Midsized Flashlights to work unleashed

[daniela]

Hi Guys!

As my husband stays in Brazil for 10 weeks, I have plenty of time to join photographic courses.
One course is to learn to work with unleashed flashes for portraits, where it is preferred to bring your own flashes along (to learn how to perform best with your own EQ).

For this, I´d like to buy 2 smaller flashes (430EXII or an third party model) to work with my 550EX.
I found an Nissin i40 and the Metz mecablitz 48 AF-1 Digital as an third party flash.

Would one of these be an good choice too, or stay at Canon 430EXII? Or do You know another good flash for me? I will use them with diffusors or other flash units header. My Cams are an 7D and my new 6D.

G
Daniela

p.s.: My husband wrote, he sees an enormous amount of expensive equipment each day in Brazil. Some have taped their bodies, some are using neopren covers. So there is much speculation about new cameras and lenses. He personally thinks, he saw an D800 successor. Some photographers use faked straps (my husband bought an "7D Mark 2" for me ;-), for himself an "D810"). For 40BRL your Cam changes into an eyecatcher, if someone sees your neckstrap ;-))) He noticed some "1DX Mark II" an "5D MarkIV" who have been surrounded by photographers mwho tried to get an shot of these "new" cams and were disappointed as this was just fake.

 

[Hannes]

I think you are running in to a bit of a language barrier here, I'm guessing you are looking for speedlights (flashguns) for off camera use.

If you are shooting a fairly dark environment with umbrellas, you want full automation and you have a flash that can act as a master the canon 430 is a good good choice. For everything else there are better options out there.

In the cheap end of the hobbyist market the excellent Yongnuo YN560III flashes reside. They are manual only and have a built in receiver so you don't have to rely on the optical triggering the canons would use. You can get a trigger called rf603 that will let you trigger your EX550 with the yongnuo flashes. This set up will be fully manual and you will have to adjust the power on the flash as it stands at the moment but there is a new commander unit coming out in a couple of months that will let you change power remotely. You can get four or five of these for the same money as one canon flash.

At the other end of the spectrum you have the canon 600ex rt which will do full automation with radio triggering and lots of other goodies. If you have the money for it these are probably the speedlights most people will want.

 

[daniela]

I think you are running in to a bit of a language barrier here, I'm guessing you are looking for speedlights (flashguns) for off camera use.

If you are shooting a fairly dark environment with umbrellas, you want full automation and you have a flash that can act as a master the canon 430 is a good good choice. For everything else there are better options out there.

In the cheap end of the hobbyist market the excellent Yongnuo YN560III flashes reside. They are manual only and have a built in receiver so you don't have to rely on the optical triggering the canons would use. You can get a trigger called rf603 that will let you trigger your EX550 with the yongnuo flashes. This set up will be fully manual and you will have to adjust the power on the flash as it stands at the moment but there is a new commander unit coming out in a couple of months that will let you change power remotely. You can get four or five of these for the same money as one canon flash.

At the other end of the spectrum you have the canon 600ex rt which will do full automation with radio triggering and lots of other goodies. If you have the money for it these are probably the speedlights most people will want.

Sorry for my poor english! :-[ :-[

A product in the middle - between the 600ex rt and the Yongnuo - is the product I am looking for. The Nissin i40 is very compact, so i thought it would be a speedlight that can be easily used as an accent-light.

 

[TexPhoto]

More important than the flashes is the flash modifier. A good portable soft box is key to change the hard light into soft.

Search youtube for "Off Camera Flash". You'll see tons of examples and tutorials.

I will bet the 7D2 is running around inside a 1D Mark 4 case or similar. Completely concealed. I'm sure it would only go out labeled as 7D2 is Canon wanted it to leak.

 

[Skirball]

First off, I have to say, I love the term "unleashed flash". It sounds way cooler than off-camera.

As to which flash, you have to make a decision of whether or not you want to use eTTL (automatic flash) and High Speed sync (HSS). Most people new to flash are going to want eTTL, if for nothing else, to ease the learning curve. It's nice to have at least one flash that can do eTTL and HSS for on-camera use.

