Which flashes work on a Canon EOS 4000D hot shoe without a center pin?

Question

I need a compatible flash for a Canon EOS 4000D, which uses a Canon hot shoe without the standard center sync contact. Which speedlites or triggers are known to work, and are third-party flashes safe to buy for this camera?

user27440 · Answer

Canon

Canon's own EX speedlights should all be compatible, if not fully compatible. The official word from Canon on their brochures and websites for the bodies without the sync contact is:

Speedlites other than the EX-series or non-Canon flash units cannot be used. Not all functions of the Canon EX-series flashes are supported.

Godox

In April/May 2019, Godox released firmware updates for compatibility with the T7 (aka 2000D, 1500D) and T100 (aka 3000D, 4000D) for their following units:

TT350-C mini speedlight
V350-C li-on mini speedlight
TT685-C speedlight
V860 II-C li-on speedlight
X1T-C transmitter
XPro-C transmitter

The SL3/250D, appears to remain problematic. The X1T and XPro transmitters have both received firmware updates for compatibility with it, but none of the speedlights have. There are, however, reports that putting a speedlight on top of a mounted X1T or X2T transmitter works.

Yongnuo

Yongnuo has issued similar compatibility updates for:

YN-565C III
YN-586C III
YN-685C

Nissin, Sigma, Metz

Nissin's compatibility chart lists all their gear as fully compatible with the T7.

Sigma's and Metz's tables haven't (yet) been updated to include the T7/T100.

General guidelines

I would also say that (obviously) single-pin/Manual-only transmitters/flashes like the Amazon Basics/Neewer TT560, Yongnuo YN-560 series, Yongnuo RF-60x triggers, LumoPro LP180, etc. won't work with a hotshoe without the sync contact.

Flashes with a built-in radio trigger, however, probably can be synced off-camera, if the transmitter can do TTL and is compatible with the new hotshoe. And any built-in optical triggering will still work.

Early testers in this dpreview thread mention incompatibility with Simpex 522, Nissin Di622, Yongnuo YN685 and RF-603, Neewer NW-670, and Godox gear. So, if you are looking at firmware-updateable 3rd-party TTL gear, I would look to see if a firmware update has been issued specifically for this issue. If not, I'd assume incompatibility unless you can find someone who reports differently.