Portraits: A master and a slave? or 2 slaves with a speedlite transmitter (Canon)


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KitsuneConundrum

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Feb 13, 2009
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3rd Rock from the Sun
Hey there,

I'm not really sure on the capability of the 580EXII flash unit. So let me set up the scenario. I want to take waist up portraits with a flash to the left of the person and another on the wall in the background with the camera in front.

So the question here is, can a body (lets say 50D) trigger the 580EXII remotely unconnected to the body (which in turn triggers the slave) or should I get another 480EXII and the ST-E2(i think) speedlite transmitter which will act as a master for the 2 480EXIIs.

Thanks.
 

Indoors, with your requirements, either should work fine.
 

No, what I'm asking is that whether or not the camera can trigger the master flash unit untethered from the body ie remotely.
 

I'm sorry. Your question wasn't clear.

Can you trigger your 'Master flash' unthetered? Not that I know of. Canon's system is unlike Nikon's where it is possible to trigger an off-shoe, unthetered flash with no additional accessories on the body.

On a 50D, you would need to use the ST-E2 or a radio trigger, in which case, whatever flash unit(s) you're triggering would be slaves. In such a scenario, there is no 'master flash'. The accessory transmitter on your camera which you would have to add on is the master.
 

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Of course if you don't mind a non-fully wireless setup, simply connect a PC-PC sync cord from your 50D to 580EXII. You can then setup that 580EXII to trigger 430EXII via wireless connection.
 

you question wasn't very clear. how many lights you intend to do with your portrait set up in the first place?

once you get your flash off the camera hotshoe for lighting set up, is consider "off camera flash set up".

you set up more than one flash, is call "multiply flash set up", regardless is one of the flash on or off the hotshoe.

"Master flash" as in the flash use to trigger other flash. if using a ST-E2 or a radio trigger, there won't be master flash, since both ST-E2 or a radio trigger are not a flash.

"Main light" as in the light source provide the key exposure, it can be a flash or the ambient light.

tell us more clearly about the lighting set up you want, and what you have currently, so other able to suggest a workable solution for you.
 

Ben,

I suspect it's a two-light set-up, off cam.

Main: Model left, Canon flash 480 EXII ?
Fill: ???
BG: Another 480 EX II?

TS, have a look at this free program: http://www.diyphotography.net/lighting-diagrams

It really helps when you want to discuss lighting set-ups.
 

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Actually this is more of a question of equipment capability rather than lighting techniques.

@catchlights : yes I know about the ST-E2 wireless trigger. Just deciding between getting a 580EXII or a ST-E2 and another 480EXII to complement my current 480EXII.

@rendition : Actually I like to know more about your suggestion. Would you care to elaborate further? Is this some standard cable or the OC-E3 cord? and would there be a lag time involved? Thanks.
 

Your 50D has a PC sync port and you can connect a PC-sync cable to it. Your 580EXII also has a PC sync port... hence, the only way to connect this is to use a PC-PC Sync Cable. You can easily get this at places like Ruby Photo and costs $10. Different from off-shoe cord... while off-shoe allows ETTL, TTL the length of cord (as far as I know) is rather short. The ST-E2 is pretty much the wireless option of this. A sync cable is essentially used to do off-shoe flash triggering and you have to control the flash power output manually and you can find cords of lengths like 3m or longer. Of course there're many wireless triggers out there too and difference between those and the ST-E2 is that the latter allows ETTL, TTL but wireless distance limited and line-of-sight (infra-red) is needed. Google around. Your 580EXII btw has built-in ST-E2 which was why I mentioned you can use it to trigger your 430EX.

I personally use wireless triggering, not the ST-E2 but just regular triggers like the Elinchrom Skyports and even the china made PT-04tm. Am used to using studio monolights which requires manual control anyway.

No of course there won't be lag time, else, off-shoe triggering won't exist but there's a limit to how fast the shutter can go.. which is about 1/200 or slower.
 

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