Remote flash confusion

[TCR4x4]

Im confused..
I was led to believe lower end Canon bodies didnt support off camera flash like Nikon's CLS.
However my New Nissin flash just arrived, and I thought I'd try it anyway on my 450d. And it works, the on camera flash is triggering the remote Nissin.

Am I missing something? I guess its not TTL, just manual???

Never got my head around flash, so I might just be being thick.

 

[Alastair]

Triggering is easy.. controlling the flash (altering the flash settings) is the difficult bit

What you're describing is a slave mode on the flash.. any flash of light will trigger that, it's a function of the flashgun not the camera..

 

[TCR4x4]

Ah ok, I think I get it.

So basicly The flash is firing at max, no matter what when it "sees" the on camera flash. CLS or Canon's equivilent lets you control the flash level of the remote units and it also uses the camera's metering to get the exposure right?

 

[Alastair]

If you shoot TTL (on the camera, using a wired extension or with an expensive wireless system) the camera can control the flash intensity to get the exposure.

Using a flash in slave mode then the flash power will be whatever it's set at. Using a flash this way you should have it in Manual so you can choose the flash power yourself.

You can also use the flash wirelessly in manual mode without using your pop-up flash using a wireless trigger, such as a PocketWizard or the cheaper Yongnuo RF-602.

Have a read of the Strobist 101 for a guide to using off-camera manual flash. The results can be very impressive but it does take a bit of learning and practice.