gene_austin

I recently bought a pair of Studiomax strobes and was disappointed to find that the sync

jack is the smaller 1/8" or 3.5mm variety, therefore I had to purchase an adapter cable to

fire them from my Microsync wireless receiver. I also concur that the construction is

disappointly flimsy. I purchased a SP Studio Systems EZ umbrella softbox and had to

return it because it was too heavy and caused the strobe head to tip over. In addition, I

wish I could vary the monitor lamp output, but its strictly on or off.

 

What I do like is that they are very compact so now I can carry two in the same bag I was

only able to place one Adorama Flashpoint into. Also the fact that they are fanless makes

for quieter operation. Lastly, battery powered operation is an option if one spends a few

extra dollars, which is nice.

One more thing, in the event that you want to improve your focusing speed w/o having to use flash the 550/580 or ST-E2 will allow you to keep the flash from firing while still using the I/R beam emitter for focus assist. Then you'll be able to focus in pitch black. Bottom line, an EX-series flash or ST-E2 is a MUST purchase if you don't already own one.

Even with a fast lens, incident light won't suffice to properly capture those faces on a dark dance floor. You've GOT to use some flash. Bounce the flash to the ceiling and everything will come out in focus and properly exposed. All this talk of better body and faster lens is hogwash. Not to be cocky, but I'm not conjecturing here, I'm speaking from FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE with the 20D, 17-40L, 550ex combo. The 20D focuses plenty fast with that lens and the I/R beam emitter on 550/420/580.

Here's THE answer to your question. You need sharpness, the ability to shoot wide angles for group shots, a lens that focuses quickly, a lens that is free of distortion or vignetting. AND, you want to make a smart investment, w/o spending a fortune. Buy the Canon 17-40 f4L. PERIOD!

Mitch, I don't think the unit being attached securely enough is the issue as it will fire when I attach the Pocket Wizard and hit the test button. Richard, did you have better results with your replacement unit?

Regarding underexposure of outdoor group shots, I've experienced this as well. I recently read that the 20d applies fill flash reduction automatically to all modes except manual. I recently took some indoor test shots and noticed that the flash results were better when using manual mode on the camera. This avoids the E-TTL "witchcraft".

I have a <A HREF=http://tinyurl.com/9nmd2>Wein HS shoe mount optical

slave</A> that I'm using with Canon, Metz and Nikon flashes that

refuses to fire in certain situations. If I attach a Pocket Wizard

receiver to the PC terminal of the Wein HS it will fire all my flashes

[Canon 550ex, 420ex, 540ez, Metz 54-MZ3 (w/SCA 3952 foot) and Nikon

SB-28dx] flawlessly. However, the built in optical slave of the Wein

WILL NOT work with either the 540ez or the SB-28dx. And to top it

off, the optical slave only works when triggered from one of the other

shoe mount flashes. My Adorama Flaspoint 620 strobe has no effect,

even when I crank it all the way up (300ws), turn off the modeling

lamp and place the Wein HS/flash combo right in front of it.

I have a SB-28DX I would like to use with my Mamiya 645af. When you say that the

camera can be used in auto mode, does the corresponding f-stop selected by the camera

still have to be set on the flash, or not?

As a fellow 20D owner unless you really need f2.8, I would get the 17-40 4.0L and call it a day. I love mine and its much lighter than the 17-35 2.8L. You have the 50 1.8 and 70-200 2.8L already and I really don't think you'll miss not being able to zoom between the 40~70mm range.

The Wein Hot Shoe Slave for Digital Systems is designed to ignore preflash and fire in sync with the main flash output. Its $70 at B&H:

http://tinyurl.com/7t6jf

As a followup question, is there any way to use use the 10D's PC connector to trigger

it with a Sekonic light meter and Pocket Wizard transmitter module?

As a followup question, I see that Sekonic is offering a wireless transmitter module

for only $25 when you buy their L-358 meter. Is it possible to get the meter to

trigger the 10-D? If so, other than a Pocket Wizard receiver, what other cables are

required and how much would they cost?

 

The reason I'm considering such a setup is that I also have a Mamiya 645E MF rig. I

presently own a 550ex and a 420ex. Should I just get a ST-E2 and use the 10D as a

light meter for the Mamiya? If so, will the lack of manual control on the 420ex

present a problem?

I have the Tokina 28-70 which is tack sharp and has a focusing ring that acheives a

perfect balance between smooth, precise operation, yet with just the right amount of

friction. While I've only tried the Tamron in the store, what's nice is that its much

lighter than the Tokina. I'm using my Tokina zoom with a 10D, grip and 550ex, a

heavy combination for sure.

