Canon Powershot G5 and flash

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I use a Canon Powershot G5, an ST-E2 on camera and a three 580EX
Speedlites off camera - and I want E-TTL to control flash in manual
(M) mode. I don't seem to be able to that.

When I turn the mode dial on the camera to "M", make sure the
flashes are set to "ETTL" and fire, they fire at full power,
resuling in overeposure.
When I read up on flash settings in Canon's not to clear manual,
it loooks as if this is the way it is supposed to work - instead
I can control flash power using FEC. This is stupid. When I set
my flashes to "ETTL", I want ETTL, not FEC (well, FEC would be fine if
it used whatever power level ETTL considered appropriate as its base
point - rather than the full power of the flashes).

In P, Av and Tv modes, E-TTL works as promised and I get the correct
exposure. But in these settings, the camera insists on using "fill"
flash, so it gives me a too long shutter time (Av mode), a too large
aperture (Tv mode), or both (P mode).

Is there a way to make this camera use E-TTL to control the flash
while I control both the shutter AND aperture?

Or do I have abandon the convenience of E-TTL in M-mode and use
FEC to control the flashes?

Is this designed moe sensisble on Canon DSLRs (e.g. 20D, 350D),
or do they work in the same way?
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://folk.uio.no/gisle/ ]
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Kodak DCS460, Canon Powershot G5, Olympus 2020Z
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