Canon 550EX - Speedlite - Hot-shoe clip-on Flash Installation instructions

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ForType-A
Cameras
WirelessFlashPhotography
This
sectioncovers
wirelessflash
photography
with
the550EX.
lt
explainsthe
550EX'sbuilt-in
master
andslave
flashfeatures.
550EX
Wireless
FlashFeatures
. A wirelessflash
system
withmultiple
Speedlite550EXscanbeusedas
easilyasasrngle,on-cameraSpeedlite550EX.
. Uptothree
550EXs
or
three
groups
of
550EXs
canbesetasslaveunits
for
automaticcontrol.
. 550EXssetasslaveunitscanbe
positioned
toobtainthedesired
lighting
effects.
All
oftheirsettingsarecontrolledbythe
master
unitandcamera.
[1]
Wireless
SystemSetupand
Testing
(page
52)
[2]
WirelessE-TTLAutoflash
(page
60)
[3]
WirelessManualFlash
(page
71)
[4]
Wireless
Stroboscopic
Flash
(page
73)
[5]
Manual
orStroboscopic
Flash
With
aSlaveUnit
(page74)
l-_+l
. This
section
assumesthat
theSpeedlite
550EXisusedwith
the
EOS-3.
lJl . Before
proceeding,
first
turn
onthe
main
switchonthe
EOS-3
and550EX
. In
these
Instructions,
a Speedlite550EX
whosewireless
selector
has
beensetto
MASTER
is
calledthe
"master
unit"anda 550EX
whose
wireless
selector
hasbeen
setto SLAVE
is
calleda"slave unit
"
. ForEOS-3
operations,
refer
tothe
EOS-3Instructions
. With
the
EOSElan
ll-llE/50'50E,
EOS
Rebel
G/500N,
EOSlX,
and
EOSlXLite/|X7,
onlyoneslave
group
canbeused
forwirelessE-TTL
autoflashcontrol
. Quick
flash
cannotbeused
withwirelessflash
photography
51

tl] Wireless
SystemSetupand
Testing
Thewireless
flash
systemcanbe
setup
in
oneoftwo
ways:
@With
a550EX
setas
the
master
unitandoneor more 550EXssetasslave
units
.@ With
Speedlite
Transmitter
ST-E2
(sold
separately)
usedasthe
master
unitand
oneor
more
550EXs
set
as
slaveunits.
This
section
describesthe
procedure
for
the
former.For
the
latter,refer
to
the
Instructionsfor
Speedlite
Transmitter
ST-E2.
1.
Settingthe550EXasthe
Master
Unit
/31
@'l'SLAVE
MASTER
Attach
the550EXtothecameraand
set
the
wireless
selectorto MASTER.
This
550EX
will
then
bethe
"master
unit."
The
master
unit's
wireless
signal is
transmitted
totheslaveunit(s)atalmost
the
sametimeasthe
preflash.
f_=l The
master
unit's
flashheadzoom
setting
is
setautomaticallyto M ?Ymm.
This
gives
the
4l wireless
signal
the
maximum
coverageof80'.You canalso
press
the Zoom buttonto
changethe
zoom
setting
manually.However,
this
willnarrow
the
wireless
signal's
coverage.
52
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2.
Setting
the
550EX
asa
Slave
Unit
@'l'SLAVE
MASTER
Setthewireless
seiector
to SLAVEon
the550EX
tobeusedasa slaveunit.
A
550EX
setinthis wayiscalleda "slave
unit."
. Theslave
unit's
flash
headzoom
setting
is set
automatically
to EfPY".
i

3.Setting
the
Master/SlaveChannel
Topreventyour
master
unit
from
firing
another
photographer's
slaveunits,
four
channels
are
provided
to differentiate
your
slaveunits
from
unrelated
ones.
Themaster
unit
andslave
unit(s)
inthesame
wireless
flashsystem
must
beset
tothe
samechannel
No.
1 To
set
the
master
unit's
channel
No.,
' press
the
<
SEL/SET
> button and
select
EIII .
. Pressingthe
<
SEL/SET
> button changes
the
selection
in
the
following
loop:
f> @+ % + rEEIrr.r
+ EIt -> >-r
-l
(off
)
Pressthe
<+> or
the
channel
No.
(1,2,3,
or
4).
Press
the
<
SEL/SET
>button.
. The IIt icon and channel No. will be
displayed.
A Toset
theslave
unit's
channel
No.,
-? press
the<
SEL
/SET
> buttonand
*_ select
EIt.
3- . Pressing
the
<
SEL/SET
> buttonchanges
theselection
in
the
followingloop:
-+@--+ Iellr-* rsrtn:r
-
, - I:lr.I -- GEIirEl
(off) +
2
3
ETTL El
zoom PY.t
-r lz-
.R
/A MODE + SEL/SET
v@o:o@
prLor -in.D- l_, I
o
CF
MODE /sET ZOOM
5-ln.DD)- Jo^ | rsE
54
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Setting
the
Master/Slave
Channel
',vj
0
CF
O
to
3,
5
6
Press
the
<+> or<-> button
setthe
samechannel
No.
(1
,2,
or
4)
as
the
master
unit's.
Press
the
<
SEL/SET
>button.
. The EM icon
andchannel
No.will
be
displayed.
ETTL Ef
zoom ?Ytt
z3i-ffiA
-,ar..-
/n\ MODE + SEL/SET ZOOil
v@oD@@
ptLOT '!n'D- l. I rSE
55

