Can you help figure out how to set up two-three flash units controlled by my 40d?

[nath121]

Hi, i really want to get into skateboard, bmx, parkour and blading photography.
I skateboard and alot of my friends partake in the above extreme sports at a high level.
I am very passionate in pursuing the documentation of their skills and tricks and really need to figure out what is the right equipment to achieve my goals.
The usual set up is two flash units on stands, one at each side of camera facing inwards towards the subject. Diffusers would be an additional requirement to the flash units. I dont know how to control such flash units. They need to be in sync as i am sure they would be with the ETTL technology inside the canon 40d camera.
Full manual control of the flash intensities is important also, os hopefully the auto flash light compensation can be passed.

Any help would be brill.
Obviously the less i spend the better but i dont want to scrimp on quality so i will pay for the right equipment.

Many Thanks
Nath

 

[jobe]

Hi Nath

I,m in the process of setting up my strobist kit similar to what you want, I have just bought 2 Nikon SB 28's their quite powerful fully manual and cheap for what they are but you have to find good quality ones as you can only buy them second hand, as for triggers the muts nuts are the pocket wizards, quite expensive but you wont hear a bad word about them. Then you have the elinchrom skyports, less expensive also a lot of good reviews. Or the cheapo chinese triggers excellent for testing and playing around with for the price but not very reliable especially outdoors.
None of these triggers use TTL technology so it will be completely manual.
If you wait for a while the radiopoppers are due to be released on the market which will use TTL.
This place is an excellent source of info http://strobist.blogspot.com/
Hope this helps a bit
Wayne

 

[sportysnaps]

a cost effective way to do this is with secondhand canon 550ex flash guns as they can be set to wirelessly trigger each other with a manual or ettl settings. on ebay they can be brought for £115-145 you can set up three with a ratio of power each - if you find the distance between each flash is too large for the wireless system built in (it is quite good) you can still use the skyport or pocket wizards.