mrjames
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 1,240
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Recently a lot of my gear got stolen, so now i'm in the market for new equipment
I might be covered by insurance, so perhaps they will give me the money, or replacement equipment.
Even if they give me like for like, I may decide to sell and get something different after all.
the kit I lost was:
16-35 f2.8 L mk 2
canon 430ex
canon 550ex
canon 550ex
yongnuo st-e2 flash trigger
AA rechargeable battery sets x 4
battery charger for 5d
Giottos vitruvian tripod
kirk bh1 ball head with benro pc-1 rotating head
westcott 43" silver collapsible umbrella
2 white shoot through umbrellas
light stands x2
umbrella brackets x2
neutral gray card
bag to hold all the equipment
bag for light stands and umbrellas
for years I used 2 flashes with a wireless st-e2 trigger, recently added a third but only used it a few months before my gear was stolen- think I have come to rely on the third flash though.
Some criticisms of my old setup:
1) using the 550ex as background light, a 550ex as key and 430ex as fill. I'd eat through batteries in the background light, i'd like to look into a battery pack for this, maybe mains power option?
2) sometimes a single 550ex wasn't enough power, so I thought about strapping 2 together on the same channel, or just getting a more powerful flash. As I understand it, the 580ex isn't that much more powerful so i'd only see noticeable improvement with a studio flash- so i'd look into something fairly affordable (~£2/300) but it would be great if there was a battery pack option for it as well as mains power. Would pay extra if there was a decent modelling light, that could maybe be used for video lighting (I don't do video, but maybe in the future)
3) using the st-e2 as trigger, with all flashes in manual mode meant I had to adjust the flash power on each head. I never found a way to adjust things using only the st-e2, go going over to each flash to adjust was a pain, I'd pay extra to solve this problem.
4) the st-e2 wasn't reliable in sunlight- it worked 80% of the time but maybe there is a better way, pocket wizards? They seem expensive though considering the st-e2 was £76- a consideration seeing as I have to shell out about £1000 to cover all this stuff.
The annoying thing is that I wanted to upgrade my gear one piece at a time, getting the best I could afford- now i'm back to square 1 and if the insurence doesn't cover it I have to buy it all back, meaning 1) i'd buy it all back, but most likely only budget versions of what I already own- so i'd likely have worse equipment than I had before but still having the same amount of equipment 2) buy the best I can afford now, but not have the full range of lighting options I had before 3) buy exactly what I had before as I know how to use it, safest choice but maybe doesn't solve the issues i'm having
I really liked the 430ex, it's small, pocket friendly, and the quick release was handy. I didn't like the lack of power for bounce flash, or the lack of a white fill card. I can live without it and just use a 500 series flash as my main on camera flash
I liked the power of the 550ex's, and having 2 identical flashes was good for getting consistent illumination across something flat, like a painting etc. I didn't like the bulk though, I hear the 580ex's are slightly smaller and less bulky.
I purchased all my gear 2nd hand for budget reasons, and when I lost it I needed some flashes urgently for a job so I bought the only ones that amazon could guarantee to deliver on time (they actually never arrived in time anyway but I did the job fine without flash). I purchased a nissin 866 and a nissin 622mk2.
The nissin 866 is a pretty good bit of kit, I actually really like the sub flash for group portraits, the fill card works equally well in landscape, but switch to portrait and you can't use the fill card. Build quality is similar to the canon's but still a step down, the battery compartment is slower to use (takes longer to fill and unfill), and there is a slight gap (2mm) between the battery cover and the body of the flash, meaning i'd never use it in the rain. A noticeable cost saving over the 580ex though, but more expensive than the 550ex. Whether I keep it or replace it with a 550ex is debatable, I could get 2 550ex's for the same price as the nissin.
The nissin 466 is noticeably worse in quality, no LCD and the general build quality seems less than the 430ex, the lights on the back are very bright- too bright, i'd never use it as an on camera flash. There is no manual control in wireless mode, so probably can't be used with the st-e2, only able to be controlled by something that can remotely set it's power- 99% sure this will go back
also bought a ettl cord, but don't like being tethered so will probably return this, the wirleless st-e2 was much nicer to work with. If only I could set the manual model flash power remotely, maybe I can do this through the camera menu on the 1d3, certainly not with the 5d classic though (although I am looking to upgrade to the 5d2). Does anyone know if the 1d3 can control manual flash power of remote flashes using the st-e2, I'm guessing that the 580ex can do it seeing as the nissin 866 can do it, but having a flash on top of the camera just for wireless control is heavy and bulky.
i've been looking at the yongnuo 565 flashes, great price, and manual control in wireless slave mode, I think they're a better flash than the nissin 466 at nearly 1/2 the price too- i'm thinking that a 580ex for on camera (weather sealed)+ a battery pack, and 2 yongnuo's for key/fill and an st-e2 for triggering would be a good setup for a good price.
My main question is, is it only the 580ex (and the 580ex clones, like the nissin) that can adjust manual exposure on wireless slaves, or can the 550ex do it too- I never noticed it having that function but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. The best solution would be if the st-e2 could adjust manual exposures, either itself or in the camera menu (if I upgraded to 5d2)
I might be covered by insurance, so perhaps they will give me the money, or replacement equipment.
