20d help needed

jeff lapoint

recieved 20d yesterday and so far so good...except...when i try to use my el cheapo external flash. everything works great for awhile, then i get the dreaded "error 99". no flash attached, no errors. flash attached, mostly great pics...then the error. the flash is the relatively cheapo quantaray 900WA. the ritz website states it should work with all canon dslrs. the flash was a gift and i was too polite to reture for a speedlight, sunpack, metz, whathaveyou. any thoughts?

doesnt sunpack make the quantaray flashes for ritz? can it be a voltage issue when it worked fine on my 300d?

-jeff

jeff lapoint

jeff lapoint wrote:

recieved 20d yesterday and so far so good...except...when i try to use my el cheapo external flash. everything works great for awhile, then i get the dreaded "error 99". no flash attached, no errors. flash attached, mostly great pics...then the error. the flash is the relatively cheapo quantaray 900WA. the ritz website states it should work with all canon dslrs. the flash was a gift and i was too polite to reture for a speedlight, sunpack, metz, whathaveyou. any thoughts?

doesnt sunpack make the quantaray flashes for ritz? can it be a voltage issue when it worked fine on my 300d?

-jeff

48 views and no love?

did i post in the wrong forum?

c'mon...i know there are some serious wizards and gurus out there. help a confused lad out

USAIR

Jeff
Not sure I can help
I use a Sunpak 383 on my 20d it works just fine

Maybe some of the flash experts will chime in on this

Fred

jeff lapoint

USAIR wrote:

Not sure I can help
I use a Sunpak 383 on my 20d it works just fine

Maybe some of the flash experts will chime in on this

Fred

thanks fred. i'll be looking into that unit if i cant make this thingy work...

Andy

jeff lapoint wrote:

thanks fred. i'll be looking into that unit if i cant make this thingy work...

what firmware is in the camera?

jeff lapoint

andy wrote:

what firmware is in the camera?

thanks for the reply andy!

firmware version 1.1.0

Andy

jeff lapoint wrote:

thanks for the reply andy!

firmware version 1.1.0

hmm well, i'm just guessing here, but it's probably the flash. i use the 580ex with the 20d and the two perform flawlessly together. there must be some kind of hinky communication going on between the 3rd party flash you are using and the camera. are you shooting in p mode, manual, or what? do you get lockups without the flash?

fish

420EX, 550EX, and 580EX (preferred) all work with the 20D. Dump the cheap flash and get a decent one that you know will work with the camera.

wmsnyder

jeff lapoint wrote:

thanks for the reply andy!

firmware version 1.1.0

It may not have anything to do with your flash. Try cleaning your contacts on the lens mount and also try taking your battery out for a few minutes and then puttting it back in. If you do a web search on this error you can find more info.

jeff lapoint

wmsnyder wrote:

It may not have anything to do with your flash. Try cleaning your contacts on the lens mount and also try taking your battery out for a few minutes and then puttting it back in. If you do a web search on this error you can find more info.

thanks for all the replies!

i shoot in M with the external flash on. when its off i am always in Av.

i never get the error unless the flash is on, so i think the lens contacts are ok. i'll clean them anyways and will do a search too.

and yes, i would love a 550 ex, but...$$$$

although i guess it makes poor sense to buy a $1300 body and use el cheapo accessories on it.

thanks again for the help, as always i really appreciate it.

jeff

pathfinder

jeff lapoint wrote:

recieved 20d yesterday and so far so good...except...when i try to use my el cheapo external flash. everything works great for awhile, then i get the dreaded "error 99". no flash attached, no errors. flash attached, mostly great pics...then the error. the flash is the relatively cheapo quantaray 900WA. the ritz website states it should work with all canon dslrs. the flash was a gift and i was too polite to reture for a speedlight, sunpack, metz, whathaveyou. any thoughts?

doesnt sunpack make the quantaray flashes for ritz? can it be a voltage issue when it worked fine on my 300d?

-jeff

You did not say whether the built-in flash on your 20D works properly or not. If the built in flash works ok, I would tend to agree with Andy that it probably has to do with the third party flash.

I agree with Fish that I would tend to stick with Canon's flashes or at least Metz or Sunpack to avoid these issues.

Have you tried attaching the manual flash via the PC cord connector instead of the hot shoe? You may have to place a dummy hot shoe in the camera's hot shoe to defeat the hot shoe connections and use a pc cord. Just a thought...

jeff lapoint

pathfinder wrote:

You did not say whether the built-in flash on your 20D works properly or not. If the built in flash works ok, I would tend to agree with Andy that it probably has to do with the third party flash.

I agree with Fish that I would tend to stick with Canon's flashes or at least Metz or Sunpack to avoid these issues.

Have you tried attaching the manual flash via the PC cord connector instead of the hot shoe? You may have to place a dummy hot shoe in the camera's hot shoe to defeat the hot shoe connections and use a pc cord. Just a thought...

built in flash works great, as does the rest of the camera. i just dont see why it would work flawlessly on my old rebel....

i also think fish has the best advice: crappy gear on a great camera es no bueno...

thanks again everyone for the help...

now how the hell am i going to offload a quantarary flash meant only for the dreb (it seems)?...not exactly a hot value holding item! i'm sure it will sell like hotcakes on FM:bs

blackwaterstudio

You can pickup a Sigma Super 500 ETTL-II flash for about $190 at B&H. It works great on my 20D and is very compairable to the 580EX

jeff lapoint

jdsphotography wrote:

You can pickup a Sigma Super 500 ETTL-II flash for about $190 at B&H. It works great on my 20D and is very compairable to the 580EX

thanks...i've been eyin that model for sometime....time to find something to ebay...