New to attachments etc PLEASE help :)

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mrbrightside

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Paul
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Hi i recently joined up to gain experience on photography, it is a passion of mine but i do want to get better and better but i feel my equipment is holding me back!

im quite the car enthusiast and i am being constantly asked to do car photoshoots.
The only thing is its normally at night or in poor lighting, i dont like using my standard pop up flash as i find it ruins the picture and i tend to also get alot of noise when bumping up the iso.

I have a canon 450D with a 18-55mm lens and a tamron 70-300mm lens. i have a uv and cpl filter but im looking at new lenses and flashes.

what would you recommend to help me achieve better nighttime pictures and better pictures of cars in general, i have been looking at wide angle lens attachments for the 18-55mm lens and wondered if these were any good, and i also looked at a couple of flashguns with wireless senders that were about £30 on ebay.

All advice is welcomed as i could really do with it :)
 
Welcome to TP :)

Wide-angle attachments are very poor quality. No substitute for a proper lens, but there's a lot you can do with your kit zoom.

To have a go at cars at night, you will need two flash guns on stands and some way of triggering them - either an IR master unit or radio triggers (which will be manual only unless you're minted).

You also need a fair amount of knowledge and skill to get the most out of them.
 
Also you may already have one, but including the above a tripod is a MUST for night time shots of cars really, unless you have very steady hands, or bump up the ISO a lot
 
ive got a tripod.
When looking at flashes theres so many things to take note of. and i end up not knowing what im looking for!
what would be a good recommendation for a flash and maybe a wireless trigger for it?
 
mrbrightside said:
ive got a tripod.
When looking at flashes theres so many things to take note of. and i end up not knowing what im looking for!
what would be a good recommendation for a flash and maybe a wireless trigger for it?
Click to expand...

The best flash gun for you is a Canon 580EXII. It's got everything, including a master controller function which you need for remote auto-TTL shooting. Then get a 430EXII to use as a slave. Also get a long dedicated cord (10m - £40) and you should have no triggering problems except in bright sun - it's all done by coded optical signals. There are cheaper alternatives from third party makers like Nissin, Sigma, Metz etc.

For reliable long range remote flash, even in bright sun, a radio tigger such as the Yongnuo RF-602 are the ones to get - under £50 for a transmitter and two receivers. Cheap and good, but they are manual exposure control only. You can get auto-TTL Pocket Wizard radio triggers but they are over £400 a pair (you'll need three).

Best wide zoom is Canon 10-22. Excellent lens. Cheaper alternative is the Sigma 10-20 which is also popular.
 
thanks for the advice. i will save up for a canon 580 and a slave. will get some pics up once i purchase one :)
 
mainly car stuff, just upgraded my tripod and got hold of a sigma 10-20mm to try out for a month or so.

I was told a permanent light would be better than a flash for car photography but surely its irrilevant?!
 
mrbrightside said:
mainly car stuff, just upgraded my tripod and got hold of a sigma 10-20mm to try out for a month or so.

I was told a permanent light would be better than a flash for car photography but surely its irrilevant?!
Click to expand...

Unless you are shooting video and can get some massive mains powered continuous lights, flash is far better.
 
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