I have a 540 EZ Speedlite as the main Hot Shoe flash for my EOS 1. I would like to connect my 420 EZ Flash gun to the PC socket on the side of the camera, and to attach it to a flash bracket. Does anyone know what the connection cable is called? What is the best way to keep the second flash power output below that of the main 540 EZ unit? Is there a percentage reduced output one should follow for, say, portraits and the like? Thanks for your opinions.

-- John Michael (surfjma@btinternet.com), March 06, 2002

Answers

You could get a generic PC to hotshoe cord/shoe to attach your 420EZ to the PC socket, but you would loose all TTL control of that flash. You would be forced to use manual flash mode. Then you would need a flash meter or use guide number calculations to control the exposure. You would also need to do the same with the shoe mounted flash, as mixing TTL with manual is an exercise in frustration.

Or you could get a basic three piece set of Canon's modular TTL cord set. The camera mounted Hot Shoe Adapter 3 has both a hot shoe on top and dedicated cord socket for the TTL cord and the TTL Shoe Adapter. There would still have to control ratios by using the flash zoom head or moving the remote flash closer ot farther from the subject.

The other/better method is to buy an Ikelite Lite-Link TTL slave device for the remote camera. It's cheaper than the modular TTL cord set, and easier to use. You still have to control ratios by using the flash zoom head or moving the remote flash closer ot farther from the subject.

The most frequent setup for portraits is for the main light to be the flash that is off camera and the fill light nearer the camera to be 1- 2 stops less powerfull. But there are no real rules to follow.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), March 06, 2002.