are more versatile than a thyristor flash when you take the time to learn how to use them.

Bill
Bill DiGrazia said:
I have 6 EX type flashes and when I use them on any of my TTL
bodies they provide fine results. When used with bodies that have
ETTL feature they are inconsistant. I believe the ETTL systems are
much more easily fooled. Personally I wish Canon would go back to
TTL. I find it easy to adjust flash comp. according to the
subject/background with flash comp. However, most of the time with
the older (but better) TTL system results were pretty consistant
without any adjustment. Canon please work on this.
Click to expand...
 
It works great for me. I don't know if its the fact that I have been shooting with EX flashes and the EZ flashes since they came out. I understand their shortcomings and use them to its advantage. The FEL is the best thing that I can tell you to master. Once you learn to FEL you will get awesome shots.

BTW, I have been using the wireless functions with the ST-E2 and I have found that the posibilities with this flash are endless.

BTW again, I use a D60 and two 550EX, a ST-E2, and an Off-Camera Shoe 2.
Eric Jamison said:
This is Horrrible! Hasn't anyone had success using the 550ex on
ettl? What a huge waste of money and a big mistake! Thanks for the
responses, this confirms my assumption.

Eric J.
Click to expand...
--
Carlos

http://www.onestarimaging.com

http://www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=24305
 
man you can find it all over the place for about $330 (I have 2 550's)... as far as ETTL and consistency go, I must say that it works great on my EOS-3, but most likely it will suffer the same problems as the DX series does on the Nikon D1 cameras -- they are pretty darned inconsistent too, and do best when at least the body is set to manual exposure.

I was going to spring for an st-e2 so I can do away with having to carry monolights for the most part, but found out today that my boss is finally gonna get me a 1D, so lens acquisition just jumped into the critical path big time.
 
it's not the 550. Second, if your not fimiliar with ETTL (?) then that's exactly what will happen.

I assume you know how the flash metering works with ETTL? If not, there are at least 200 threads on the Canon SLR forum with a good discription of how it works.
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
 
once I figured out how it works. I get very consistent results and rarely have to bracket or go to manual like I did with my Nikon.
  • DL
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic!
Click to expand...
 
It was because of this I use my older 540ez on my 1V body, looks like a metz when I get my 1D. I have all the problems you talk about on the D30 It's OK people saying use it on manual use FEL etc, in my opinion a new gun should be an improvement under all conditions. A tip for your D60 friends if all the focus points are activated it avoids the spot meter approach and gives better results. So does switching to manual focus, on 1D as well' I believe, but for the price of a 1D + 550 you would expect not to have to do this. David
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
 
Eric

as with all professional tools one needs to learn how to use it. I would bet that you never even read any of the documents available on canon flash photography.

--
Michael Salzlechner
StarZen Digital Imaging
http://www.starzen.com/imaging
 
Once you understand what Canon is doing with ETTL ... then you can use it with great efficacy. If you want it to mimic a thyrister setup, then you are out of luck ... and will never get the great effects that the 550 has to offer. I love mine!
Ken
Paul R Greenleaf said:
I assume you know how the flash metering works with ETTL? If not,
there are at least 200 threads on the Canon SLR forum with a good
discription of how it works.
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I get great results with my 2 550ex flashes. I just use the * button and all is well. As a matter of fact, my results are better than a friends with a Metz 70.
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
 
Pual, im sorry, but it's definatley the 550. I have been using Canon gear for years and TTL for years and have never had this sort of inconsistent performance form an automatic setting. ETTL (Evaluate through the lens) is a totally different metering system based on the firing of a pre-flash using the cameras light meter as opposed to an auto thyrister (SP?). I understand the concepts, and it is flawed. Like I said that Is why I shoot it on fully manuel these day's. But that's not the point. The point is Why did we all spend this much money on a dedicated flash system that has a major flaw? I should be able to shoot on ettl with the confidence of knowing that every shot, in the same exact situation should be nearly identical. They don't, and the majority of these threads posted seem to support my response. Shooting a camera on ttl or ettl is not a complicated matter.

Eric J
Paul R Greenleaf said:
I assume you know how the flash metering works with ETTL? If not,
there are at least 200 threads on the Canon SLR forum with a good
discription of how it works.
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Mike, thanks for the response, I have read the 550 manuel, although I think the objective of this posting is to achieve some critical feeedback and hopefully a solution. I could be doing something wrong, but isn't the point of Ettl, or (Automatic) to let the flash think for itself. To make proper flash exposure decisions for itself in dynamic situations? Why should a photographer have to read a book about how to shoot a flash on automatic? As I mentioned before I shoot the flash in the full manuel mode and I achive consistent results. The principles of flash photography are understood.
Thanks
Eric J
Mike Salzlechner said:
Eric

as with all professional tools one needs to learn how to use it. I
would bet that you never even read any of the documents available
on canon flash photography.

--
Michael Salzlechner
StarZen Digital Imaging
http://www.starzen.com/imaging
Click to expand...
 
Eric, I agree with you. I also understand flash, or thought I did till I tried ETTL. I had problems 25 years ago with underexposure till I decided to just overexpose to compensate. Then when TTL came along I got consistant results with my Hassy. Now I am experiencing dissatisfying results with my 550 and have decided to use my 60 CT4 on auto. I bought the 550's and the S2 to use as they were advertised. I know I must be doing something wrong and now that you are having the same results, I know it is not only me.
 
but not the system. If I put my 1D on a tripod and shoot ten shots of the same subject I will get ten identical exposures ... same with my EOS-3. If your camera is inconsistent (assuming that you are not!), then either the camera or the flash has some variable ... you may need to borrow either a camera or another 550 to be certain which, so that you can return the offending equipment to Canon for repair.
 
I just spoke with some one a Canon CPS (Canon Professional Services), and they mentioned that having a Quantom Turbo Batttery pack could be the route of the problem. I won't bore everyone with details but he basically said try testing it both ways. Do the people who have mentioned their success with the 550 use The Quantum Turbo Batttery Pack?
Eric J
Davidlw said:
Eric Jamison said:
I have been using the 550ex with my eos 1d for some time now and
the ettl results are pathetic! There are a bunch of shooters here
at our studio shooting d60's with the 550Ex and have been just as
displeased. On Ettl this flash should demonstrate some sort of
consistency, which it hasen't. On more than one occasion it has
failed to find a correct flash exposure in the most basic of
situations. The only way I have found to get my money's worth out
of this flash it to shoot it fully manuel? I have full control this
was, but what did I pay $500 for? Has anyone had this similar
experience? This seems to be a major flaw on the part of canon. I a
new flash is on the horizon. Any comments or sugestions would be
greatley appreciated. Thanks

Eric
http://www.jamisonphotography.com
http://www.opulencestudios.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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