Off camera flash- Keep SB26's or go with Canon?

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Bigdeaks

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I have had 3x nikon sb-26 flashes that I have been using off camera with radio triggers with my canon 40d for a while now. While they are very versatile and i have had some decent results with them, having to dial in everything manually is a bit of a pain and each shot needs a fair bit of thought and planning, which I dont always have the time/inclination to do.

With this is mind I recently bought a Canon 430exII to use with ETTL on camera, and I have to say I am very please with it. I had intended to sell one of the SB26's to keep 2 to keep the option to use the 430 in manual mode/off camera with the other 26's and radio triggers if needed.

Now I am wondering whether it would be worth selling all 3 sb26's and getting a 550ex/580ex or 580exII to do multiple flashes with ETTL off camera as I would still have the option to set it all manually as I do now, and use the radio trigger if i wanted. To be honest i have rearely used all 3 SB-26's at once, and would probably happily get on with just the two. Could probably get £200ish for all 3 which would go a long way towards a 580exII.

Anyone had experience with both systems or got any thoughts?
 
My only thought is that you'd need to have the 5?0ex on the camera all the time so you'd still really only have one flash off camera. Could always get an st-e2 (having a bit of brain fade, the canon ettl master thingy) or upgrade to a 7d *** :D

I'm looking to go a similar way eventually, while i enjoy the manual flashes sometimes an automatic would be handy for action and such.
 
Thats a good point, but also have an ettl cable to get the commander off camera so thats not too much of a problem. Would like a 7d eventually, the commander function may be available on newer models too. Would really resent having to buy the st-e2 given its price.
 
Bigdeaks said:
Thats a good point, but also have an ettl cable to get the commander off camera so thats not too much of a problem. Would like a 7d eventually, the commander function may be available on newer models too. Would really resent having to buy the st-e2 given its price.
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YongNuo have an ST-E2 clone in the pipeline, which should be a fraction of the price of the real one....

yongnuo-ste2-300x260.jpg
 
SB-26's going? I'll have one of them! :)
 
Buy the 580EX ...... then you can sell those SB's to me! (I seem to collect them like trading cards at the moment).

Seriously though, how often have you found that manual lets you down? Don't forget that the system you've got now is future proof, and you know what exposure you are going to get every time, as it is ... well ... manual.

I think the eTTL / CLS systems are really good, and I've seen some great examples of people using them, but there is quite a lot to learn in order to get me most out of them. For me, it is another variable that I don't want to have to think about, I like the fact that my flashes reproduce the same light every time without the processor in the camera/speedlite trying to interpret for me.

If you've got the time to learn, and accept that in a few years time the *latest* flashed will have the *latest* superTTL which may make the current stuff obsolete (I'm all for improving tech, but there is a financial cost associated with it) - then go for it. And if you do, I'll snap up those SBs.

Starabo
 
I suppose there are a few questions for you to answer yourself.... here's one...

How often will you be using (multple) off camera flash with ETTL ?

If you use off Camera flash and want ETTL, then moving in this direction is the right move...

Keep in mind that to use your ETTL out doors will pose problems/issues in sunlight and also require line of sight between the units.... unless you move to the Pocket wizard type triggers....

If you are happy with manual............

Phil
 
Flash In The Pan said:
YongNuo have an ST-E2 clone in the pipeline, which should be a fraction of the price of the real one....
Click to expand...

Thats very interesting... I'll watch this space.

In answer to the other points there have been a number of occasions recently where ETTL off camera would have been very useful, and I have ended up not even bothering with manual- sometimes i just dont have the time to set everything up, test it, check the exposure, adjust it, each time having to go to each flash and do it manually- the moment is gone. Perhaps I am just not good enough at it! The manual system is fine, and when I have time to set up a shot and the subject matter isnt in a hurry (I shoot mostly dogs and people who normally are!). I guess its a lot like setting aperture/shutter speeds manually- sometimes to get the shot you just want to whack it in P mode and the camera to work it out for you.

Also i am working on the assumption that the Canon system would still let me control the setup all manually if i didnt want to use ETTL? Or if it wont that I could do with a cheapo optical slave and/or my radio trigger? In which case it would be a no brainer really, just a matter of how much more it would cost....
 
itsdavedotnet said:
they planning an SU-800 clone as well? :D
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Not as far as I know, the one in the background, although it looks like an SU-800 (suggesting they may well do a clone of that) is for the new wireless YN flashes that are (allegedly) coming next year...
 
E-TTL is brilliant for the situations you suggest - when there just isn't time to mess about and you need it to be right first time. I use it a lot. And yes, you can use everything fully manual as well.

It's only a matter of cost. And there's nothing stopping you from popping them on a radio trigger if you need, they're so flipping cheap. I've got several RF-602s that I use for other things, but I've never had to use them because the E-TTL didn't work, even outside. It's got more range than folks sometimes give it credit for. I can imagine that in direct bright sun there might be probs with that though.
 
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