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Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 238
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 29, 2013 - 05:08 pm: | 
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I realize this topic may be a bit too modern for this group, but I don't know where else to turn. I have both Canon 420EZ and 430EZ Speedlite flashes. The 420EZ I've owned for about 23 years and the 430EZ was recently given to me. The 420EZ still works perfectly, but the 430EZ has never worked right, and it appears that the logic board is bad, thus it is likely to be very uneconomic to get it repaired. But I'm wondering if I can scavange parts from it to use on my 420. The 420's shoe has developed a couple of cracks and I got to thinking that maybe I could swap the shoe from the 430 onto the 420. The main difference that I can see is the 430 has a port for an accessory battery pack that the 420 lacks. Everything else on the shoe appears to be the same. The assembly is held on by four screws.
I've unscrewed the 420's shoe assembly just to have a look at what was underneath. A small blizzard of tiny wires, but I'm hoping only a minimum of them will need to be desoldered and resoldered. The 430's power connector for the battery pack, I would just leave unconnected.
So, I guess my question to the group is, have you ever tried this before? I'd rather ask to see if it's even possible to make the swap before I get knee-deep into the project.
Failing that, does anybody make replacement metal shoes for the EOS flashes? I tried googling the topic just now but didn't get any hits. |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 515
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 29, 2013 - 07:27 pm: |
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You could try eBay for the parts, or better yet, our very own Brcamera. I doubt that there are any metal shoes, as they kind of went the way of the dodo when hot-shoes came into existance.
As to doing the swap, be mindful of where the wires go (make a diagram as you work), and make sure you discharge the capacitor before getting too deep into the job. You could get a nasty burn, and even nerve damage from one of those things, not to metion the collateral damage caused when you fling it half-way across the room.
PF |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 239
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 31, 2013 - 09:42 pm: |
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I asked about metal shoes because I recall a popular mod for the old Vivitar 283 and 285 flashes was a replacement metal shoe -- or foot, whatever you want to call it. Which is actually what gave me the idea to ask. |
Brcamera
Tinkerer
Username: Brcamera
Post Number: 259
Registered: 08-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 01, 2013 - 12:02 pm: |
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Michael,
The shoes for the 430EZ and the 420EZ are quite different and are not interchangeable, even though they may look similar externally. If you need 420 shoes, let me know as I do have them as NOS.
As for metal shoes, I have never seen them for the Canon flashes. The Vivitar flash contacts are quite simple so making and installing a metal shoe is less of an issue than on the Canon. Although I have installed many metal flash shoes for customers,I am not a huge fan of these shoes on flash units that mount to the top of the camera. Although the shoe never break again, the weakest point in the system now becomes the camera accessory shoe/top cover and in an impact, guess where the damage will take place!
Bill |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 240
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2013 - 11:20 am: |
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Heh, good point Bill. Yeah, I reckon I can use a replacement 420 shoe then, especially since you have some NOS ones. PM/email me with pricing/shipping info, please?
I figure 23 years ain't too bad for that old flash. I bought it "used" back in 1990 to complement an EOS Rebel I'd just bought for the wife to take snapshots of our kid who she was pregnant with. Cheapo camera, but the then-top-of-the-line flash worked wonders in producing great snapshots of the kid. Still works great, except for the two small cracks. I don't have a camera anymore that it will work with in its dedicated mode, but I find its manual settings to be very useful for other chores, so I'm keeping it.
Any recommendations regarding the 430EZ? Near as I can figure, it's logic board has gone south. It puts out about 1/4 intensity flash, no matter what setting it's set to, plus it doesn't perform certain other functions at all, like the Hz settings, for instance. I'm thinking about all it's good for, since the shoes won't interchange, is to just put it up on eBay for parts, and let somebody else have fun with it. |
Brcamera
Tinkerer
Username: Brcamera
Post Number: 260
Registered: 08-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2013 - 12:21 pm: |
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Not really much you can do to the 430EZ. Other than the shoes, I never kept parts for the flashes as I did not consider internal repairs to be economically feasible. Selling it for parts seems to be the best thing to do. I will PM you with info on the 420 shoe.
Bill |
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