How do i get my 430ez flash to work on my 500d?

[magello]

Hey guys

I recently grabbed a 430ez flash for a bargain so i couldn't say no to it. And for me being a student and learning photography, its within my budget.

So my question is, how do i get 430ez to work with 500d? I know that i have to set it in manual but no matter what settings i put it in, it seems not to work? The LED is lighting up red.

Could you please point me to the right track? Thanks so much in advance folks

[The Mad Hatter Project]

It sounds like you'll be lucky to get it to work, the main disadvantage/difference between the EZ series and the current EX is the EZ series only offers A-TTL and TTL but not E-TTL (which is what the 'D' series Canon DSLRs use, this is why it has to be used in manual mode.


"Canon offers the following advisory on the use of Canon Speedlites other than the EX-series in the User's Manual for the EOS 400D/Rebel XTi:“The flash cannot be fired with an EZ/E/EG/ML/TL-series Speedlite set in the TTL or A-TTL autoflash mode. Use the Speedlite's manual flash mode instead if provided.”
However, this is often not sufficient. Some non-EX-series Speedlites will not fire if placed in the hot-shoe of a Canon EOS digital camera, even when set to manual flash mode. They can, however, be pressed into service with a pc-connector/adaptor, or a slave receiver. To use it directly in the camera's hot-shoe,you can put insulating tape over the “extra” pins, exposing only the center pin and edge connector. (However, there are user reports that Canon is quietly improving support for use of older flashes. In particular, firmware ver. 1.0.5 for the EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi, released in April 2007, is reported to make a number of older flashes work in the hot-shoe again.).
If you can get it to fire, a non-EX-series flash will operate in manual mode (http://dpanswers.com/genrc_flash.html#manual) only on a modern camera."


http://dpanswers.com/canon_flash.html


I have a feeling that both the flash unit and the camera might have to be set to MANUAL for the flash to fire.

This is just what i've gathered by doing a quick search for you, i personally use the EX series so dont have first hand experience with your issue sorry.

I would highly recommend getting the 430EX flash instead, they have now released a 430EX Mark II which means you should be able to pick at a good Mark I for not much at all and it's a good investment.

Sorry that probably wasn't that helpful!

Where abouts are you studying?

:)