Troubleshooting Guide

• Power-related problems
• Normal flash photography
• Radio transmission wireless flash photography
• Linked shooting
• Optical transmission wireless flash shooting

Power-related problems

• Batteries are not charged unless the remaining capacity is lower than approx. 90%.
• Do not use battery packs other than a genuine Canon Battery Pack LP-EL.

• Constant, rapid orange blinking of the lamp indicates that a protection circuit has prevented charging because (1) there is a problem with the battery charger or battery, or (2) communication with a non-Canon battery has failed. In the case of (1), unplug the charger, reinsert the battery pack, and wait 2–3 minutes before plugging the charger in again. If the problem persists, contact a Canon Service Center.

• For safety, hot batteries inserted in the charger are not charged, and the lamp remains off. Charging also stops automatically if the battery becomes hot for any reason, in which case the lamp blinks continuously. Charging resumes automatically after the battery has cooled off.

• The battery pack may be damaged. If so, purchase a replacement.
• For safety, consider using a genuine Canon Battery Pack LP-EL.
• As a safety mechanism, flash recharging will take longer if you continue using an unresponsive battery pack.
• Reinsert the battery ().
• If the electrical contacts are dirty, use a soft cloth to clean them.

• Use a fully charged battery ().
• The battery performance may have declined. See Checking Battery Information and check for battery performance issues. If battery performance is poor, purchase a replacement.
• Doing any of the following exhausts the battery faster.
  • Firing modeling flash repeatedly
  • Keeping the modeling lamp on for extended periods
  • Using wireless functions

• Auto power off has been activated. To prevent the power from turning off automatically, set C.Fn-01 to [1] on the Custom Functions screen ().

Normal flash photography

• Make sure the battery compartment cover is closed ().
• Replace the battery with a new one.

• Insert the mounting foot all the way into the camera hot shoe and slide the lock lever right to secure the Speedlite to the camera ().
• If remains displayed even after approx. 15 sec., replace the battery ().
• If the electrical contacts of the Speedlite or camera are dirty, wipe the contacts () with a dry cloth, etc.
• The firing interval becomes longer () after continuous firing over a short period, which will cause the flash head temperature to rise and restrict flash firing.
• For safety, batteries that are hot are not charged. Charging also stops automatically if the battery becomes hot for any reason. Charging resumes automatically after the battery has cooled off ().

• The Speedlite's auto power off has been activated (). Press the shutter button halfway, or press the test flash button ().

• If the main subject looks very dark or very bright, set flash exposure compensation ().
• If there are highly reflective objects in the picture, use FE lock ().
• With high-speed sync, the faster the shutter speed, the lower the guide number. Move closer to the subject ().

• Shoot at least 0.5 m / 1.6 ft. away from the subject.
• When shooting within 1 m / 3.3 ft. of the subject, set the bounce angle down by 7° ().
• Remove any attached lens hoods.

• Set the flash coverage to (Auto) ().
• When manually setting the flash coverage, set a flash coverage wider than the shooting angle of view ().
• Make sure C.Fn-21 is not set to [1] ().

• Shooting in aperture-priority AE mode under low light automatically activates slow-sync shooting, which results in slower shutter speeds. Use a tripod, or set the shooting mode to program AE or fully automatic mode (). Note that you can also set the flash sync speed in the setting [Flash sync. speed in Av mode] ().

• Set the flash coverage to (Auto) ().
• Insert the mounting foot all the way into the camera hot shoe and slide the lock lever right to secure the Speedlite to the camera ().

• Remove the bounce adapter ().
• Retract the wide panel ().

• Set the camera's shooting mode to , , , , , or Bulb () (Creative Zone).
• Set the Speedlite's power switch to instead of ().

• Rest the unit for 30 minutes if the modeling lamp goes off. If the problem persists, contact a Canon Service Center.

Radio transmission wireless flash photography

• Set the sender to and receivers to ().
• Use the same settings for transmission channels and wireless radio IDs on the sender and receivers ().
• Make sure receivers are within transmission range of the sender ().
• Run a transmission channel scan and set the channel with the strongest signal ().
• To the extent possible, position receivers within a direct line of sight of the sender.
• Make sure receivers are facing the sender.
• The camera's built-in flash cannot be used as a sender in radio transmission wireless flash photography.

• When using autoflash with three firing groups (A–C), do not fire with firing group C pointing toward the main subject ().
• When shooting with the flash mode set for each firing group, do not fire multiple firing groups set in against the main subject ().

• Set the shutter speed one step slower than the maximum flash sync shutter speed ().

• Remote release is not possible from a receiver unit in cameras released up to 2011 or EOS REBEL T100/4000D/3000D, EOS REBEL T7/1500D/2000D, EOS REBEL T6/1300D or EOS REBEL T5/1200D.

• The sender LCD panel turns on or off based on receiver (firing group) recharge status. See LCD Panel Illumination.

Linked shooting

• Firing multiple Speedlites together in linked shooting may prevent suitable exposure or cause uneven exposure. Consider firing only one Speedlite or using a self-timer to fire multiple units at different times.

• When used with a camera released up to 2011 or with EOS REBEL T100/4000D/3000D, EOS REBEL T7/1500D/2000D, EOS REBEL T6/1300D or EOS REBEL T5/1200D, the unit can be used only as "sender camera unit". The unit cannot be used as a "receiver camera unit".

Optical transmission wireless flash shooting

• Set the sender to and receivers to ().
• Set the transmission channels of the sender unit and receiver unit to the same numbers ().
• Make sure receivers are within transmission range of the sender ().
• Point the wireless sensor of the receiver unit toward the sender unit ().
• To the extent possible, position receivers within a direct line of sight of the sender.
• If the sender unit and receiver unit are too close, the transmission may not take effect properly.
• When you use the built-in flash of the camera as a sender unit, raise the built-in flash of the camera and configure the [Wireless functions] settings in the [Built-in flash settings] of the camera.

• Even when sender flash firing is set to OFF, the sender unit fires a small flash to control the receiver unit with optical transmission ().

• When using autoflash with three firing groups (A–C), do not fire with firing group C pointing toward the main subject ().