I just got a 380EX today and I've been trying it out. My camera is a Rebel G.

When I try using FEL with the flash head set for any angle but straight ahead the flash prefires and then the little lighning bolt in the viewfinder flashes. If I set the head to fire straight on and repeat the proceedure everything goes ok and I get no flashing lightning bolt. This happens no matter how far away the subject is.

My question is: is this normal? How come I can't use FEL with bounce? I bought this flash mostly because of the FEL feature (I'd like well exposed off center subjects). Why does the flash bother to prefire if it can't be used in a bounce position? I know it knows it's in a bounce position because the 50mm light flashes. How come I haven't read about this "feature" anywhere before, including the flash FAQ and the owners manual of the flash itself?

Thanks for any help!

Tamara

-- Tamara Snyder (tsnyder@comp.uark.edu), October 29, 1999

Answers

The flashing "lightning bolt" means there's not enough light. Try a faster lens, wider aperture or faster film. As far as I know FEL works in bounce, at least mine does.

Reading the flash and camera manuals several times helps. Neither of them is particularly clear!

-- Bob Atkins (bobatkins@hotmail.com), October 30, 1999.