Off Camera Flash

[greg_koni]

I currently have a 1D2 and a 550EX. I would like to start playing

with off camera flash. Here are my ideas:

 

1. Buy an ST-E2 @ B&H for $209 and get the 550EX off the camera.

 

2. Buy a 420EX at B&H for $175 and use the 550 as the master and the

420 as a slave.

 

I think plan #2 will be a bit more versatile but are there any drawbacks?

[nello]

-A cheaper way is to get the off camera shoe cord.

 

-A fourth way is to forget about the ST-E2 and buy two 550s. The ST-E2 is

overpriced anyway, is useless without a 580/550/420 and there's less than a

one hundred dollar difference between it and a 550. If you think about it,

doens't it seem odd that the ST-E2 costs so much compared to a 550/420 yet

it doesn't even have a flash mechanism to justify its price? Why does it cost

so much? Also, as I understand it, the ST-E2 can only do A vs B ratio.

However, 580/550 allows a C group in addition to an A vs B group. I may be

wrong, but you should look into it.

[nello]

The draw back of plan #2 is that you can't control the focus of the 420 slave. It

will always focus for 24mm when it fires. This boils down to a lack of fine

lighting adjustment with the 420 as a slave (as opposed to 550/580 where

you can dial in focus on the control panel e.g. 17mm -105mm) . This may not

really matter to you, however, depending on your style of shooting. But can

you take awesome pictures with a 420 slave? Of course.

[jim_larson1]

On my 420EX, I have a diffuser sitting on it most of the time, so I never even thought of the zooming thing.

 

I would (and have) gone with option two.

 

I can't fathom why you would use TWO 550EX units. . . unless you REALLY want manual controls on the slave. Generally, I have been doing fine with adjusting the ratio between the two units and using FEC as needed (the FEC on the master unit will affect both flashes).

 

Also, with a 550EX as master, you are NOT committed to firing that flash. You can turn the flash off, and still use the 550EX as a master.

 

But with a 550EX and a 420EX, you CAN use both flash units and the results of using dual flash is very cool.

 

The ST-E2 is cool, but is overpriced. It actually does have a flash tube (that's how it sends command signals), but the range is far lower than the reach of the command signals from a 550EX.

 

I recently went through the thought process on getting BOTH flashes away from the hotshoe. The options were 1) buy a second 420EX, and use two 420EX slaves with the 550EX off, or 2) Buy a ST-E2.

 

In this case, I would still recommend buying a second 420EX over the ST-E2. More flexibility in the overall system.

 

I bought the ST-E2 to complement my 550Ex and 420EX. . .because I am a technogeek and a ST-E2 is "cooler" than having a second 420EX. And, more importantly, my other half would go nuts if I showed up somewhere with THREE seperate flash units.

[peter_phan]

I use two 550's. The good thing about using a 550 as a master is that you can swivel the head to point directly at the slave. It's really helpful for outdoor or location wireless flash where there may not be a lot of things for the wireless signal to bounce off of. Since the ST-E2 can't swivel, its IR signal depends on things to bounce off of to get to the slave. But like I said, sometimes there's just nothing for it to bounce off of. Also, a 550 just gives you flexibility to use the flash while it's on the camera, with or without the slave active. For a little extra money over the ST-E2, get a 550EX. I bought one of my 550's on ebay for $250. Compared to the cost of an ST-E2, you can't beat that.

[grant g]

"I think plan #2 will be a bit more versatile but are there any drawbacks?"

 

The main one is that the 420 does squat for creative control.

 

How about plan #3: You'd be better off with just two 550EXs. I have a 420EX, two 550EXs, and the ST-E2. Both of the 550s get the most use of all 4 pieces.

[david_wright9]

I'm a bit of a fan of the ST-E2 so would like to say a couple of words in favour of it. The big benefit is that it makes the position of the flashes quite independent of the camera. You can set up the lighting and then change your framing, point of view, distance to subject, and even wander around without changing the lighting effect. And it also makes the camera much lighter in the hand and less top heavy.

[mike_smith2]

One thing overlooked thus far is that you can in theory daisy chain the flashes, with an STE2 you could control 6 flashes at once:

 

STE2 to two 550 flashes,

 

set each 550 flash to different channels to control a further two more flashes each.

[jim_larson1]

I am afraid it won't work that way. If the 550EX's cannot be used in MASTER mode if it is not in the hot shoe. And a 550EX won't fire unless it is on the same channel as the MASTER unit.

 

but. . there is NO LIMIT on the number or type of flashes in a slave group. :)

 

You can put 50 420EX's and 30 580EX's in group "A", and have a single 550EX in group "B". (of course, there are limits on the minimum amount of light that a flash unit will put out. . .). All the camera sees is the total amount of light put out by each group. . . .it does not know how many flash units fired. -> it will,however, throw up a warning if the *no* flash units fired in a particular group (blinking flash icon).

[grant g]

"I'm a bit of a fan of the ST-E2 so would like to say a couple of words in favour of it."

 

While I agree the ST-E2 is a very useful piece of equipment, it is not that useful if you have only one flash unit.

 

"One thing overlooked thus far is that you can in theory daisy chain the flashes, with an STE2 you could control 6 flashes at once:

STE2 to two 550 flashes, set each 550 flash to different channels to control a further two more flashes each."

 

Jim is right, it doesn't really work that way. A 550 can do everything an ST-E2 can do and more, except be small and light!