580EX II slided off.

[Fallenphoenix]

My 580EX II slided off from my 40D last fri during a shoot. The flash was locked in properly and was functioning during the shoot. Somehow, it came off (or slided off, i reckon) during the shoot and suffered 4 chips after rolling on the road. Despite a chip at the hotshoe plate, it was still able to function properly..i think..sigh... it might be just me....i felt the recycling time is slower now. I would like to know whether anyone has this problem of 580EX II sliding off the cam despite that the flash was locked in. Also, whether I can get it fixed by canon for free or something because the lock was not doing what it was supposed to do? Sadly, the flash is over a yr old and no longer covered by warranty. I am still trying to figure why the flash came off because it could still lock in nicely.....
heartache

 

[Majest1c]

I had no issues except ocassional lousy contact that doesnt result in ETTLII
Are you able to simulate the sliding off again?
I suggest you try to simulate.
If not, most probably you did not lock your cam properly in the first place.
I dun think the its a design issue as else canon would recall the flash already.
I had mislock the flash before once. lucky i noted that the flash is not level so i took it out and attached and lock again

I think it constitue to wear and tear, no warranty unless you can prove the mechanism is the issue. e.g yours is lemon version

 

[Fallenphoenix]

I had no issues except ocassional lousy contact that doesnt result in ETTLII
Are you able to simulate the sliding off again?
I suggest you try to simulate.
If not, most probably you did not lock your cam properly in the first place.
I dun think the its a design issue as else canon would recall the flash already.
I had mislock the flash before once. lucky i noted that the flash is not level so i took it out and attached and lock again

I think it constitue to wear and tear, no warranty unless you can prove the mechanism is the issue. e.g yours is lemon version

I tried to simulate it...but to no avail.
the incident happened about an hr into the shoot - when i swang the cam to portrait position. Sigh, I always have the habit to ensure the flash is pushed right in before locking. Unless that is not enough to secure a tight lock. I give slight jerk now to ensure it's really secure now.

Just to compare, what's ur longest recycling time with normal 4 nickel rechargable batt (say 50% capacity) after a full flash output?

Anyone know whether canon would charge for checking the 'health' of the flash for such incident?

 

[Majest1c]

I tried to simulate it...but to no avail.
the incident happened about an hr into the shoot - when i swang the cam to portrait position. Sigh, I always have the habit to ensure the flash is pushed right in before locking. Unless that is not enough to secure a tight lock. I give slight jerk now to ensure it's really secure now.

Just to compare, what's ur longest recycling time with normal 4 nickel rechargable batt (say 50% capacity) after a full flash output?

Anyone know whether canon would charge for checking the 'health' of the flash for such incident?

more likely the recycling time is affected by your batt itself and not the flash.
I dun time my recycling time can be compared directly with yours as we use the diff batt charged to the diff lvl.

Suggest you try changing to new rechargeable batts.
Rechargeable batts have rating ones... 2100, 2700 etc.. the higher the better as the charging time is lesser.

 

[AJGun]

when a battery chipped or fallen off, the capacity will be reduced, the cells are not even out after the fall.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Sorry to hear about this mishaps.

Check with FRESH and fully recharged batts.

Some rechargeable batts are affected by falls and shock, besides temperature extremes.

 

[Snoweagle]

I agree on the occasional lousy contact for ETTL but after using 580EX II for so long, I've never experienced he flash unit sliding off or even heard abt it. Perhaps u never lock it properly though cos if u did, there's no reason that it'll just disengage itself.

 

[ianhyk]

wow i never had that experience b4 with any flash. my guess is that u didn't push the lock lever all the way tight.

 

[boogle]

If you observe the locking mechanism on the flash, you should notice 2 things about how it works.

Firstly, after you slide the flash into your cam and push the locking mechanism to lock it, you should hear a click and see the locking button pop out (this needs to be pressed in before you can slide the locking mechanism into the open position). If you did not observe the click, the lock can come loose.

Secondly, if you just hold the flash and look at the part with all the connections and play around with the locking mechanism, you should see a pin move in and out (out when it is in lock position). The locking pin engages into a hole in the hotshoe on your cam body. Check if the pin is still there.

If the pin is still there and if your lock was "clicked" into place properly, the flash should not have had a chance to slide off by itself. Do check to make sure none of these are damaged.

 

[Fallenphoenix]

If you observe the locking mechanism on the flash, you should notice 2 things about how it works.

Firstly, after you slide the flash into your cam and push the locking mechanism to lock it, you should hear a click and see the locking button pop out (this needs to be pressed in before you can slide the locking mechanism into the open position). If you did not observe the click, the lock can come loose.

Secondly, if you just hold the flash and look at the part with all the connections and play around with the locking mechanism, you should see a pin move in and out (out when it is in lock position). The locking pin engages into a hole in the hotshoe on your cam body. Check if the pin is still there.

If the pin is still there and if your lock was "clicked" into place properly, the flash should not have had a chance to slide off by itself. Do check to make sure none of these are damaged.

thanks for letting me know about the pin. I think know the fault and how I engaged my flash now should prevent future mishap. I always ensure that the flash is pushed right in and the lock is clicked right in. After u mentioning about the pin, I noticed that the pin could be pressed if there was a barrier in front of it. I guess somehow the pin wasn't lodged in properly. My advice to all flash users is to jerky the flash gently to ensure that the pin is lodged into the cam's hotshoe. Initially i thought the primary gripping force of the flash is by squeezing the 2 ledges of the cam's hotshoe. Flash seems to work normally despite the chip on the plate. =/