I ran into a problem yesterday with my 512mb CF card that I share between my Canon

10D and Powershot G2. Nothing but gibberish characters when viewing the files and

folders, and only the pictures taken that day were retreivable. I did a web search and

found PhotoRescue. It miraculously retreived 99% of the lost images. I'm not

normally one to rave but this was truly $29 well spent. I had taken some great

pictures of my son that I just knew were lost forever. A nice feature is that it makes

an image of your memory card so you can work with resurrecting from the image and

reformat your card so it can be used to take more photos. If luck is on my side I wont

need this program in the future as I'll make sure to upload my images to my laptop

more frequently. Hopefully if anyone else out there runs into the same problem their

woes will also be easily addressed. I also echo the notion that you should avoid using

a traditional drive repair program as it will probably screw things up worse (probably

beyond repair)

I just got finished taking some indoor test shots with a 420ex comparing the

OmniBounce to the Lumiquest Soft Box I bought to use with my 550ex. Using the

Omni pointed straight ahead actually resulted in a similarly soft but slightly brighter

image. Has anyone else done such a comparison either indoors or outdoors? I'm

considering returning the Softbox and just getting another Omni for the 550ex.

My 10D just arrived and I tested it out yesterday with my recently purchased Tokina

28-70 2.8. I wanted to check out the location that will be used for outdoor

formals at a wedding I'm shooting in two weeks where the ceremony starts at 6pm.

Due to the anticipated shooting time of 7pm or later, I was concerned about having

enough light to properly expose the background and I also wanted to check DOF with

the new lens/camera combo. Up until now my main lens has been a Tamron 28-

300 4.5 and I needed a faster, sharper glass. I was pleased to see that I can shoot up

until 9pm (w tripod) if need be and still have enough light. However,

in some cases the background blurring at 70mm even at f2.8 was less than I'd

expected. I was wondering if the focal length multiplier effect also impacts DOF, in

other words, is my camera truly reacting as if i were shooting at the effective focal

length of 112mm or at the native 70mm?

The D30 is excellent and I don't think you would miss the extra 3 megapixels. I have a Powershot G2 (4 megapixel) as a backup and the images from the 3 megapixel D30 are richer and smoother than those from the G2. I've printed out 8*10's from the D30 that I was very pleased with. Believe it or not I have an EOS3 and due to the flexibility and immediacy the D30 provides, I really don't use the EOS3 much at all. However, since I'm going to be shooting some weddings (that demand the best possible resolution) I've decided to upgrade to the 10D. Please noone shoot me for advertising but the link to the auction for my mint condition D30 that ends this Sunday is here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=30020&item=2915718917&rd=1

I know exectly how you feel. I work in lower Manhattan and oftentimes visit a

store that begins with "J" and ends with "R". Not only does the main

salesperson in the pro camera section pump up Nikon and knock Canon, the

EOS-3 on display is locked in the showcase and cannot be used for hands on

demos. Its actually to the point of being insulting and condescending to

Canon users.

 

Besides the aforementioned advantage of the eye-control focusing, you also

have the ability to do wireless strobes that integrate with the camera's

metering system. Honestly, one disadvantage of the EOS-3 is the relatively

loud shutter advance which may or may not be a concern for you and that the

grip costs a small fortune. I bought a used EOS-3 off ebay a few months ago

but due to wanting digital I also scored a used D30 and grip. I originally

intended to flip the EOS-3 but I can't part with it because it is truly the finest,

most responsive camera I've ever owned. Coming from an Elan IIe I was

initially intimidated by the EOS-3 user interface but after using it a short time I

found it to be very intuitive. The Canon EOS-3/D30 and Nikon F100/D100 are

all excellent, durable, well designed tools. Just keep in mind that this is a

long term investment in a system and that once you choose one versus the

other, it will be somewhat costly to change your mind later and make a switch.

I have a 3 year old Tamron 28-200 and a brand new 29-300. The 28-200 took fairly good pictures but had an annoying inability to focus closer than 3 feet. The new 28-300 has superb clarity and macro focusing capability. Both use aspherical lens elements which is something not found on all Canon brand lenses. I shot a wedding this past weekend with just the one 28-300 3.5 lens and had the means to get the perfect shot at all times. The Tamron is over $100 more than the Sigma though. I'm happy with my Tamron hyperzoom and give it a thumbs up. Just make sure you don't cut corners with your filter as they charge more for 72mm sizes. I spent $45 for a multicoated Hoya UV but when your starting point is f3.5 you want to make sure you dont lose too much light.

Unfortunately, the Elan IIe is not compatible with the adjustable flash ratio feature of Canon's multiple flashes system, but works fine with the IR focusing beam on the 550ex. However, I feel that the on camera IR assist that allows focusing in TOTAL darkness when not using the 550ex is the one key function that deters me from "upgrading" to a 7e. Plus the IIe has a simpler interface (less menus, more buttons) and if you like a camera with a heftier, more substantial feel, the IIe is a better choice.

From reading the forums I've come to understand that you get softer

lighting by getting the flash above the camera. I have a 550ex with

Stofen OmniBounce and was considering the purchase of a Stroboframe

Quick Flip for this purpose. However, since the OmniBounce dictates

pointing the flash head up 45 degrees I was wondering if its still

necessary to distance the flash from the camera? If so, should one

still point the flash upwards, or shoot straight on? My concern is

avoiding shadows while maintaining adequate distance coverage for

wedding portraiture. My setup consists of an Canon EOS Elan IIe,

550ex and 420ex (with another 420ex on the shopping list)