I have a 540EZ which I'm using with a EOS30. The flash synch speed when using the P or "auto" mode sets itself to 1/60 second, not the 1/125 as specified fo the EOS30. Anyone with any reasons. And no - I dont want to spend out on upgrading to a 550EX as I managed to get the 540 at a very good price and my budget is limited.

-- Chris Nutt (chris@nutt01.fsnet.co.uk), September 21, 2001

Answers

When in P (and other fully automatic modes) the EOS 30 will keep the shutter between 1/60 and 1/125 depending on light levels. And usually when you feel the need for flash the light is dim enough to keep the shutter at 1/60. The quick solution is to use Tv or M and set the shutter to what you want. Then ignore the blinking aperture signal, it won't matter as long as the subject is close enough for the flash. There is also a custom function that holds the shutter to 1/125 (with flash) in Av mode, so you could use that as well.

With flash, I find that M is often easier to set up and control and the exposure is still automatically controlled by the flash.

By the way, the 550EX would behave the same way unless you put in FP mode.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), September 21, 2001.

Jim, when you said "With flash, I find that M is often easier to set up and control and the exposure is still automatically controlled by the flash.", how can this be possible? When shooting in "M" mode, the flashlight output will be only what you set the flashlight at, then you set the F-stop and the shutter speed to match with the flashlight output, just like shooting with studio light. So are you saying that the flashlight will automatically adjust it's power according to your F-stop and shutter speed setting?

-- Gabe Choy (Gchoy@aol.com), September 25, 2001.

Set the camera to M mode and leave the flash on TTL. So, yes, I am "saying that the flashlight will automatically adjust it's power according to your F-stop and shutter speed setting". It's not like studio flash at all.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), September 26, 2001.