Q about canon's wireless ettl and sync cords

jogle

I was wondering if anyone knows if you can have the canon 580EX flashes triggered via pc sync cables but also have them act as controllers for other 580EX's

Basically I want to run a long cable from the camera to one flash and have it set off the others. (without buying lots more cables/optical triggers)

pyry

Well, I only have one 550EX, so I can't actually test, but it does let me set master mode and a bunch of ratios in manual mode.

So my guess is yes. However, you will lose modeling lights and other stuff if your master isn't talking to the camera. I suppose an ST-E2 wireless e-ttl master would also be out of budget?

jogle

I have an STE2 and 3 580's. it normally works really well. I just want a backup for line of sight issues for a shoot this coming weekend.

MarkW

Short answer is no it won't!

Long answer:

In order for wireless ettl to communicate the exposure settings to the other flashes it must either have a master flash or an STE2 on the hotshoe. There is no Ettl communication through the pc cord. It only sends an on and off signal. If you're wanting to keep the features of ettl the cheapest way out is to get an ST2E. However, remember that you must have a direct line of site to the other flashes. Anything blocking the path will not trigger the other flashes. Also if you're working outside in bright light you may not get reliable triggering.

If you don't care about ettl then you can get some cheap radio triggers from ebay. A step up from the ebay triggers would be cyber syncs from alienbees. If you have money to burn then go for pocket wizards.

Ettl is great but the line of sight limitations makes it useless for working in larger enviornments. Enter Radiopoppers! They allow you to keep you ettl features but transmit signals via radio. Check out www.radiopoppers.com for more info. They are about as expensive as pocket wizards but atleast you still get to keep your ettl features.

pyry

jogle wrote:

I have an STE2 and 3 580's. it normally works really well. I just want a backup for line of sight issues for a shoot this coming weekend.

Well then you can test the situation yourself. Set the three flashes up, two as slaves, one as master. Set the master on manual to give it a place to start the whole lot from. Short the pc-terminal on the master to trigger it and see if all three go off.

jogle

pyry wrote:

Short the pc-terminal on the master to trigger it and see if all three go off.

Thanks, I never thought of that, I've ordered a set of sync cables and splitter to trigger all the flashes but they'll be here later in the week. I'm going to run some range tests with the ste2 in the space too.

I'd love a set of radio poppers but they don't ship outside the US, something to do with different laws for the radio frequencies they use.

MarkW

jogle wrote:

Thanks, I never thought of that, I've ordered a set of sync cables and splitter to trigger all the flashes but they'll be here later in the week. I'm going to run some range tests with the ste2 in the space too.

I'd love a set of radio poppers but they don't ship outside the US, something to do with different laws for the radio frequencies they use.

I just tried this myself to make sure I wasn't crazy. I connected my 580ex II via pc cord and set it to master. I set my 430EX to slave and tried to trigger the two flashes using a 30D. Even if the flashes were set to manual mode it still would not work! If you fire the 580EX with the PC connector when it is not in wireless ETTL mode it will work ok.

Even in manual mode the flashes or STE2 still need to have a direct connection to the hotshoe. The additional pins on the flash and hotshoe help communicate the wireless ettl information (even if shooting in manual mode).

Just wanted to let you know before you spend unecessary money.

jogle

Thanks, I bought enough cables to run all the strobes as a last resort. I'll likely be using them anyway as I'm going to run a couple of rolls of film at the shoot too.