580 EXII and 430 EXII as a slave?

[scott ritchie]

I'm trying to turn of the master and only have the 430 fire but can't seem to get this to work? All the examples of this in the manual or any other info I find is always using the 580 as the a slave. now does the 430 work the same as the 580 or is it limited??





Cheer's

[WAFKT]

I use the 580EX II and 430EX II as Master and Slave respectively with no issues. I gather you already know that the 430EX II can only be used as a Slave; the 580EX can be used as Master or Slave (if you have another Master flash or an ST-E2). The setup was pretty simple for me; set the 580EX II to "Master" and the desired channel, then set the 430EX II to "Slave" and to the same channel as you set on the 580EX II. The 580EX II has to be the flash mounted to your camera's hotshoe or Off-Camera Shoe Cord (e.g. OC-E3) (at least if you plan to use TTL) and the 430EX II is your remote flash. Canon Speedlites use infrared (IR) controls (as oppose to radio frequency (RF) like Pocketwizards), as a result there are some limitations: your flashes have to more-less be in line of sight (or in a position that IR can be bounced); also using the flashes outdoors in bright sunlight can be an issue as the sun's IR spectrum can overpower the speedlites'. I found the instructions and illustrations in the 430EX II manual to be helpful for setting up a Master and Slave rig.

[scott ritchie]

I understand all that but I thought the 580 fires the slave by pre flash? The 430 works as a slave fine but what I want to do is have the 580 (master), not fire, only the slave 430. So from what I understood you can set it so the the 580 only fires a pre flash to trigger the 430.


Thanks for your help!

[WAFKT]

Ah, I see (my appologies). I know exactly what you're trying to attempt (and yes, it's my understanding that that is possible). I tried doing it a few weeks ago, but couldn't get it to work either, so I abandoned it for the time being. I hope someone on the forum can help us both out with it.

[ShutterbugJohan]

I'm trying to turn of the master and only have the 430 fire but can't seem to get this to work?

It can be done. Pg. 39 of the owners manual.

All the examples of this in the manual or any other info I find is always using the 580 as the a slave. now does the 430 work the same as the 580 or is it limited??

Yes, it should, except the stroboscopic flash function is not available on the 430EX.


I haven't had any experience with using the 430EX as a slave without firing the master 580EXII, but I have done it with my two 580EXs (580EX and 580EX II).


Hope this helps.

[scott ritchie]

problem I'm having is I'm travelling and don't have the manual and you can't get it from the Canon site, hmm?

[ShutterbugJohan]

OK, with the 580EX II in "Master" mode, press the "Zoom" button until the little burst of light in front of the little flash diagram is flashing, then turn the select dial to select "off" and press "set".


PDF manual for 580EX II: Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash Owner's Manual


PDF manual for 430EX II: Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash Owner's Manual


I always carry PDF manuals for my equipment on a flash drive. It doesn't weight much and is really handy.


Hope this helps.


--Johan

[scott ritchie]

Totally awesome! Thanks!