PC to Hotshoe cords - Any Specifics?

coldclimb

So I want my flash off my camera. I have a Canon 40D and a Canon 550ex which doesn't have a PC port, so I'm thinking the best way to do this without going wireless is a PC cord off the camera to a hotshoe for the flash. I followed links from the Strobist blog and found this one here that looks promising, but I know some flashes can have issues with different hotshoe mounts and I don't know enough about this stuff to be sure. Will that hotshoe work for me?

Thanks in advance!

ziggy53

coldclimb wrote:

So I want my flash off my camera. I have a Canon 40D and a Canon 550ex which doesn't have a PC port, so I'm thinking the best way to do this without going wireless is a PC cord off the camera to a hotshoe for the flash. I followed links from the Strobist blog and found this one here that looks promising, but I know some flashes can have issues with different hotshoe mounts and I don't know enough about this stuff to be sure. Will that hotshoe work for me?

Thanks in advance!

I have one of those and it did not work on the XT/350D but did work on the 1D MKII. I suggest that it might be a polarity problem.

A much better solution, that works on the 1D MKII, XT/350D and 40D (oddly I have not tested it yet on the 5D MKII) is the off-camera cord and I use both genuine Canon cords and an off-brand cord and they work fine so far.

http://www.adorama.com/FAOCSCCAN.html?searchinfo=canon+off-camera+cord

http://www.adorama.com/CAOCSCE3.html?searchinfo=canon+off-camera+cord

If you need more distance than these you really should go with a master/slave product, either radio or optical.

pathfinder

CC,

Paramount makes all kinds of flash cords I use a 550ex on a similar style hot shoe, along with my Vivitar 285HVs.

I have ordered from Paramount several times and found their products very well made, better than many of the off brand hot shoes found around the web. They will custom make cords as well.

Scott_Quier

I've used the Wein HSH Hot Shoe to Household Adapter in combination with Paramount 2-18 - Household to PC Male - Straight - 18" and a pair of PocketWizards to trigger my 580EX (also does not have a PC port). One note on this adapter - in order to get the flash to fit, I had to use a pair of pliers to open up the adapter hotshoe flanges just a touch.

If you don't have or don't want to use RF triggers, you can use something like the Paramount 2-10S - Household Male to PC Male - Straight - 10' to make the physical connection between your 40D and the 550EX.

BTW - all the links above are to B&H, and are for illustrative purposes only.

coldclimb

Thanks for the replies guys. I tried going with the off-brand one from Adorama, but shipping to AK is just as much as the cord, so I'm thinking I'll be trying to find one someplace up here. There's not a lot of options, but I can't really shell out 80 bucks for a 40 dollar cord!

That's also why I'm not wireless yet...