Review of Canon Speedlite 540EZ. The review and test of Canon's Speedlite 540EZ in this column is intended to show EOS users that a non-E-TTL flash unit can also attain natural-looking, balanced fill-flash pictures on EOS cameras not capable of utilising the E-TTL feature. The photos shown in the next few pages were shot mainly with Canon's TTL flash photography in Shutter-priority AE mode, including slow-sync. speed and the differences between direct and bounced flash. The Speedlite 540EZ is designed as the companion flash for Canon's top-of-the-line model, the EOS-1N camera. It can also be used with any other EOS cameras having multiple AF points and AIM feature, like the entry-level EOS 300 or EOS 88 and the advanced amateur models like the EOS 50/50E, EOS 5 and EOS-3. Canon Speedlite 540EZ. The 540EZ's large LCD panel on the back. When it comes to shooting flash photography with my very own Canon EOS cameras, I have one tendency: never use any flash units other than Canon's own Speedlite series, regardless of whether they are the EOS-dedicated types or those made for the discontinued A-series of Canon's manual-focus cameras. Of course, some may say that I am just making the above statement simply because this column is being maintained by Canon Malaysia. Believe it or not, this is the truth. I find no reason to use flash units made by independent makers throughout my career. Some photographers told me I could be "missing" something by not using them. I told them the opposite, they are missing something by not relying on Canon Speedlites. The Speedlite 540EZ is one of the most powerful unit in Canon's line-up, with a guide number of 54 (ISO 100, m) at the 105mm setting of the adjustable zoom head. Coverage can be extended to suit an 18mm lens by using the built-in diffuser panel. This panel can also be used for bounce flash photography. The head tilts in all directions including down (by 7-degree), 90-degree to the right and top and 180-degree from the left side till the flash head points towards the photographer or the wall behind. It provides high level compatibility with the 5-point focusing and 3-point TTL flash metering systems of the EOS cameras mentioned above. Other features include settings from 1 to 1/128th power in manual, plus stroboscopic firing at up to 100 times a second with preset multi-firing. Unlike the older Speedlite 430EZ that it replaced, the 540EZ is capable of utilising Canon's A-TTL (Advanced TTL) flash system only when the EOS-1N camera is used in its Programmed AE mode. When used in the Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE or Manual Exposure modes, the 540EZ reverted to TTL flash control using the EOS-1N's 3-zone flash metering system that links the exposures to the 5 AF-point. A-TTL flash was disengaged from operating in these shooting modes of the EOS-1N because the older 430EZ flash (where A-TTL is possible in all the modes when used with the original EOS-1) have resulted in the Speedlite's preflash system triggering off studio strobes during bounce flash shootings. << Back to Main . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 .