+t€e*t!il9- the slavg 1D''.,,.*
* ::i,ii:ii::iiii,i,,,,,
Withmultiple
slaveunits,a slave
lDcan
beassignedto distinguisha slave
unit
as
beingthe
mainflash
or
fillflash.Aflashratio
cantherebybeset.
Three
slave
lDs
are
available:
A,B,
andC.
ETTL El
zoom
f Yrt
\\ | /. 1 Toseta slaveunit'sslave
lD,
press
' the
<
SEL
/SET
> buttonandselect
tfliva.
' Pressing
the<
SEL/SET
> buttonchanges
theselection
in
the
followingloop:
.r Press
the
<+> or
Z theslave
lD
(A,
B,
orC).
tt Press
the
<
SEL/SET
>button.
J. The GruNEr
icon
andslave
lD will
be
displayed.
t=l lf
you
want
all
theslaveunitsto
fire
atthesame
flash
output,
you
neednot
assignaslave
l{J ID.
="-
q
lat
-aF .
56
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5.
Master
Flash
ON/OFF
The
master
unit'sflashfiring
canbe
enabled
(ON)
or
disabled
(OFF).
(1)
)'r (t-, 0
") . This
setting
enables
the
master
unitto
fire
a
flash.
: Iil:
::llil8
j,?3Jl'?ily,il:i:'fi:3),;,,,
unit,ss,ave
,D
to
A
(2)
-r (t-. fr FF): This
setting
(Masterflash
OFF)
preventsthe
master
unit
fromfiring
aflash.
lt
can
stilltransmitwireless
signals
to
triggerthe
slave
units.
4 Press
the
<
SEL/SET> button
and
I select
)'r.
' Pressing
the
<
SEL/SET
> button
changes
theselectionin
thefollowingloop:
@+%+GErtEl,*l-*'=_l
Press
the
<+> or
either
0n
or
[] FF.
Press
the
<
SEL/SET>
button.
. )-r or -r will
appear.
. lfmaster
flash
OFF
is
set,
<z- will
blink.
2
3
E't-
Evenifmaster
flash
OFF
isset,thema3ter
unit
still
the
slave
units. -
,"t'F\ transmits
the
wireless
signal
tofire
57

6.
WirelessFlashRange
After
the
master
andslaveunits
have
beenset,
position
them
within
the
wirelessflashrange
shownbelow.
Usethe
mini
stand
(provided)
for
theslaveunit(s).
Themini
standalso
has
atripodsocket.
Usethebounce
feature
toturnthebodyoftheslaveunitsothatthesensor
isexposedtothe
master
unit.
For
an
indoor
setup,the
positioning
canbe
less
precise
sincethe
wireless
signalscanbounceoff
the
walls
After
positioning
the
master
andslaveuni$), fire
a test
flash
to make
sure
the
wireless
flash
system
works. *.t'
Donot
place
anyobjectsbetweenthe master unitandslaveunit(s)
whichmay
obstruct
the
wireless
transmission.
ETTL El
zoom l{tt
.}nt!@
1 Setthe
master
unit's
flashmode
to
. ETTL.
rt Setthecameraasdesired
forflash
Z pnotography.
Forindoors 15mI 49.2tt
outdoors
8m/26.2ft 12m139.4tt
58
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o---o
E
Wireless
FlashRange
A Check
thatthe
master
unit's
pilot
\' lampislit
and
thatthe
slaveunit(s)
are
recharged
and
ready.
. When
a slave
unit
isready,
itsAF-assist
beamblinks
once
per
second.
A Press
the
master
unit's
pilot
lamp
'i (test
firing
button)
to
fire
aiest
flash.
. When
the
wirelesstransmission
works,
the
slave
units
fire
at1/64
output
in
the
following
slave
lD
order:
A,B,
andC.
. lf
a slaveunit
does
notfire,
place
it
closerto
the
masterunitorangle
thesensor
more
towardthe
master
unitandtry
again.
ln
awirelessflashsystem,the
flashmode
(E-TTL
autoflash,
high-speedsync,
manual
flash,
stroboscopic
flash),
flash
exposurecompensation,
flashexposurebracketing,
andother
settingsareallset
with
the
masterunit.
Themasterunittransmits
allthese
settings
to
the
slaveunitsby
wireless
signals.
Controllingslave
unit(s)
is
the
sameas
controllingone
on-cameraSpeedlite.
Withthe
EOS-3,
a modeling
flash
canbe
fired
tocheckthe
lighting
effects
(lighting
balance;
shadows,
etc.)before
you
take
the
picture.
See
page
50.
Make
sure
theslaveunitsare
within
theeffective
range
ofthe
master
unit.
After
the
picture
istaken,the slaveunit'soperation
result
isdisplayedontheLCD
panel.
Withtheslaveunit's
main
switchs€tto SE(Save
Energy),theslaveunit
turnsoff
automatically
ifitisleft unusedJt#bver
60minutes*.
While
theslave
unit
is
offdueto
this
SE
mode,
SE
is
displaiedon
theLCD
panel.
Withint hour"*
after
theslaveunit
turns
off
in
theSE
mode,
the
Slave
unitcanbeturned
onagainby
pressing
the
master
unit's
test
firing
button.
lf
the
manualflash
modehas
been
setand
you
press
the
master
unit's
pilot
lamp,
all
theslave
units
willfire
atest
flash
simultaneously
atthe
manually-set
flash
output.
After
pressing
theshutterbutton
halfway,
test
firing
cannot
beexecuted
duringthe
first
6sec.
!f| . Custom
Function
CF-4can
changethis
to
10minutes.
See
page
113.
** Custom
FunctionCF-5canchange
thisto8hours. See
page
113. 59