Cheap Off Camera Flash suggestions for a DSLR Newbie

[digitalirony]

I need help!

 

I would very much like to experiment with off camera flash (just for the hell of it).

This is something I never tried with any of my film bodies but having just aquired a

Canon 40D and, having come across the excellent Strobist (

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/) website, I'm keen to try it out. The only problem

is that I have a very limited budget. I have searched the photo.net archives to see

who else has had the same problem and what the solution was but didn't find any

articles that addressed my questions.

 

I've considered getting a flash extension cord, but that would be quite limiting in

practice. I was wondering if anyone here could recommend a cheap way to get

started with wireless off camera flash. I have a Speedlite 420EX flash unit, so any

additional flash units would be for strictly off camera use.

 

I have read a little about flash units and have seen that the Vivitar 285HV is very

popular, highly recommended and reasonably priced, but the question that arises

is how to trigger the flash?

 

I have seen that there are cheap optical units (Wein peanut & hotshoe mounted)

that can be attached to flashes to trigger them, but these apparently get confused

by the TTL burst that the camera uses for evaluating the exposure. I'm not sure if I

can disable this on the camera (if anyone knows how to please let me know), but

if it is possible then this would seem like a good, cheap, way of triggering the

remote unit(s) using the pop up flash on the camera.

 

If optical slaves cannot be used I've seen that there are some cheap & cheerful

radio flash triggers advertised on eBay (e.g. Item number: 280229083953). I'm not

sure however that these would work with with any old shoe mounted flash unit as

there is a relatively small list of compatible units.

 

Does anyone know if these could be used with the plethora of cheap second hand

flash units with manual power settings that are perennially available on eBay? If

not, is there a trigger unit that would work with those cheap flashes (e.g. eBay

Item number: 180244074899)?

 

Finally; can this really be done cheaply? Two Vivitar 285HVs plus an eBay radio

trigger and additional reciever would cost about ﾣ230.00, is it worth trying to do

this any cheaper or am I just going to end up frustrated and end up spending the

ﾣ230.00 anyway in the end?

[picturesque]

The pop up flash on Canon digitals cannot be used to trigger off camera flashes. Anyway, ETTL (Canon's flash metering system) uses pre flashes to gauge flash exposure, so these will prematurely trigger any off camera flash before the actual shutter opens, if using optical slaves.

 

At this time, the cheapest wireless triggers are those ones on ebay, such as the Cactus model, which is probably the most mentioned on strobist and the one you mention. If you decide to get one, do your homework on the pitfalls of using them. These DO work with any old shoe mounted flash unit. The flash unit you mention should be fine if you can run it in manual, has partial power control and/or auto thyristor control. If it has a PC sync port, so much the better, but you will have to add in the cost of adapters and cables to your expenditures. A good place to find appropriate cables for these cheap wireless triggers is flashzebra.com, although I'm not sure about shipping being a problem, since you are in the UK(?).

 

There are rumors of new, cheap triggers to come on the market, particularly the Radiopopper Jr. model that is slated for this summer. Right now, it is still vaporware.

 

If you get 285s, don't get the new ones, get used ones. The new ones seem to have quality control issues. Other possibilities are Sunpak 383s and older Nikon units, such as the SB 26. The latter, of course, are more expensive because they are popular with the strobist crowd. I don't know about any other cheap flashes and can't say whether you will end up frustrated--perhaps, but then again, perhaps not. I don't think there are too many cheap flashes with a lot of partial power control, and that would be a problem for me. It depends how you intend to use the flashes.

[vuyisich]

I have a Canon XTi with 2 Sunpak 383s, one wein peanut optical slave (not the digital version), and one PC cord. I have worked with seveal configurations, but I most like the one where one wired flash is shooting into an umbrella, which triggers the other flash through the optical slave. If I am in the M mode, the camera's built-in flash will trigger one of my flashes wirelessly. Hope this helps.

[digitalirony]

Thanks for the suggestions, I wasn't aware the the Vivitar 285HVs had problems and had not come across the even cheaper Sunpak 383s.

 

It is a but dissapointing that the TTL flashes on the 40D cannot be turned off in manual mode.

 

I'll wait until I can afford a Sunpak 383 and a radio trigger and experiment with on off camera flash and see what I think before investing any more money.

[richard_crowe4]

I would be willing to bet that a pair of el-cheapo studio type strobes such as these will

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/MEDALIGHT-STUDIO-STROBE-SET_W0QQitemZ300226080959QQihZ020QQcategoryZ30087QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

1. Do a better job than trying to jury-rig a hot shoe unit.

 

2. Actually be less expensive since you would not need to buy any accessories to enable these strobes to fit on a light stand or to use an accessory like umbrella or snoot.

 

3. Utilize a modeling light - even if the modeling lights in these strobes may not be totally accurate - they are still better than no modeling light.

 

4. Use a/c power for consistant recycle times and not weak anemic AA batteries with which the recharge time gets longer and longer.

 

4. Have a built in optical slave.

 

You can fire any strobe which incorporatesan optical slave with an inexpensive IR trigger usually available on eBay for under $20. I have used the same IR trigger for three years.

 

If you own two of these strobes, you can get a more sophisticated pair of strobes later on and use these two for hair and B/G lights.

 

Strobes of this type don't require heavy duty stands and they make nice lighting for light-tents also.

 

I used a pair of strobes like this with a pair of White Lightning strobes. I used the Whte Lightnings as key and modeling lights and these as hair and BG lights. I had no problem with color corrections.

[digitalirony]

Thanks Richard,

 

Whilst your suggestion is quite tempting, I don't think that it would suit my style of photography. I'm unlikely to use the strobes in a studio type controlled environment and also they look to big to take with me in my kit bag.

 

I'm definitely going to go for flashguns (and a few clamps).

 

I've attached a photo (below) of the type of stuff that I think the off camera flashes would be helpful to capture. I took this last night with just one flashgun attached to the camera. Unfortunately only the hand was in focus as I was trying to zone focus as the camera was having problems tracking the target as it cam towards me. Judging distances isn't as easy as I thought!<div></div>

[christianaires]

How cheap?

 

I bought 2 vivitar 285hv for 80 bucks each.

 

Then i bought a set (transmitter and receiver) elinchrom skyports for 200 bucks.

Plus an extra receiver for 100.

 

And am i ever happy.

 

But i think you might be looking for something even cheaper.

Then forget about the skyports and buy gadgetinfinity wireless triggers.

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/home.php

 

They are much much cheaper. but dont expect much from them, they will work for what you want to do.

 

But not for what i do.

 

Good luck

[digitalirony]

Hi Christian,

 

As I said a few days ago I'll probably but a pair of Sunpak 383s. I've read a lot of good reviews of the 285HVs, but then I cam across quite a few articles where people were having problems with them. I think the Sunpak 383s are quite similar in power and functionality. I had originally thought of getting second hand Nikon SB-26s but can't find any, and they are now unlikely to be cheaper than the 285HVs or 383s.

 

Regarding the radio triggers, I was very interested in what Momo said about the fact that in M mode on his XTi can trigger the slave flash without issue, suggesting that the pre-flash issue ins't an issue. However if I stick with the plane I'll get the gadgetinfinity wireless trigger and slaves as I can't afford the skyports.

 

Thanks for your input.