Hey everyone. I have been thinking of getting another flash to use off camera in conjuction with my 580ex II. Im remotely fireing the flash with a non canon off camera remote that attaches to the hotshoe (unfortunately not a pocket wizard). I just reviewd Chucks "tech tips" for this month and he answered a question for someone that is sort of what I have been wondering. But just for further clarification, If I use my 580ex II off camera remotely fired via a hotshoe adapter will it or will it not in turn fire lets says the 430ex II when set to master mode? I have Chucks review below incase you want to read it before responding. My personal feelings are if I cant use it to to remotely fire another Canon flash it is a pain because I would then have to spend more money on ast-e2 or another flash unit in able to have 2 off camera flashes. Why cant Canon put a commander mode in camerato fire them, ok done ranting.But yes if anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated.






<p class="colBody"]I have a remote flash control (3rd party), a Canon Speedlite 580EX II, and a Canon Speedlite 430EX II. I can use the flash control to fire the 580EX II via the PC Sync cable. It works flawlessly. I can set the 580EX II to use its internal meter and still be fired remotely. What I want to do is use the 580EX II in an umbrella and the 430EX II as a background or secondary light. When I put the 580EX II into master mode, it will no longer fire from the PC cord. Is this user error?
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<p class="colBody"]I'm not so sure I would call it user error, but there is definitely an equipment limitation here. The issue is that once you set the 580EX II for external flash metering (auto or manual), it can no longer be set to Master mode to control another flash. Or conversely, you have to set the 580EX II to ETTL, M or Multi in order to access its wireless features. In your case, I would recommend using either a Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 or another 580EX II in the camera's hot shoe as a master unit, then set up your 580EX II and 430EX II off camera as slave units. If your lighting set-up is static, as it appears to be, I would further recommend setting both of the off-camera flashes to Manual flash mode and adjusting their power settings along with the camera's ISO and aperture settings as necessary to get a correct exposure.