Can an E-TTL II off-camera cable fire a Speedlite in manual flash mode?
Asked 8/24/2010
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If I use an E-TTL II off-camera hot shoe cable with a Canon Speedlite, will it still trigger the flash when the flash is set to manual mode? In other words, if the cable simply extends all the hot shoe connections from the camera, is there any reason to also buy a separate PC-sync cable for basic off-camera manual flash use with a Speedlite? I'm asking specifically about using a Speedlite rather than studio strobes.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
16y ago
2 Answers
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The contacts used for manual flash are just a subset of the contacts used for E-TTL, and the E-TTL cable will just be replicating the contacts on your on-camera hot shoe. If the same contacts appear at the end of the cable, the manual flash will behave exactly as it does when attached to the camera.
Originally by user456. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user456
16y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes. An E-TTL II off-camera cable should also fire a Speedlite in manual mode.
Manual flash triggering uses only part of the hot shoe connection, while an E-TTL cable carries those standard trigger contacts plus the extra TTL communication contacts. So if the cable replicates the camera’s hot shoe at the other end, the flash should behave the same as it would mounted directly on the camera, including manual flash operation.
For a Speedlite used off-camera, an E-TTL cable can therefore make a separate PC-sync cable unnecessary for basic manual flash triggering.
A PC-sync cable is mainly relevant when connecting gear that uses PC-sync ports, such as some studio lights or adapters, rather than a standard hot-shoe Speedlite setup.
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