But you mention off-camera and portraits. I never use eTTL for portraits, always manual. And I use manual most the time my flashes are unleashed If my flash is off camera it's stationary, so I probably have a good idea where my subject will be, thus I like the predictability and reliability of manual flash. I also don't have much use for HSS in what I shoot. Actually, I don't like the power decrease, so I make a point to shoot within my sync speed. But other people have different uses and need HSS, and others like to shoot portraiture with eTTL. It's a personal choice, neither is wrong, but if you want eTTL it gets more expensive.

If you want eTTL just get the Canon 430exII. It's a great eTTL flash for a reasonable price. The nominal difference between generic and namebrand flash with eTTL isn't big enough for me to go generic.

If you're ok with manual flash the Yongnuo 560 III is by far the best value there is at $75. It has built in radio triggers to work with RF-602 and RF-603 systems. It's well built, has a good sized LCD screen, and most the functions/features of Canon. But it's manual and can't do High Speed Sync.

Oh, and I highly, highly recommend going to Strobist and reading. Just about all the info you need on flash photography.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

 

[IMG_0001]

I have a Sigma EF610 dg super that I am very happy with. It has full ETTL-II and manual, High speed sync, strobe, master/slave etc and is quite powerfull. However, for off camera flash, I'd save and go for full manual flashes like the YN-560III that was proposed. It will provide you with much more control and regularity than TTL. The strobist, a well-known internet source for off-camera flash technique, also strongly recommend the LumoPro LP180 manual flash.

 

[Skirball]

I forgot about the LumoPro. It was highly recommended. Although, that's quite old now (2008?), back when Yongnuo seemed to have a lot of QA issues. I haven't had any problems with any of my Yongnuo equipment - (2) 560 III, a 560II, a 565ex, a 460 II, full set of RF-602, and set of RF-622s. I think they're still fighting that stigma a bit.

Regardless, if you're going to stick with manual, I don't think anything competes with the 560 III, for the price.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I think you are running in to a bit of a language barrier here, I'm guessing you are looking for speedlights (flashguns) for off camera use.

If you are shooting a fairly dark environment with umbrellas, you want full automation and you have a flash that can act as a master the canon 430 is a good good choice. For everything else there are better options out there.

In the cheap end of the hobbyist market the excellent Yongnuo YN560III flashes reside. They are manual only and have a built in receiver so you don't have to rely on the optical triggering the canons would use. You can get a trigger called rf603 that will let you trigger your EX550 with the yongnuo flashes. This set up will be fully manual and you will have to adjust the power on the flash as it stands at the moment but there is a new commander unit coming out in a couple of months that will let you change power remotely. You can get four or five of these for the same money as one canon flash.

At the other end of the spectrum you have the canon 600ex rt which will do full automation with radio triggering and lots of other goodies. If you have the money for it these are probably the speedlights most people will want.

Sorry for my poor english! :-[ :-[

A product in the middle - between the 600ex rt and the Yongnuo - is the product I am looking for. The Nissin i40 is very compact, so i thought it would be a speedlight that can be easily used as an accent-light.

Although we use the term "Off Camera Flash", your meaning came thru clearly for me.

I also thought it was funny to describe the fake camera straps and taped over logos used by those in fun.

 

[IMG_0001]

I forgot about the LumoPro. It was highly recommended. Although, that's quite old now (2008?), back when Yongnuo seemed to have a lot of QA issues. I haven't had any problems with any of my Yongnuo equipment - (2) 560 III, a 560II, a 565ex, a 460 II, full set of RF-602, and set of RF-622s. I think they're still fighting that stigma a bit.

Regardless, if you're going to stick with manual, I don't think anything competes with the 560 III, for the price.

I must concede that as you can get a pair of Yongnuo and the transmitter for the price of the LumoPro, I'd personally go with them... I probably will do sooner or later.

 

[daniela]

Thanks for your replies!
Maybe the best thing would be to start with the 430 Speedlight and train to use the speedlights in M mode. Then, when trained, Iwill buy some third party speedlights to use them for better lighting.

In my future plans I will buy some accessory for the speedlights (mobile softboxes) to use them outside too. We do not have an empty room in our house to use it for an studio flash system (my three children would kill me).

