Canon 550EX manual Pilot Lamp and Test Firing, Set the Speedlite’s main switch to

6. Pilot Lamp and Test Firing

●About Quick Flash

1 Set the Speedlite’s main switch to .

•The flash will start charging. When the flash is ready, the pilot lamp lights.

●Red pilot lamp

When the flash is fully charged, the pilot lamp lights in red. For normal use, confirm that the pilot lamp is red before taking the picture.

●Yellow pilot lamp

When the camera is set for single shooting, a yellow pilot lamp indicates a less-than-full charge which enables a quick flash (see description below). For close subjects which do not require full-output flash, quick flash shortens the recharging time.

2 To test the Speedlite, press the pilot lamp (test firing button) to fire a test flash.

With the quick-flash feature, you can fire a flash even before the flash is fully charged. When the pilot lamp is yellow, a quick flash can be fired. The Guide No. for a quick flash is 1/2 to 1/16 that of a normal flash. For details, see page 121.

Quick flash cannot be fired in the following cases:

•When the Speedlite is used with a Type-B camera.

•The camera is set to continuous shooting .

•FEB is used.

•In the manual flash mode or stroboscopic flash mode with the output set to 1/1 and 1/2.

•In the stroboscopic flash mode.

•When TTL Hot Shoe Adapter 3 is used with the Speedlite.

•When Custom Function CF-3 is set to 1 (TTL autoflash).

•The Speedlite cannot be test fired during the 6 sec. after you press the camera’s shutter button halfway (while exposure metering is active).

•If the Speedlite is in the SE mode, pressing the test firing button turns on the Speedlite.

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