Yongnuo 460

[chrispauley]

Hey all,

I just bought my first flash and my budget was pretty tight so I went for the Yongnuo 460. I'm shooting with a 550D and I haven't had a speedlite with this camera until now. I attached the flash to the camera and I can not get it to fire. It's supposed to be compatible with the T2i, however when I try to pull up the external flash options in the camera it says that the flash is incompatible or the power is off(which it's not). The flash does fire when I go to attach it to the camera, just not when I take a shot. I've tried full auto, Shutter Priority(Tv), and Manual modes to try and get it to work, but with no luck. Does this mean there's something wrong with my hotshoe?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated,
-Chris

[ajax_andy]

Originally Posted by chrispauley

Hey all,

I just bought my first flash and my budget was pretty tight so I went for the Yongnuo 460. I'm shooting with a 550D and I haven't had a speedlite with this camera until now. I attached the flash to the camera and I can not get it to fire. It's supposed to be compatible with the T2i, however when I try to pull up the external flash options in the camera it says that the flash is incompatible or the power is off(which it's not). The flash does fire when I go to attach it to the camera, just not when I take a shot. I've tried full auto, Shutter Priority(Tv), and Manual modes to try and get it to work, but with no luck. Does this mean there's something wrong with my hotshoe?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated,
-Chris

Hi Chris,

So once attached to the hotshoe and switched on do you:

a) have any lights on the back of the flash?
b) if you press the "pilot" button does the flash fire?
c) have you tried different batteries?

I have the 460 as a back up flash but haven't really used it much to be able to offer a lot of advice but may be able to offer some.

If I'm correct it isn't a case of just pressing the "on" button, but you have to keep it held down and then you should see the power indicator flilling up... might be obvious so apologies if you know that bit

[inkista]

Are you in M mode on the flash? If you're in S1 or S2, the hotshoe won't fire the flash.

Also make sure you've mounted the flash in the right direction, and that the buttons are on the back of the flash (the same side as your camera LCD). The pin on the flash's hotshoe should be in contact with the center contact on the camera hotshoe. You will NOT be able to control the flash from the camera's menu. You'll have to manually set the power output yourself. The YN-460 is a manual-only flash with no TTL capabilities and cannot talk to your camera. This is why it's so cheap.

Also would highly suggest you shoot with the camera in M mode, not Av or Tv. Av and Tv will attempt to control the flash's power output via eTTL, which the YN-460 will never receive (it only has the fire pin on the hotshoe; there are no pins for the eTTL pin contacts), and you'll get some odd exposure settings, since Av and Tv assume you only want fill flash at all times (unless you mess with the custom functions for Av and flash).

My first piece of advice to anyone who wants to learn how to use a speedlight is that you really should be completely comfortable shooting with the camera in M and swapping stops around among iso/aperture/shutter speed for ambient exposure FIRST. If you aren't, take the flash off the hotshoe and get to that point, first. It'll make learning flash a lot easier if you aren't confused about how ambient works, because flash works a whole different way, and you'll have to balance flash and ambient against each other.

ambient: iso, aperture, shutter speed.
flash: iso, aperture, flash-to-subject distance, flash power output.

[chrispauley]

a) have any lights on the back of the flash?
b) if you press the "pilot" button does the flash fire?
c) have you tried different batteries?

yes, yes(and it fires when it both it and the camera are on and you go to attach the flash to the camera), and yes, power is fine. I am also waiting until the light turns green to attach it to the camera.

Are you in M mode on the flash? If you're in S1 or S2, the hotshoe won't fire the flash.

Yes, both the camera and flash are in Manual mode. I've set the flash to slave and optically fired it and it worked then.

I also have Magic Lantern installed, could this affect it?

[mbrobich]

Maybe this is not the issue, but I have seen some flashes that the little pins on the bottom of the flash do not line properly with the contacts in the shoe and are not getting the signal from the camera. I know this because some of my remote triggers. I have to insert them backwards so the pins will line up and they will get the signal and fire away.

[ajax_andy]

I'd contact the seller... its more likely its a faulty flash unit than a problem with the camera IMO

[gazsus]

Originally Posted by ajax_andy

I'd contact the seller... its more likely its a faulty flash unit than a problem with the camera IMO

I agree with Andy.
I read a lot of reviews regarding Yongnuo flashes and there seemed to be reliability issues with the earlier models, including the 460. I still went ahead and bought a 560 last week because hey, it's £45 with a 12 month warranty. Mine has worked great from the start but it sounds like you may have got a dud.
Good luck.

[chrispauley]

okay so I had some wireless triggers come in today so I decided to test it with those... It's firing via sync cable to the receiver, but not via the hot shoe transmitter... this definitely means the hot shoe is broken. Any ideas on how to fix it? The eraser thing hasn't worked, and it's really not dirty at all

[mbrobich]

Originally Posted by chrispauley

okay so I had some wireless triggers come in today so I decided to test it with those... It's firing via sync cable to the receiver, but not via the hot shoe transmitter... this definitely means the hot shoe is broken. Any ideas on how to fix it? The eraser thing hasn't worked, and it's really not dirty at all

Unless you're ready to void your warranty and take the flash apart to see if the wire from the shoe to the board is broken, your only other option is to return it.

[ccting]

YN 46 series with plastic foot have problem with their hotshoe for the first version (2009), i heard. Change to 2011 model with metal hotshoe.. ;D. May be you could buy a cheap JJC JSC-2 Hot Shoe Adapter with PC Female Outlets (USD 4) to place on your camera hotshoe, so that your camera able to detect there is a speedlight. Place your speedlight on the outlet..

Just guessing the solution.. never try..

I am a noob.