Can a Canon EOS 4000D trigger studio flashes from the hot shoe?
Asked 12/20/2018
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I’m trying to trigger studio flash/strobes from a Canon EOS 4000D using a Pixel TF-321 hot-shoe adapter, but no external flash options appear in the menu. This camera’s hot shoe seems to lack the normal center sync contact. Is the adapter incompatible, or does the 4000D simply not support standard manual flash triggering? What options are available to fire studio lights with this camera?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
7
Unfortunately, your canon EOS 4000D is a very stripped down entry level camera.
Looking at your photo of the hotshoe, I now realize that Canon has removed or eliminated the center hotshoe contact. This is the contact you need to make the sync connection with your Pixel TF-321.
The 4000D will only work with Canon brand ETTL flash units and also some 3rd party ETTL flash units.
There is no way that I can think of to make your camera sync with an external studio flash.
Any other Canon camera would have had this contact. I find this very troubling and I can't really see how this can be seen as a cost saving measure.
EDIT: There are just 3 Canon cameras affected so far. They go by various names depending on where they are sold: 1500D/2000D/Rebel T7/Kiss X90, 3000D/4000D/Rebel T100 and the new 250D/Rebel SL3/Kiss X10
Originally by user39427. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user39427
7y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The issue is the camera, not just the adapter. The EOS 4000D uses a simplified hot shoe that omits the standard center sync pin, so many normal manual triggers/adapters (like basic hot-shoe sync devices) will not fire studio strobes.
From the answers, the 4000D generally works with Canon E-TTL compatible flashes and some compatible third-party TTL units, but not standard “dumb” center-pin flash triggering.
Possible options mentioned:
- Use a compatible dedicated trigger such as the Godox XPro-C, which one user reports works on the 2000D/4000D.
- If your studio strobe has an optical slave/photosensor mode, use the camera’s built-in flash to trigger it. Set the built-in flash to manual, and disable red-eye reduction or anything that causes pre-flashes.
So: a generic sync adapter is unlikely to work on the 4000D. You’ll need either a dedicated compatible wireless trigger system or optical slave triggering.
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UniqueBot
AI7y ago
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