Any good websites/books for explaining the details of wireless flash?

[emaxxman]

Like the title says... :-)

 

I have a Maxxum 7 with the 5600hs flash. I've been experimenting

with the wireless flash lately and am thoroughly hooked. I'd like

to learn more about it but the manuals for the Maxxum 7 and 5600hs

basically suck as far as details go.

 

A site with photos as examples would be great too.

 

Are the Magic Lantern books any good with respect to this? I don't

think they have a Maxxum 7 book out yet but I also have an XTsi. I

guess that would suffice for the wireless flash as well?

 

Thanks in advance.

[tom_montemarano]

There is a website by Gary Walts (search for Gary Walts on Google)that has some good info on Minolta flash and particularly wireless flash. He uses older Minolta cameras and sometimes the wireless flash controller. The Hove book on the 700si also has a reasonably good section explaining how it works.

 

The 7 works a bit differently since it is the first Minolta that can use wireless at its highest shutter speed. Also there has been some discussion regarding its ability to control two off camera flashes each set to different ratios. Older cameras couldn't do that using the built in flash as the controller (needed either the remote flash controller or a 5400/5600 as a controller). Some people have said that the 7 can do this with just its built in, others have disagreed. Based on my very limited tests, I think it can.

 

Tom

[emaxxman]

I've seen Gary's website already. Read it many times. I thought I understood how it worked when I read my XTsi manual. However, now that I've read the Maxxum 7 and 5600hs's manual, I'm a little confused.

 

Questions I have are:

 

Is ADI supported?

 

There was mention in the flash manual that only TTL is supported. Is this TTL with the preflash a la Maxxum 9? Or TTL-OTF a la XTsi?

 

I'll have to do some more test shots. My first wireless shot was of "Sue", the largest and most complete TRex skeleton at the Liberty Science Center. The wireless flash allowed me to capture such 3 dimensional detail. I'm hooked.

[Wayne Melia]

<A HREF="http://users.westelcom.com/~waltsman/flash.html">Gary Watt's site</A> for those who want it.<br>

I believe (?) it needs updating also in the static content.

[michael_hohner]

ADI does not work in wireless mode. Wireless flash is TTL-OTF, with either center-weight or 4-segment metering, depending on the camera. You also can't combine rear-sync flash or red eye reduction with wireless flash. So Gary's web site is basically correct, even for the latest cameras and flashes.

[bill_tuthill]

Minolta wireless flash sounds good in principle, but in practice,

exposure accuracy is even less than TTL flash, which is way worse

than 14-segment metering. I tried slide film with wireless, and

half the pictures were unusable. If you're serious about off-angle

lighting I would suggest north facing windows and stuff like that.