Which basic flash?

^Joe

^Joe

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I have no clue about flash, so need to do some reading up.

I am in need of a hot-shoe flash. I like taking portraits, both in and outdoor and a lot of comments are 'looks good, needs some fill'

So that's basically all I want it for. I've also been invited along to a wedding to be a second shooter for a friend next year.

Impending house purchase means the budget is tight, any recommendations at all?

These Yongnuo things seem cheap :thinking:

thanks.
 
The pop-up is actually quite good for fill-in. On Av, the camera will automatically set the shutter speed for the ambient light, and attempt to match it with the flash output. If you don't like the balance of exposure, adjust ambient brightness (shutter speed) with the normal compensation dial, and change the flash output with flash exposure comp in the menus. Lots of control there.

You can take things a step further with a hot-shoe gun, particularly one with high speed sync that will allow you to use flash when the shutter speed needs to rise above 1/200sec (500D's x-sync ceiling) which it often will in sunlight.

You can also enhance the fill-in by making the light softer with a modifier that makes the light area larger. Have a look at Lumiquest.

Then of course you can also do loads more stuff with a hot-shoe gun. Check out an excellent book - Speedliter's Handbook by Syl Arena (Amazon?). Everything a Canon user needs to know :)
 
^Joe said:
Thanks for taking the time Richard, do you have any experience with the Yong flashes?

I will also look into a book!

Thanks
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I've used most Yongnuo stuff, including the new 622 E-TTL triggers, and rate it. But never used their flash guns.

However, they have a good rep, especially at the price, and if I was buying new I would go straight for a couple of YN 568EX guns (with high speed sync) and a set of YN 622 E-TTL triggers. So much you can do with that, and fairly amazing value.

There are current threads on both of these products.
 
Joe, I' have two YN flashes for about 100 quid each
they're alright, not as good as the 580exII but 1/3 of the price or less!
They should work remotely by IR or if your DSLR can trigger them through the pop-up flash
They have a catch light and also take a battery pack
the newer version doesn't have this connector but does HSS as above
Also for £70 you can get a YN STE2 which gives you some options as a master using ETTL
 
HoppyUK said:
You can take things a step further with a hot-shoe gun, particularly one with high speed sync that will allow you to use flash when the shutter speed needs to rise above 1/200sec (500D's x-sync ceiling) which it often will in sunlight.
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If it doesn't have high speed sync, will the flash not fire if the shutter speed is quicker then?

how does the YN560-II fair?

thanks again
 
DizMatt said:
Joe, I' have two YN flashes for about 100 quid each
they're alright, not as good as the 580exII but 1/3 of the price or less!
They should work remotely by IR or if your DSLR can trigger them through the pop-up flash
They have a catch light and also take a battery pack
the newer version doesn't have this connector but does HSS as above
Also for £70 you can get a YN STE2 which gives you some options as a master using ETTL
Click to expand...

thanks Matt - what makes one flash better than another, the power?
 
^Joe said:
If it doesn't have high speed sync, will the flash not fire if the shutter speed is quicker then?

how does the YN560-II fair?

thanks again
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Depends on the gun. If it's E-TTL enabled, the camera won't allow you to set a higher shutter speed without high speed sync.

If it's a manual gun, the flash will fire at any shutter speed, but unless you have HSS the flash will only illuminate part of the frame at speeds above the x-sync max. Eg, at say 1/500sec, you'll only get flash in the top half of the frame, and it gets worse as shutter speeds rise higher.

All DSLRs are the same - it's the way focal plane shutters work.
 
^Joe said:
So If I want to achieve a good shot > 1/200 I'm going to need a flash with HSS.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yongnuo-YN5...PWWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350651994&sr=8-1

(thanks Richard)

Is this my only option <£150 ish ?

Presumably no problems with it working on my 500D
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At that price, yes. Search other threads and google for best deals. Most other manufacturers provide HSS on their top models (Canon, Metz, Nissin etc) but all more money.

