Nothing in life is perfect

<p>Love my new 7D, one thing irks me though: wireless flash.<br>

On my old ST-E2 (which I sold when I got my 7D, dang) was pretty unobtrusive at wireless communication, especially if the AF emitter was disabled through CF.<br>

My 7D pops a wee preflash to tow the guns into line, at first my concern was that this strobe was at the same time as the primary flash which I've managed to decipher from the instructions isn't the case with my settings (would be nice if they just said it though) shame the flash tube has to fire at all though, unless somebody can tell me different.....<br>

Other than that, wowsers, what a rig, very happy boy.<br>

I was interested in the video as well as upgrading my xti, I use 2/3 chip DVCAM & DigiBeta cameras, which I can see increasingly gather dust once I settle on a zoom combo (have 17-40 f4, thinking 70-200 f2.8 non IS with 1.4 conv once I offload some other kit)<br>

The 7D is not perfect, but so far it is doing a very very good impersonation.</p>

<p>Speak for yourself. I'm perfect.</p>

<p>The popup flashes with the shutter open even when set to just wireless. You can see it as a hotspot in mirrors. I think it has to with ETTL, to shut off the remotes. I'll have to go try it in manual, or even with FEL.</p>

<p>Arie, I forgot. Sorry bud. Actually, you could be a little more modest.</p>

<p>I kept my ST-E2 to use with my 7D. Not only is the near IR pulses less intrusive, but the various trigger options and ratios are much easier to set with physical controls compared to the cursed 7D flash menu. The red AF assist is also heavenly compared to the blinding popup pulses.</p>

<p>Complain all you want, but I still like the wireless flash function of the 7D. Bravo, Canon...a step in the right direction. Although I'll still keep my ST-E2 for those occasions where I think the popup flash might be a bother.</p>

<p>As an anagarm of Arie Vandervelden spells '<strong>adrenaline revved</strong> ' its no surprise he jumped in here with such boastful proclamations! :-)</p>

<p>John, to quote the late and great Eric Morecambe "There's no answer to that".</p>

<p>Just to confirm what Michael said: wireless flash control uses trigger flashes emitted during exposure as well as pre-flashes emitted prior to exposure. That's true whether you use a flashgun as master, or an ST-E2, or the built-in flash of the 7D. The sensors on flashguns used as slaves require only a signal in the near IR to operate, and the ST-E2 takes advantage of that to mask off the visible light from its signal flashes. If you are using a flashgun or the built-in flash of the 7D as master but not as a flash contributing to the overall illumination, then in principle you could put a filter in front of it that would cut out the visible light but pass IR. Whilst it might be possible to devise sensible ways of doing that with a flashgun (for example, using a Sto-fen diffuser to support the filter material), it would probably be a bit tricky with a pop-up flash.</p>

<p>The range of the on-board wireless is not enough for me. I still use my Pocket Wizards and of course, set my flashes to manual and use my meter equip with PW transmitter to get the right exposure. v/r Buffdr </p>