Can't get 40D flash to work

[Geoff F]

After using a new Canon 580 Speedlite I can't get the camera flash unit to open, no matter which photo mode I use.

When I check the camera menu settings for camera flash adjustment, it says that the external flash unit is still in place, which it isn't; and checking the menu adjustments for an external flash unit, it says not detected, which is correct.

At the moment I'm baffled, which admittedly isn't hard to do.

I've tried everything that I can think of and even recharged the camera battery. So any suggestions?

[Jim B.]

There should be a button on top left of camera near the flash(looking from the LCD screen side).Push it and see if it pops the flash up.

[Colin Southern]

Try mounting and dismounting the 580EX a few times (there's a microswitch under one of the metal strips).

[Amberglass]

If your camera is still under warranty, send it in. But if it's not and you're willing to fix is yourself:

http://www.conraderb.com/flashrepair/, but

I was going to write a lengthy explanation but I found this one has images.

[Geoff F]

Sorted. Thanks to that link from Amberglass.

Not quite the same problem which that article explains, but it allowed me to think about other similar options. The small leaf spring in the hot shoe which presses down on that tiny peg when an external unit is attached and switches between camera and external flash was sticking. A little bit of grit on the side I think. So because the peg couldn't spring upwards when the speedlite was removed, the camera thought it was still connected.

If that makes any sense! Difficult to describe.

Very tiny item. I prefer my engineering to be with things that I can fix with a hammer, grinder or welder!

Anyway, thanks.

[PopsPhotos]

...things that I can fix with a hammer, grinder or welder!

I was working in the rocketry tracking program at White Sands Missile Range many years ago and we needed a camera mount for one of the chase planes. I was setting up the job with the fabrication shop when the welder said "Bring in the plane and the camera and I can make it fit." My instant visual was of him actually welding the $40,000 (1962 US dollars) camera to the airframe.

Pops

[Geoff F]

Don't panic - I can repair it!



They say that you can recognise a trainee engineer by the blackened fingernails . . .

. . . and you can recognise an experienced engineer by the missing fingers.

ps. Had to put my camera on a tripod outside and use the timer; but it looks like the focus had slipped slightly (manual focus) . It would probably have worked better if I had used full manual settings for camera and flash unit which would have enabled me to use a better aperture. But it was starting to rain on the camera, so I just went for the quickest option.

[PopsPhotos]

SHeese! That looks familiar.

(Except that shop is much more organized.)

Pops