Battery Pack or Transmitter - diffuser

[jeff_harper3]

<p>I'm ordering an 580 EXII but am confused.</p>

<p>Some are called Speedlite E-TLL and some are just called Speedlite TLL, is there a difference?</p>

<p>Secondly, should I order the kit with a battery pack or the one with a transmitter? I can't afford both right now.</p>

<p>One kit for <$1k has two speedlites and a transmitter, and another kit comes with a Quantum battery, etc. for about the same amount. Which should I begin with?</p>

<p>Also, is there a best general purpose diffuser for wedding use, or do I need one type for formals and another for the receptions? Stoffen for church and a Gary Fong for the reception? Cloudy or clear? </p>

<p>So much to learn. This is madness.</p>

[viet_ngo]

<p>580EXIIs are speedlites with E-TTL II capability.<br>

E-TTL & E-TLL II & TTL are different, you don't need to know or worry about it.<br>

Transmitter (wireless) & battery pack are different, you do need to know which does what. At this point, I don't think you need the transmitter. Get the Canon battery pack, namely CP-E4 or the CP-E3 (older version) cheaper, which is the same thing without weather-seal.<br>

The Quantum battery pack does the same thing as the CP-E4, but more expensive, heavier, requires dedicated power cord but cheaper & more sturdy in the long term use.<br>

Stofen & the Fong dong are omni-bounce devices, NOT a diffuser. Save the money to buy some light books. I recommend the Light & Science from the strobist.com website. Learn how light behaves, and learn to bounce for wedding works, you don't need anything on top of your tiny 580exII.</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>Jeff, I can only advise you on the diffusers. Before you get a whole thread full of folks chiming in and "reinventing the wheel" here, I suggest you read down this forum a bit to some recent threads on diffusers. They've all been discussed and debated to death many times, and the archives are full of these discussions. You'll learn a lot, and be better equipped with diffuser opinions to draw from.</p>

<p>Some folks love the bounce cards like the Demb, some love the Fong (like me), some use both, and some just dislike Gary Fong because he's a successful American businessman, so they rail against his products as overpriced tupperware. It's one of those subjects like Canon/Nikon, film/digital, RAW/JPEG, brackets/no brackets, etc.</p>

[jeff_harper3]

<p>I ordered the Canon battery pack, except for the flimsy battery clips it sounds good, thanks Viet. </p>

[john_deerfield]

<p>The Quantum Turbo SC is great. Probably enough juice to last you all day and a 1.4 second recycle to <em>full</em> power. At half power I get instant recycling. That's nice. Not a big fan of the Canon transmitter: you may as well buy another flash if you are looking for a dedicated wireless set up. I agree with Steve that diffuses are hotly debated. If used properly, each of the units are diffusers since they should be bouncing light off a wall or ceiling. The key to diffusion is that the larger the light source in relation to your subject, the more diffused or softer your light. A wall or ceiling is larger than your flash head. Putting a Stoffen on your flash and pointing it forward does you no good (it might give you less specular highlights) as the light source isn't any bigger. Bouncing makes it bigger. My problem with the Lightsphere is that the ratio of bounce vs fill isn't right: too much bounce for the amount of fill going forward. I also don't like the weight. An ABBC or the Demb will do a better job (again, IMHO). And the Demb allows for a bit more control in the amount of fill. Keep in mind that the fill light will be hard light since it's still from a small light source (the bounce surface, card, what-have-you, is still smaller than your subject. I didn't have a problem with Mr. Fong until two of my photographers went to one of his seminars and he told the crowd shooting RAW is a waste of time and money. I require Raw. It's my time and my money. And I believe he is dead wrong. But I do agree he is a marketing genius.</p>

[viet_ngo]

<blockquote>

<p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=4775324">Jeff Harper</a> , Jul 08, 2009; 09:22 a.m.</p>

 

<p>I ordered the Canon battery pack, except for the flimsy battery clips it sounds good, thanks Viet.</p>

 

 

</blockquote>

<p>You are welcome. If you start using it a lot, you will break those tiny clips on the sides of these, but that shouldn't effect anything. Sometime I wish Canon would make expensive accessories a little better, I broke those clips on all 4 of my CPs.</p>

[jeff_harper3]

<p>Viet, I'll order another CP at some point as a back up. </p>

<p>John, I researched opinions ont he Quantum vs Canon packs and found an amazing amount of differing opinions before I saw your post. Opinion seem evenly divided.</p>

<p>I look into the Demb and ABBc, I like the way they look, and a photographer I respect does use a card.</p>

[john_deerfield]

<p>As far as off camera battery packs go, Quantum has the Turbo (relatively big and heavy), the Turbo 2x2 (slightly smaller) and the Turbo SC (much smaller and lighter- probably not too much heavier than a loaded AA battery back). We have all three Quantums- I use the 2x2 as it will power two flashes and I carry two cameras, case solved! My wife uses the SC because of it's size and weight (we keep the Turbos for spare and for the QFlashes). We did use the AA battery packs for awhile but much prefer the Turbos. As long as you are getting what you need from the battery pack, all is good!</p>

[picturesque]

<p>I have a Turbo regular and the SC. Also a Dynalite Jackrabbit. I use the SC on my main camera. My second camera has a flash but not external battery. The Turbo was just totally overhauled for $120, and it was a hand me down from a photographer friend of mine. It is like new. I've never owned the Canon pack, but I can vouch for the Turbos. The Jackrabbit is also great but isn't the lightest anymore.</p>

<p>As for diffusers, try them all and then you'll know. But try them in the locations you intend to use them. As I've said many times before, testing them in your small white living room on small objects tells you nothing about how they will perform in a huge, dark space on human beings.</p>

<p>As for Gary Fong--I know that some people hate his products because of the man, and this should not be. Whatever you think of him, his products do work. I use the Lightsphere sometimes, but I use different diffusers for different jobs.</p>

[jeff_harper3]

<p>Thank for the info on the battery packs, I only knew of one model and didn't know about the 2X2, it looks very nice, wow two outputs. I'm looking them over tonite, as I'm a big fan of self charging batteries, as I use all kinds of battery packs and things in video.</p>