strobe lighting newbie

[ana_nabakowski]

<p>I am looking to buy to buy some strobes, I usually deal with natural light and not so much strobes so i'm new to this. I did just buy a 580exII and learning how to use flash and its effects. I really want to get into and learn more. I have a canon eos 50d and wondering will any slave flash work with my 580exII, like does it have to be specifically Canon or can it be vivitar? And I read somewhere that pocket wizards don't work with canon 580's? is this true or do I just need to buy extra things for it to be compatible with? Its all just a little confusing and I just needs some things cleared up. Thanks, Ana</p>

[mike_earussi1]

<p>There's a lot of different ways of triggering shoe mount flashes. I use a cheap radio controlled trigger from Ebay to trigger one flash and have the others attached to optical slaves. Works fine and is relatively cheap. If you haven't already visited the Strobist web site, do so. They have many good ideas.</p>

[ana_nabakowski]

<p>what flash do you have? The triggers work with any flash?</p>

 

[mike_earussi1]

<p>Both kinds of triggers work with any flash. I use a 285, 283 and Sigma 500 super. I trigger the 285 with the radio remote on the camera (the transmitter is on the camera and the receiver is on the flash) and have an optical slave on the 283--the Sigma has an optical slave built in--both of which are triggered by the 285.</p>

[casey145]

<p>Hi Ana,<br>

Most Studio flash units/strobes have build in slave units. Which means any flash unit will trigger the flash units/strobes to fire.<br>

Yes your 580EXII will fire these for you (or "any" flash that has a slave cell). What you need to take into consideration is that if you have your 580 mounted on your camera. You may need to reduce the power output so that it does not interfere with the lighting set up you are using, depending on the output of the strobes. And the distance of the light to subject (i.e. you are just using your 580 as a trigger to fire the flash units/strobes). OR balance the output from the 580, so it compliments the setup you are using. You can use a camera mounted flash unit (580) bounced off the ceiling just to fire the flash units/strobes. Using your 580 saves on trailing wires. Its the poor mans trigger in a manner of speaking, but it is functional.</p>

<p>Good luck and enjoy the learning curve.</p>

[ana_nabakowski]

Thanks guys for the help! I appreciate it!