Flash - What to do.

yoby

yoby

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Dave
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Apologies if this has been asked before. I've found that I'm now extremely limited with some of the shots I'm trying to get because I haven't got a flash. Been looking to get one for ages, but budget and other priorities wouldn't allow it. Not have some "spare" cash and looking to get a flash unit.

Will likeley be mostly using it off camera, and would like to be able to trigger it from built in flash rather than cable if possible. Not too bothered about the brand, as long as it does what it's supposed to and it needs to be compatible with Canon (currently have 30D but expect to 'upgrade' sometime next year).

Never having owned or used a flash before I'm a little overwhelmed with the research on the interweb and would appreciate some thoughts or suggestions from some of you guys (and gals) who know about this kind of thing.

Thanks for taking the time to help.
Regards
Dave
 
Try www.strobist.com and go the lighting 101 link. This isn't an attempt to fob you off but the lighting information here is sound and easy to understand.
 
Hi Yoby,

First things first mate, you mention that your not getting the shots that you'd like due to the absence of a flash, before giving any advice of what kind of kit it would be better to find out what are you looking to achieve, portraits, macro etc?

I'm no expert on the dedicated Canon triggering system but ST-E2 Transmitter is compatible with Canon EX Flash guns.

If your not particularly fussed with having the dedicated Canon set up then as an alternative you can buy any manual control hot shoe flash to be triggered via a PC Sync cord or triggered wirelessly.

Some flash guns have built in optical slaves which will allow the flash to fire when the slave picks up light from other flash units. These are pretty handy.

With regards to triggering, there are the cheap and mostly unreliable ebay triggers, standard PC Sync cords, you can also buy an optical slave hot shoe adaptor and trigger the flash unit with you on board flash and then of course there are the more industry standard Elinchrom Skyports, Bowens Pulsars and Pocket Wizards radio triggers.

Each method has it's own degree of reliability, effective range and corresponding damage to the wallet :D

Another point to consider seriously is that if you do not require the set up to be incredibly lightweight/portable and your interested in more of a studio environment then I wouldn't rule out investing in a flash head set up, Interfit, Lencarta, Elinchrom and Bowens to name a few brands all offer starter kits.
It can be said that flash heads are also portable, but IMO it's much more expensive and in many circumstances the extra output may not be necessary to someone who's starting out (depending on what your shooting of course).
You will either need to find a power source to plug them into, buy very expensive battery packs or hire a petrol powered generator to use the studio flash heads out doors or out on location.

So, if you can let us know what you plan on shooting and how you plan on shooting it, we can go onwards from there ;)

T.
 
Cheers for the quick replies chaps, Strobist bookmarked for a read later (not at work today)

With regard to the type of shots, I've found the built in one on the Canon adequate for fill in, but wanted to get more creative. A couple of my ideas for the competition entries this month could really have done with some side lighting and the lamps indoors didn't really work as well as I'd wanted them to.

I would like to be able to use it as part of a "desktop" studio, eventually having more than one when budget allows. But as I learn more, would un-doubtably use it for portraits as well.

Sorry it's not more specific, but haven't really got a specific scenario in mind other than tabletop shots, waterdrops etc.
 
yoby said:
Sorry it's not more specific, but haven't really got a specific scenario in mind other than tabletop shots, waterdrops etc.
Click to expand...

Well specific is wasn't until the last line :lol: You wanna light small stuff!

Cheap ebay triggers are really not going to help you much I'm afraid, the closer the proximity to each receiver the worse the mis-fires get, well, it was the case with the Cactus Vs2's anyway.

The cheapest option would be a couple of second hand full manual flash guns, preferably with built in slaves, failing that the hot shoe slave adaptors that fit to each flash could be an option as this method can be triggered via your camera's on board flash.

If Graham (Flash In The Pan) has any Jessops 360AD's left they would be perfect for the job as they are full manual and have their own optical slaves built in :thinking:

www.strobist.com is an excellent resource for understanding the world of lighting. Take things in nice and slow, don't cut corners or skip bits ;).

This video helps to understand the gear and how it fits together:

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Thomas, you're a gent sir.
Plenty to keep me occupied this morning. Seen a couple of the Jessops ones on ebay. If they'll do the job, I could get 2 or 3 for the price of a second hand Canon. Off to have a read of stuff. No doubt I'll be back with some quetions later, thanks for the help so far.
 
yoby said:
Thomas, you're a gent sir.
Plenty to keep me occupied this morning. Seen a couple of the Jessops ones on ebay. If they'll do the job, I could get 2 or 3 for the price of a second hand Canon. Off to have a read of stuff. No doubt I'll be back with some quetions later, thanks for the help so far.
Click to expand...

No probs mate. I'm no expert though, but I'd be happy to help in anyway I can.

The 360's will do the job fine, make sure you also invest in the relevant stands, swivels and modifiers seen in the video though.

Catch you later :D
 
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