External flash as a slave...

[dougscroggins]

<p>Okay, as always let me preface this question by thanking all who take the time to submit a response. I have looked around at a lot of flash/lighting options and I am just absolutely overwhelmed with anything beyond a hot-shoe mount setup with my 450D and 580EXII. I was reading on another site that I could actually use my 580EXII as a master, which I knew, but it also indicated I could connect my old Sunpak 383 as a slave to that setup. I have no clue what I need to purchase to make this work. Does anybody else have a setup similar to this? What about getting the 383 mounted...do I just need a second tripod and some kind of attachment to mount it or is there equipment specifically designed for mounting external flash's? Thanks again for your time and assistance.</p>

[peter_dehart]

<p>Yes you can use your 383 as a slave, but it is going to take some homework.<br>

You need a way to trigger the slave from the camera or your 580 flash. You can either use a radio slave, optical slave, or a PC cable. The radio slave system offers the most flexibility as most systems don't require line of sight to work and probably won't be triggered by someone else (Pocket Wizard is one I have used but there are other brands). The optical slave can be very simple to use effectively, as it fires the remote flash when the main flash fires. There are two types of optical slaves; those that do or don't ignore any preflash put out by the main flash (I don't know if or in what modes the 580 preflashes). Wein makes both. (One nice thing about Wein is they have a tripod mount built in.) Disadvantages include: they will fire the remore flash if any other camera nearby uses its flash; it may not work if it is very bright out or the optical slave is pointed at a bright light source. The PC cable is quite reliable, but it ties the camera to an area near the remote flash and can be tripped over, pull the flash over, etc.<br>

Regarding mounting, I use either a tripod or light stand that I have mounted a tripod head on.<br>

One thing you don't mention and need to concern yourself with is proper exposure. If you use either flash in an automatic mode it is possible it will be fooled by the light output from the other flash and give an improper amount of light. I don't know enough about the 580 to say what will happen with it (It may use an infared burst to calculate how much light to emit, rather than a preflash.) I know from experience the 383 <strong>will</strong> be fooled, having used that flash as a remote slave myself.<br>

I think it is worth it to have a second flash; the results can be much better, especially if you use the remote flash as your main light and fill with the on camera flash.<br>

One very worthwhile site is The Stobist (http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/). It goes into great detail using off camera flash.<br>

Peter</p>

[dougscroggins]

<p>Peter, thank you so much for your response. You have done a wonderfull job of answering my question directly and very effectively. I now know what I need to do to get this kicked off and I am excited to get it going. By the way, the site you recommended is absolutely awesome. I looked at it only a few moments but already feel so much more confident that I can master portrait lighting. Thanks a million!</p>

[picturesque]

<p>To add to Peter's answer, be sure you understand that you cannot mix the Canon wireless sytem with radio slaves, and that the Canon wireless system requires EX flashes capable of participating in the system--the Sunpak 383, is, of course, not a candidate.</p>

<p>The 580EX does operate with pre flashes. Keep in mind the PC port on the 580EX II does not operate in Master Manual mode. You will want to look at Pocket Wizards, which just came out with new ETTL wireless products, Radiopoppers, which has a whole system of triggers for ETTL and non ETTL, and Cybersyncs.</p>

<p>Or, you can use sync cords and/or optical slaves for far less money.</p>

[dougscroggins]

<p>Well it's clear by your insight that you have been down this road before. Thanks Nadine for taking the time to add to my question. It was informative and insightful with reference specific to my equipment. I think I will be going the sync cord route for financial reasons until later. However I did see that I could get started with some "lower" budget wireless triggers from ebay. I normally wouldn't trust it but a video on the Strobist site mentioned by Peter talks about 'em so I'm gonna give it a shot. If it doesn't work i'm only out $35. Thanks again to you both!</p>

[michal_winkler]

<p>Hi all, well this is also something i'm dealing  with at the moment. I use canon 30d alright, and I have sigma 500dg super and my friends nikon sb-800. I also have Bowens Pulsar radio triggers set. I set sb-800 on a receiver a an then fire sigma opticaly using CO SL mode. Problem is when there is more photographers on scene, they automaticly fire my sigma as well. So my question is is it possible to fire sb-800 with pulsars and then somehow connect my sigma through PC connection (cable) to my camera? Will camera fire or send any impuls to radio transmitter mounted to the camera and also some impulse to the pc sync with my sigma? Thanks a lot !!!! michal.</p>