Another question please:

The only speedlights I used in the last years were the internal of my 7D and the Canon ring-flashlight for my 100mm Macro. I do normally available light fotography (amateur quality). So I tried to use my 550EX speedlight yesterday - after a couple of years for the first time again.
But I am not satisfied with the brightness of the shots. They are much to dark.
No changes have been made on the speedlights or Cams settings. Both (6D and 7D) have these problems.
But: If I move the switch from the "wireless" controller from off to "master", the exposure is clearly better (brighter).
And if I raise the head of the speedlight to flash indirectly, the exposure is correct.
Is this just my user ignorance, or might there be an hardware problem?

Daniela

Oh, and my husband told me to study English, not to learn how to become an better photographer.... machismo :

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Thanks for your replies!
Maybe the best thing would be to start with the 430 Speedlight and train to use the speedlights in M mode. Then, when trained, Iwill buy some third party speedlights to use them for better lighting.

In my future plans I will buy some accessory for the speedlights (mobile softboxes) to use them outside too. We do not have an empty room in our house to use it for an studio flash system (my three children would kill me).

Another question please:

The only speedlights I used in the last years were the internal of my 7D and the Canon ring-flashlight for my 100mm Macro. I do normally available light fotography (amateur quality). So I tried to use my 550EX speedlight yesterday - after a couple of years for the first time again.
But I am not satisfied with the brightness of the shots. They are much to dark.
No changes have been made on the speedlights or Cams settings. Both (6D and 7D) have these problems.
But: If I move the switch from the "wireless" controller from off to "master", the exposure is clearly better (brighter).
And if I raise the head of the speedlight to flash indirectly, the exposure is correct.
Is this just my user ignorance, or might there be an hardware problem?

Daniela

Oh, and my husband told me to study English, not to learn how to become an better photographer.... machismo :

Your English is fine, I understand it well.

The Camera settings can affect flash exposure a lot. Don't use Av, for example until you understand what its doing, or you may get unexpected results.
When you set the on camera switch to Master, the camera is measuring the light and sending the proper setting to the off camera flash. (It should be set to "slave".

Its not uncommon to have to adjust flash compensation to brighten or darken exposures. It depends a lot on the lighting. Indirect off the ceiling bounce light usually looks better than direct light, and the camera often computes a different exposure for it. I see that as well.

We have some pretty good experts on flash photography here, but the website http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ contains reliable information from a accomplished expert.

 

[daniela]

Thanks for your replies!
Maybe the best thing would be to start with the 430 Speedlight and train to use the speedlights in M mode. Then, when trained, Iwill buy some third party speedlights to use them for better lighting.

In my future plans I will buy some accessory for the speedlights (mobile softboxes) to use them outside too. We do not have an empty room in our house to use it for an studio flash system (my three children would kill me).

Another question please:

The only speedlights I used in the last years were the internal of my 7D and the Canon ring-flashlight for my 100mm Macro. I do normally available light fotography (amateur quality). So I tried to use my 550EX speedlight yesterday - after a couple of years for the first time again.
But I am not satisfied with the brightness of the shots. They are much to dark.
No changes have been made on the speedlights or Cams settings. Both (6D and 7D) have these problems.
But: If I move the switch from the "wireless" controller from off to "master", the exposure is clearly better (brighter).
And if I raise the head of the speedlight to flash indirectly, the exposure is correct.
Is this just my user ignorance, or might there be an hardware problem?

Daniela

Oh, and my husband told me to study English, not to learn how to become an better photographer.... machismo :

Your English is fine, I understand it well.

The Camera settings can affect flash exposure a lot. Don't use Av, for example until you understand what its doing, or you may get unexpected results.
When you set the on camera switch to Master, the camera is measuring the light and sending the proper setting to the off camera flash. (It should be set to "slave".

Its not uncommon to have to adjust flash compensation to brighten or darken exposures. It depends a lot on the lighting. Indirect off the ceiling bounce light usually looks better than direct light, and the camera often computes a different exposure for it. I see that as well.

We have some pretty good experts on flash photography here, but the website http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ contains reliable information from a accomplished expert.

MUCH THANKS!
I will read in the evening.

 

[IMG_0001]

In P mode (on the camera), the camera will expose the foreground correctly but the background will remain dark. In Av and Tv, the camera will do a normal exposure even if the flash fires, so the flash fills the foreground but all is correctly exposed. If you were shooting P, it might be that bounced light gave a lightter background, providing a more uniform exposure. There may also be different flash compensation settings for master and single flash in the camera and flash menus.