Strobing Issue

[winson_ksk]

Hi, I wish to know more about strobe lightings. I had research on some websites which are not able to fulfil my questions. I want to know whether is it a must for the flash light to be in manual mode, is it possible for mi to use 580ex II as strobe lightings as compared to the others like alienbee?
Should the camera only be in manual mode also?
What type of trigger system do i need and the branding?

My current system Canon 30D + Tamron 17-50 + 580EX-II

Sorry about the flood of questions cause I really wish to know more into strobing as the pictures taken seen in the internet really rocks man Thanks

 

[pinholecam]

Not familiar with the Canon system, but if I can recall, Canon has a wireless flash system that supports TTL (or their version of it).

Flash as captured on the sensor/flim is controlled by the aperture. So you can do Aperture priority or Manual. As a basic, for manual, set shutter speed to a value that does not cause camera shake and is also fast enough to get rid of most motion blurs (eg. 125, 180, etc). The limit here is the max sync speed for the camera for flash. Next, set the aperture based on the Guide Number (GN) and the distance from subject. You can be damn lazy about this nowadays w/ DSLRs, by just test shooting and adjusting aperture until it looks right on the review screen.

Hope it helps

 

[catchlights]

are you plan to have more than one flash?
if yes, and you are getting another 580EX-II, you need to use the Canon wireless trigger system to support E-TTL on both flash.

if yes but you are not using a Canon flash, you need a generic wireless trigger system to trigger both or using slave mode. You will have to use manual mode on both flash, as they won't support E-TTL for such set up.

to get consistent results, best is shoot in manual mode in camera and flash

 

[winson_ksk]

i should be getting another flash as the slave, but is it possible to get other brands flash? any comments or recommendation

 

[ChongK]

Try Nissin Di622, its worth the money. I'm using it though, its the same size as canon speedlite 580 exll, and its avaliable in mass sales

Powerful flash and has TTL if mounted on your camera,but ONLY have mannual when used as a strobe.


Hope this helps

 

[winson_ksk]

thanks for the info, cause i was wondering whether i should get another 580exII, which cost 600++.

Now comes the wireless trigger part, which I'm considering the skyport. Both radiopopper and pocket wizard seems abit impossible due to pricing and law issue. Any skyport users?

 

[J-Chan]

otherwise you can just get the ST-E2 which is cheaper than getting another 580EXII for master..

 

[changster]

agree with catchlights about going fully manual. that gives you the most amount of control.

there are a lot of ways to trigger flashes off-camera. cheap radio triggers on ebay, pocket wizards, etc.

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ is the best resource for these things.

 

[pinholecam]

Vivitar 285hv
Fully manual. I like it this way. A simple adj of the power knob and I get to the power I want. No fiddling with a mess of options/butons/scroll wheel just to get to manual and adj flash power. No unwanted auto-off as well; esp right after I've finished setup :angry::bsmilie:
(I prefer this to my Pentax AF360 actually)

Cheap as well. Only downside is the lack of TTL, which I am fine with

 

[winson_ksk]

i'm currently looking at vivitar and nissin flash.
Nissin flash has built in slave which vivitar don't.
What are the other pro and cons of these flash. Do I need wireless trigger or cords if I were to use these flashes? Thanks

 

[KissDigitalX]

I am considering Skyports as well but I read somewhere that it is not compatible with Nissin flash and need a some "special" cables for Vivitars.

Not sure how true but need advise on this as well.

 

[catchlights]

I am considering Skyports as well but I read somewhere that it is not compatible with Nissin flash and need a some "special" cables for Vivitars.

Not sure how true but need advise on this as well.

it is not a incompatible issue, the Skyport is original design to be use on Elinchrom lights, so the connection from the receiver is a mini jack or a patent Elinchrom jack, so you need to find a way to connect the receiver to the hotshoe flash you have.

most hotshoe flash have female PC terminal, you need to find a pc cord with male PC terminal and a female mini jack. if you can't find any, just get pc cord and mod it

 

[pinholecam]

I'm using the ebay triggers got them from (PT-04TM) HKSupplies, and got good service from them. There are many other ebay stores selling the same stuff as well, so you get check them out.

The battery that came with the ebay triggers were crap (12V measured 8V; 1.5V measured 1.8V). Swapped them out for proper batteries, and everything has been reliable so far.