Nothing can touch the YN 568 and 622 combo for performance and value. With a couple of those you have a very capable system with huge potential - unimaginable a couple of years ago at that price. You just have to learn how to use it, understand how light works, and the doors will open to a whole new world of creative opportunity. That Syl Arena book is excellent :thumbs:
 
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^Joe said:
Thank you for your help Richard, I think this is the one I am going to go for.

I assume it's not missing anything at all that I may wish it had in the future?
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Well yes and no. Some of the others have built-in light-code mastering, but that's replaced by the better radio mastering of the 622, so no really :)
 
^Joe said:
Bump,

I bought the flash and still haven't opened the packaging!!

Can I use these as transceivers for my yongnuo 568 and canon 500d ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/YONGNUO-Wir...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359128184&sr=1-2

Or can anybody recomend something similar / better? At a decent price..
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RF-603, yes they will work. Full manual only, and not my choice, but they'll sync fine and you can't go wrong at that price. Hahnel Combi is better, but twice the price.

YN-568 gun makes a great partner to YN-622 triggers with E-TTL, bargain at around £70-80 a set.
 
^Joe said:
Thanks for your advice :)


What is the cable for ?
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Erm, shutter release? Like it says on the link...

PS You a Hamilton fan?
 
^Joe said:
Ah I see. Remote release :)

Of course; you? Where abouts in east mids are you ?
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Yeah sure. My son used to race karts with Lewis, beat him a few times as well. And DiResta :D We've been family friends ever since. He'll do well at Mercedes, 2014 will be the year.
 
HoppyUK said:
Yeah sure. My son used to race karts with Lewis, beat him a few times as well. And DiResta :D We've been family friends ever since. He'll do well at Mercedes, 2014 will be the year.
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That's fantastic! I'm partial to a bit of karting too. I've entered so many completions to meet Lewis. Never happened ;(

I hope it will. He won't be hanging about in 2013 either I don't think.
 
Could I ask a little about flashes too ?

My use is really just as a slave flash, I don't need anything fantastic I do have a basic flash gun already, but it's so limited in terms of what I can do with It I hardly bother at all!

It's a Metz 36 AF-4C
All I want it for is a slave flash. Are there any adapters that are compatible or should I just bin it and look towards something like the 430ex ?
(Sorry I just didn't think this question required a whole new thread)
 
chuck said:
Could I ask a little about flashes too ?

My use is really just as a slave flash, I don't need anything fantastic I do have a basic flash gun already, but it's so limited in terms of what I can do with It I hardly bother at all!

It's a Metz 36 AF-4C
All I want it for is a slave flash. Are there any adapters that are compatible or should I just bin it and look towards something like the 430ex ?
(Sorry I just didn't think this question required a whole new thread)
Click to expand...

This should work - basic optical slave for a tenner http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maxsima-Opt...5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359422608&sr=1-5 Might not work in bright sun, but should be fine indoors.

You need another flash that it can sync off though, such as your 7D's pop-up but only in manual firing mode.

Radio triggers are so cheap, versatile and reliable though...
 
The 7d built in flash doesn't have a manual mode OORC. So you'll need a slave cell that'll ignore the pre flash. Radio triggers aren't much more expensive and much more versatile.
 
Phil V said:
The 7d built in flash doesn't have a manual mode OORC. So you'll need a slave cell that'll ignore the pre flash. Radio triggers aren't much more expensive and much more versatile.
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7D's pop-up has manual flash mode. And on-board E-TTL mastering ;)
 
I didn't know about the manual, I knew about the mastering.

And I've got one.

My excuse would be I never use the pop up.
 
I also like the ability to control the ETTL slave gun groups in a manual config from the back of the 7D.

When you are chimping the histogram it saves you walking over to them and manually adjusting.

Not that I use a lot of flash, but good to know if you are doubting the ETTL.
 
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