Even if they give me like for like, I may decide to sell and get something different after all.
the kit I lost was:
16-35 f2.8 L mk 2
canon 430ex
canon 550ex
canon 550ex
yongnuo st-e2 flash trigger
AA rechargeable battery sets x 4
battery charger for 5d
Giottos vitruvian tripod
kirk bh1 ball head with benro pc-1 rotating head
westcott 43" silver collapsible umbrella
2 white shoot through umbrellas
light stands x2
umbrella brackets x2
neutral gray card
bag to hold all the equipment
bag for light stands and umbrellas
for years I used 2 flashes with a wireless st-e2 trigger, recently added a third but only used it a few months before my gear was stolen- think I have come to rely on the third flash though.
Some criticisms of my old setup:
1) using the 550ex as background light, a 550ex as key and 430ex as fill. I'd eat through batteries in the background light, i'd like to look into a battery pack for this, maybe mains power option?
2) sometimes a single 550ex wasn't enough power, so I thought about strapping 2 together on the same channel, or just getting a more powerful flash. As I understand it, the 580ex isn't that much more powerful so i'd only see noticeable improvement with a studio flash- so i'd look into something fairly affordable (~£2/300) but it would be great if there was a battery pack option for it as well as mains power. Would pay extra if there was a decent modelling light, that could maybe be used for video lighting (I don't do video, but maybe in the future)
3) using the st-e2 as trigger, with all flashes in manual mode meant I had to adjust the flash power on each head. I never found a way to adjust things using only the st-e2, go going over to each flash to adjust was a pain, I'd pay extra to solve this problem.
4) the st-e2 wasn't reliable in sunlight- it worked 80% of the time but maybe there is a better way, pocket wizards? They seem expensive though considering the st-e2 was £76- a consideration seeing as I have to shell out about £1000 to cover all this stuff.
The annoying thing is that I wanted to upgrade my gear one piece at a time, getting the best I could afford- now i'm back to square 1 and if the insurence doesn't cover it I have to buy it all back, meaning 1) i'd buy it all back, but most likely only budget versions of what I already own- so i'd likely have worse equipment than I had before but still having the same amount of equipment 2) buy the best I can afford now, but not have the full range of lighting options I had before 3) buy exactly what I had before as I know how to use it, safest choice but maybe doesn't solve the issues i'm having
I really liked the 430ex, it's small, pocket friendly, and the quick release was handy. I didn't like the lack of power for bounce flash, or the lack of a white fill card. I can live without it and just use a 500 series flash as my main on camera flash
I liked the power of the 550ex's, and having 2 identical flashes was good for getting consistent illumination across something flat, like a painting etc. I didn't like the bulk though, I hear the 580ex's are slightly smaller and less bulky.
I purchased all my gear 2nd hand for budget reasons, and when I lost it I needed some flashes urgently for a job so I bought the only ones that amazon could guarantee to deliver on time (they actually never arrived in time anyway but I did the job fine without flash). I purchased a nissin 866 and a nissin 622mk2.
The nissin 866 is a pretty good bit of kit, I actually really like the sub flash for group portraits, the fill card works equally well in landscape, but switch to portrait and you can't use the fill card. Build quality is similar to the canon's but still a step down, the battery compartment is slower to use (takes longer to fill and unfill), and there is a slight gap (2mm) between the battery cover and the body of the flash, meaning i'd never use it in the rain. A noticeable cost saving over the 580ex though, but more expensive than the 550ex. Whether I keep it or replace it with a 550ex is debatable, I could get 2 550ex's for the same price as the nissin.
The nissin 466 is noticeably worse in quality, no LCD and the general build quality seems less than the 430ex, the lights on the back are very bright- too bright, i'd never use it as an on camera flash. There is no manual control in wireless mode, so probably can't be used with the st-e2, only able to be controlled by something that can remotely set it's power- 99% sure this will go back
also bought a ettl cord, but don't like being tethered so will probably return this, the wirleless st-e2 was much nicer to work with. If only I could set the manual model flash power remotely, maybe I can do this through the camera menu on the 1d3, certainly not with the 5d classic though (although I am looking to upgrade to the 5d2). Does anyone know if the 1d3 can control manual flash power of remote flashes using the st-e2, I'm guessing that the 580ex can do it seeing as the nissin 866 can do it, but having a flash on top of the camera just for wireless control is heavy and bulky.
i've been looking at the yongnuo 565 flashes, great price, and manual control in wireless slave mode, I think they're a better flash than the nissin 466 at nearly 1/2 the price too- i'm thinking that a 580ex for on camera (weather sealed)+ a battery pack, and 2 yongnuo's for key/fill and an st-e2 for triggering would be a good setup for a good price.
My main question is, is it only the 580ex (and the 580ex clones, like the nissin) that can adjust manual exposure on wireless slaves, or can the 550ex do it too- I never noticed it having that function but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. The best solution would be if the st-e2 could adjust manual exposures, either itself or in the camera menu (if I upgraded to 5d2)