asimh Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Ok, so i am thinking of buying an AB800 and just use one light to getaccustomed to lighting etc without getting too complicated. since ialready own a 420EX, what are the a) cheapest, b) easiest, c) bestways (hopefully they are one in the same! :) ) to get them to worktogether when i am ready to add lights, yet can't afford a second AB? my searching didn't really come up with anything - more with 550EX andexternal lights. thanks for your help! - asim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_r1 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 The 420EX is not a good flash to mix with monolights as it does not have manually adjustable power. For ease of use, you are better off either upgrading to a 550/580ex, or adding a Vivitar 285HV to your kit. Alien Bees are great lights, and it's amazing what you can do with 1 light and a reflector - which can be something as simple as a $5 piece of foam core from your local art supply store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asimh Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 thanks for your response, Joe. I was afraid of that. Can you explain to me how i would use the 285HV off-camera? it does not have a input sensor to enable it to flash when it sees another flash. would i have to attach the SC-3 cord from it to my hotshoe, and then use the ABs as an "optical slave" to go off when the 285 goes off? Thanks again for your help! - asim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipd Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 There is a problem trying to use any hotshoe-mounted flash to trigger external flash units that don't communicate with the camera. Example is to use your 420EX on the camera and trigger an AB-800. The problem is that the camera communicates with the 420EX in an attempt to control the exposure. The camera knows nothing about the external flash. The result, most often, is overexposure that you really can't control. The best way to use the external flash units is to have the camera in fully manual mode and trigger one external flash. Others can follow with slaves. You could purchase an inexpensive slave to trigger the 420EX as a second remote, but as said above, you can't adjust the 420EX's output manually. Another AB light would be the best way to go, and wouldn't be significantly more expensive than another good hotshoe flash unit. You can get adapters to wire up the AB flash units to your camera via the hotshoe. With the 5 volt trigger circuit on the AB, you don't even need to worry about getting a special adapter such as the Wein SafeSync. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asimh Posted February 8, 2005 Author Share Posted February 8, 2005 thanks, skip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eosdoc Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Of course it can't be done. See below for instructions:<BR> <a title= "EOS Documentation Project" href= http://eosdoc.com/manuals.asp?q=blankFEL >http://eosdoc.com/manuals.asp?q=blankFEL</a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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