One of the most visited pages on this website is the instructional post on how to repair the foot of the Canon 580EX speedlite. Since the foot of the original 580EX is made from plastic, it is easy to break … but also easy to repair.
I broke the foot off my 580EX II some time back, by lowering my camera too fast to the ground by the strap. The camera and lens tilted over, and the flash smacked the ground a touch harder than the gentle soft landing I anticipated. Because the foot of the 580EX II is now made of metal, there is nothing to give, except the body of the speedlight. And this is what happened:
That’s right. The entire foot snapped off the body of the flashgun. And that isn’t just a quick home repair. It meant sending the speedlight off to Canon for repairs. Much more expensive than the same type of problem with the original 580EX.
Funny how the metal foot of the 580EX II seemed like an improvement over the plastic foot of the 580EX .. and somehow it ended up not being an improvement in real terms.
So, sorry, I don’t have good news for you if you break your Canon 580EX II in the same manner. You will have to send the speedlight in for repairs. Such is the price for improvement. :-/
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May I ask how long will the repair last, and how much it will cost? Because I have the same problem :(
I have an idea how to repair that at home by myself but I would like to know how much it will cost to send that to Canon for repairs.
I’ll be very grateful for the quick answer.
Comment by Piotr Rachtan — September 2, 2008 @ 2:25 am
How much did it cost to fix from Canon?
Same thing happened to me yesterday, and I ordered this part:
http://www.uscamera.com/cy2-4220.htm
Seems like a simple enough fix: unscrew , unplug connector, plug in new connector, screw it down..
Comment by Darrell Wong — October 7, 2008 @ 4:44 pm
Comment by Neil — October 7, 2008 @ 5:30 pm
I also broke the foot off my 580EX II flash at a wedding when my whole camera (30D+grip and 24-105 plus 580EX II) fell off the table (tripod quick mount on the bottom makes it sit crooked). I brought it in to Canon Canada in Mississauga, ON on 24-Sep-08, got the estimate 2 days later and faxed in my authorization the following day, the 27th.
They charged at flat rate of $85.00 plus taxes and shipped the flash back to me via Purolator at “no cost”. I received the repaired flash on 7-Oct-08 and now I read Darrell Wong’s note about uscamera.com selling the whole replacement part. With the cost of that part and shipping, plus brokerage and taxes at the border, I think I only paid about $22 extra and I didn’t have to do the work.
My total repair cost: $95.10 Canadian
My total repair time: 13 days
Hope this helps!
Comment by Ryan — October 7, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
I broke my 580II flash foot also, but it is so easy to repair,
I just ordered a replacement foot shipped to my house for less that $50, Ordered on Monday received on Thursday
Four small screws and a unplug the connector, the old one is removed and just as easy to install the new one,
It is designed as a user replacable part!!
Comment by William Campion — November 7, 2008 @ 3:45 pm
Crap, not what I wanted to hear Neil, I just did this to mine yesterday. And as luck would have it Canon Canada is 100km from here and closed on Saturdays.
Hehe, well at least I am in good company though :)
Comment by Rene Skrodzki — November 22, 2008 @ 10:24 am
Where did you get the spare part from? I’m currently looking to repair one.
Thanks.
Comment by kj — January 27, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
Hi, I broke the foot off my 580ex I read up above that it was easy to replace but I have no idea how to go about it, please help, Sincerely Geri Scull !
Comment by Geri Scull — April 13, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
Comment by Neil — April 13, 2009 @ 7:41 pm
thanks Neil, I had seen that article and found the part # CY2-1227-000 but when I do a search for it I can’t seem to locate it ! any help would be appreciated ! thanks again !
Comment by geri — April 13, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
WOW! this is exactly what I am looking for. I live in vancouver canada, and the flash was mounted on my camera. The whole system fell down from my hand and broke the bottom part just like on the picture. I thought it’s so easy to just solder it, and i brought it to the near shop in VAncouver and charged me $20 for estimation , $90 for service, and $110 for the part! What a ripp offf..!!!
I am going to get it back and do it myself. If you have any suggestion let me know. Where can i order just the bottom part? The only thing that broke is the black plastic part and they r off the wires (just like NEil’s picture)
Comment by Jossy — May 30, 2009 @ 8:12 pm
I just replaced the flash foot assembly on my 580EX II, the hotshoe didn’t break off but the plastic locking tab was falling apart.
I found the entire shoe assembly at USCamera (http://www.uscamera.com/international/cy2-4220.htm) for $45 and did the repair myself – 4 #000 phillips screws and a clip connector were pretty easy. Beats Canon’s $99 flat rate repair on speedlites!
Comment by Dave Nunez — May 22, 2012 @ 3:39 pm