I own a EOS 5 with a non working intern flash. Tests turn out however that measurement and steering of an external flash are working normally.

I am considering to buy an Speedlite 380 EX for that body. Does anyone have experience for that combination? Is there a better solution in the aspect of a price / earning ratio ?

Thanks in advance.

Christof

-- Christof Schneider (Christof_Schneider@CompuServe.Com), June 02, 2001

Answers

The 380EX is a mid sized flash that was designed for use with the newer E-TTL metering system with "A" type Canon bodies, and can do high speed sync & flash exposure lock. Unfortunately, none of this works with the EOS 5. So you'd end up paying for a high featured flash that will be held back by your camera. Also the 380EX's main disapointment is the lack of a swiveling head so when you hold the camera in vertical mode it won't be able to do a ceiling bounce. This camera/flash combination will do straight TTL metering and the auto zoom head will work fine, so it's not a total loss.

Your camera is a "B" type Canon camera and is capable of A-TTL metering (very minor improvement over regular TTL) with EZ series Speedlites. The 380EX is not able to do A-TTL though. The best combination for the EOS 5/A2/A2e is a 420EZ, 430EZ or 540EZ. That way you don't pay for features that you don't get, and you get more power, a swiveling head and A-TTL along with several other features like full manual power control. The 420EZ (not 420EX) or 430EZ are only available used, but they are very reliable so it's fairly safe to buy them. The 420EZ is the best buy for the EOS 5/A2/A2e.

All that said, you should not give up so easily on your built-in flash. The usual reason that the flash won't pop up on an EOS 5/A2/A2e is one of the little micro switches under the side rails of the hot shoe get stuck down. You might be able to get in there with a razor blade and pop it back up again.

The cure though, is to pop the hot shoe cover plate off (thin black metal piece covering the inside of your hot shoe that has a cut-out for the five contacts in the middle). Pop it off with a small/sharp screwdriver (push it in from the back just underneath the thin cover piece). Then loosen the screws underneath (two or four, I can't remember), reposition the shoe to release pressure on the microswithches, tighten the screws and then put the cover plate back on. Sounds more complicated than it is. Anyway, that's the usual problem with the built-in flash.

The external flash has a lot more capability though. You won't regret buying one.

-- Jim Strutz (jimstrutz@juno.com), June 02, 2001.

I have an Elan IIE, which was able to take advantage of many of the 380EX features. However, I opted to upgrade it to the 550EX for three main reasons: 1) more power (always good to have the option; it also makes high speed sync reasonable at fast shutter speeds) 2) swivel head (already discussed) 3) full manual control, down to 1/128 power. I'm not sure why the 380 lacks manual control, but I think it's a shortcoming.

-- Todd Garlow (toddgarlow@hotmail.com), June 04, 2001.

A 3rd party flash may be an option. Metz produces flashlights with SCA adapters that will support A-TTL (SCA-3101). When you upgrade to a new camera you will only have to change the adapter.

-- Jos van Eekelen (jos@compuserve.com), June 15, 2001.