Canon's clever new flashgun cord powers accessories from the camera battery!

Sep 22, 2023

Canon has announced its new OC-E4A Off-Camera Shoe Cord – the latest flash accessory for Canon's new generation of cameras and Speedlites. The Canon OC-E4A is compatible with the manufacturer's Multi Function Shoe, which features on recent mirrorless camera models such as the Canon EOS R7, Canon EOS R10 and Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

The Canon OC-E4A succeeds the OC-E3 Off-Camera Shoe Cord and has an 80cm cable, making it 27% longer than the previous model's 63cm length. The OC-E3 is incompatible with the new Multi-Function Shoe, so the OC-E4A is the perfect replacement.

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With support for the new shoe comes new capabilities, including the ability to power specific flashes, external microphones and accessories via the camera battery. The manufacturer told us that the Canon DM-E1D stereo microphone and Canon ST-E10 Speedlite Transmitter can be powered via the OC-E4A, and also said that two-channel audio would be supported.

The OC-E4A will be ideal for photographers that want to fire flashguns or mount microphones. In addition to being able to draw power from the camera body, it also delivers a more reliable connection than wireless radio flash triggers.

If you’ve ever shot with a camera that has a pop-up flash you’ll be all too familiar with the harsh lighting they can produce. Using the OC-E4A and moving your flash off-camera to one side should make for much more flattering lighting. We can see the OC-E4A being particularly useful for portrait photographers that like to use a bracket to mount their flashes away from the camera hot shoe.

The Canon OC-E4A will be available in June, and will cost $169.99 / £229.99 / AU$319.99.

If this article was of interest, you might want to check out the best Canon flashgun – along with our reviews of the flagship Canon Speedlite EL-1 and the AI-powered Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI.