todd_masters

No, only Nikon is nice enough to wirelessly control flashes via the body. Canon hasn't caught on yet and makes you buy more stuff.

 

For ETTL buy a 430 and a $1 foamcore board, bounce your 580 as a master off the board (or a wall or a reflector) and use the slave as main light. (or a 420EX/550EX)

 

For manual buy $30 cheapie ebay wireless units and get it off camera. Manual flash is not to be feared.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Wireless-Flash-Remote-Trigger-for-Canon-580EX-430EX-V2s_W0QQitemZ380015705660QQihZ025QQcategoryZ30084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

oh by the way, the light triggering by the canon ETTL system is worthless in bright light, trust me. Must be line of sight. There is a new product called a radio popper that just came out (I get mine next week YAY!) so I use wireless triggers with flash in manual. RPs are the missing link. Chuck's note about the "radio-control" device is now defunct. http://www.radiopopper.com/

 

 

"* Don't expect to see any sort of radio-control device to replace the ST-E2. Wireless E-TTL depends on light signals, not radio." - Not anymore!

it is a waste, buy a 430. the only thing it gives you of any use is it is smaller. why buy it to "free up another flash" when you could just buy another flash instead of it. I had it and sold it within a week after I figured that out. you can still use your 580 in focus assist mode with out firing the flash. STE2 costs as much as any xxxEX flash (pick your flavor). If you want remote buy the cheapie ebay wireless flash units for $30 to get it off camera, but you will be shooting in manual flash mode, which isnt too hard to figure out. YMMV

I have had and have all of these. For starters and keeping price in mind IMO I would go with the 430EX. Faster recycle time than 550, 420 or sigma 500, much easier controls to figure out, is smaller and works great. Second choice is 550, which will give more light and a few more options you will never use and much cheaper than 580s. I picked up my second 430 for $150 used so keep your eyes open. I use it first over my 580ex 580exII and 550s, unless I am going wireless ETTL then of course I use a 580 for master. then invest in some good NiMH 2700mah batteries.

I don't know if anyone else here actually shoots weddings for pay, I do about 10/year. Half indoor half out. Here is what I and my other wedding shooters use:

2 bodies is a must. I have 2x40Ds

Getting ready: 17-55 f2.8IS on one and 24-105 f4 IS on the other.

for DOF issues most of us shoot at f4-f5.6 except during ceremony. I like the 17-55 here when it is just the bride or I want a very shallow dof. for a little more reach I hit the 24-105, the IS helps get a faster shutter for me to be comfortable in the 1/20 to 1/60 range.

 

Formals: 17-40 f4 nothing beats this lens for sharpness and contrast. for the groups I am shooting at f5-f8 anyway for a good dof for the group and bring my own light.

 

Ceremony: 70-200 f2.8 IS and 24-105 f4 (with flash + ABBC) for aisle shots. 24-105 is super sharp and fast. Since this series starts with more than one person in the shots, for dof you will shoot at f4+ anyway. I usually keep it on f5.6 with a flash at iso 800-1600 and bounce my flash with "A Better Bounce Card". during the ceremony I use the white monster from the back at f2.8 and no flash. When they come back down the aisle towards me I grab the body with 24-105 and flash to hit them at f4+ 1/125 in AI servo.

 

Reception: 17-55IS and 24-105IS

here I am walking around. IS helps with handheld issues. I know there is overlap with these two lenses but for me each has its pros and cons. I used to have the 17-55 and the 70-200, but it just gets too heavy to carry around at this point. I use the 17-55 for creative dof and good ambient shots and the 24-105 for shots where I need more reach and for cake/garter shots. It is fast and sharp.

 

Ring shots: sigma 105 f2.8 macro. Yes I carry this one too for the ring shots. I haven't found anything better to do creative shots of rings, flowers, invitations etc...

 

So what do I bring:

17-40: formals (could use 24-105 or 17-55 as well)

 

17-55: informals when I need more speed & less dof

 

24-105: I sold my 24-70 (first had a sigma, had backfocus issues then got a canon, then sold it when I stopped using it because I like the 24-105 better) This is the sharpest, fastest focusing most versatile lens I shoot with BUT it is f4 so it has limits.

 

70-200 f2.8 IS: If you get this lens, this is the only version you want. I bought this instead of a 5D and I don't regret it. I use it to death for portraits (e sessions and seniors). Great for PJ shooting. IS is a must at this range.

 

105/100 macro f2.8: it really helps to have a good macro if you want to stand out with your creative shots.

 

I prefer zooms, I have primes but with only two bodies swap lenses too much. I dont like to change lenses during segments, just between when I get breaks in the story line. Prime junkies will disagree with everything I said.

Personally with a 20D you could get a 17-55 and a 70-200 and have all you need. Use the 17-55 for everything but the back of church shots where you cant use flash and then go back to 17-55. One step up would be 16-35 + 70-200 but I would buy a 2nd body before I would do that.

 

hope that helps

sure, shoot at ISO 3200 and presto, you get the look of film. There is a significant gap in quality between the two. The 17-55 competes with L quality lenses for color/contrast whilst the 18-55 is very soft, not to mention sloooow in low light.

If you go to those links posted above on <a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/fisheye.html" target="_blank">Bob's site</a> you will see <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130170643443" target="_blank">my Zenitar</a> lens for sale down at the bottom. Don't buy a converter, not worth it, just buy a decent fish-eye so your pictures come out good enough to print. If you have skills like carnagex you could geek your way through it, but he seems to be a bit more advanced than most newbies in this area. It will be cheaper to buy one of the fisheyes mentioned so far. I had a lot of fun with mine and you would too. Screw on novelty lenses are just that, a novelty - pics come out fuzzy and are only good for emailing if even that.

I have had the Canon <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130170478906&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003" target="_blank">420EX</a>, 550EX and <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130170463359&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003" target="_blank">Sigma 500</a> and have used them in many shooting situations. <br>

1. Manual mode: both have it - you will want manual <br>

2. Tripod mounting: both come with a stand with with a standard tripod screw hole on the bottom to mount on a tripod (the canon is all plastic while the sigma ups it a notch with a brass fitting)<br>

3. Cord or wireless sync: the sigma (canon version) is a copy of canon, I had the <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130170478906&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003" target="_blank">sigma 500</a> instead of another 550 in various master/slave combos and with the ST-E2. I also got a $5 PC hotshoe mount when I cabled it up and you can also use the "<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Wireless-Flash-Trigger-for-Canon-580EX-430EX-171_W0QQitemZ160176894337QQihZ006QQcategoryZ30084QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">ebay wireless</a>" radio triggers for a cheap alternative as well (they work really well actually). Depending you your needs you may end up going radio wireless, but starting with ETTL infrared is a good start.<br>

4. Softbox: I used mine in a softbox, shoot through umbrella, bounce umbrella and other set ups. OK for small portraits less than 20 ft away but not enough light for bigger sets. When I needed more light I rubberbanded two flashes together in a softbox to double output.<br>

5. Power: You won't notice the power difference that much.</p>

<p>as for build quality, Canon will feel more solid but my Sigma has lasted just fine and is almost like new still. I usually try to save money on these things and spend more money on glass. Let me know if you have more specific questions as I have probably done everything with these setups and flashes (just not with the newer models). </p>

It is moderately hungry, but that depends on how much you use it. When I used it fairly regularly it lasted about 2 months. Being a lithium battery going green with rechargeable is never a bad idea. Since I have changed the battery and have used it occasionally, it has been fine the last three months and am actually getting ready to sell it via ebay with some other stuff. Feel free to send me a note and I will send the nearly brand new unit with a fresh battery for cheaper than what you posted ;) Make an offer! todd@yourimagemasters.com

I am selling a <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130170478906&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003" target="_blank">420EX</a> because it doesn't have manual settings. And I am also selling a <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130170463359&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003" target="_blank">Sigma 500</a>, which is a cheaper version of the 550EX and similar to 430EX performance but this one can act as a master to slaves as well. If this is going to be your only flash you will want one that has manual settings AND ETTL. The 420 is light and great for ETTL fully auto but if you ask me is only good as a slave in a Canon wireless ETTL setup or for a the cheapest strobe for someone that doesn't need all the bells and whistles. If you are looking for cheap actually the Sigma performed just as good as my 550EX and could be a good alternative for you over the 430EX and yes cycle time will be a bit worse but probably not a big deal for what you are shooting.

soooo does any Canon folks out there have one yet? On a 20/30D? I am starting to see some reports with the typical Sigma try your luck with a good copy but the range at 2.8 for $600 seems pretty nice. I was thinking of getting a 70-200 2.8 to finish out my 17-40L and 24-105L and am wondering if the sigma can keep up. Or plop down another $400 and lose a little on the wide as I probably use the 50-70 range as much as 70mm+. I may sell some of my unused inventory of lenses to give it a try. Be nice to know what other canon users think.

I tried keeping it on manual but I can only "trick" to get my pseudo group C 3 stops over if I do an FEL without having the meter pick up the background but that is a pain. I dont really want to get another 550 to act as a master only with three other bodies and was hoping to have ETTL functionality, but I guess you can't have it all. I will post on strobist, get another 550 or resort to manual and at least save all the packing of my mono's. That or just not use the white background for those shoots and save that for the studio.

First, I have read manuals, searched web and experimented so hoping someone out

there has some advice. I do alot of onsite shooting and have been using JTLs

mobilights but have just gotten tired of lugging them along everywhere so I got

a ST-E2 and I have 3 550s. The situation I am having trouble is with lighting

up a high key white backdrop with a background light. I want my main light,

call it A to my camera left, fill light B to camera right and my third light to

hit the background and light up the white backdrop by +3 stops. What I thought

I could do was use ST-E2 with AB ratio to 1:2 for main and fill and then put

the backdrop light on group A with a +3 manual setting. However ETTL seems to

not want to light up my main subject with enough light because the background

overpowers the reading. I can force this with FEL and HOLD on the STE2 but

such a pain. Anyone else ever try to use STE2+ETTL for this set up? Or should

I just scrap the STE2 and get wireless triggers and shoot with manual setup?

This discussion is so entertaining because most everyone's opinions are based in theory. Has anyone in the "RAW Only" camp ever taken their best 8x10 RAW and compared it to a Large JPEG or even the Medium that Ken uses on a physical print. I have and you will need to look very close to tell a difference. Something to consider is that when you shoot RAW and post process in your PC and add some sharpening, bump up sat and touch on the exposure...well that is all your camera does when selecting the JPEG settings, only your camera does it instantly about 1000 times faster. So Ken's points for your standard pics and most everyday use and even some commercial use, JPEG will meet your needs. However with that being said, for gigs that I am paid to shoot I shoot RAW because the digital workflow for me is not cumbersome and I like full control (however most times I batch to JPEGS and don't do much beyond that - same thing the camera would have done for me had I let it).

search 24-105 vs. 24-70 and read as much as you want but hey since everyone is still replying why not make these threads the most threaded subject on photo.net? I have both and yes I still use 24-105 90% of the time, that extra 35mm reach is hard to give up. I also use the 50mm 1.4 when lights go dim for speed. What you listed above the 24-105 is what I believe you would be happier with. IS+35mm extra reach vs. f2.8 and for me that is why that lens rarely leaves my camera. Next lens for me would be the 85mm so eventually I will sell the 24-70 for that one. My suggestion is to stop reading, reasearching, searching and pondering - just buy the 24-105 now and spend that time and energy shooting! Shortly thereafter you can start replying to this quesion like all of us to your heart's content!

<p>I have used <a href="http://www.printroom.com" target="_blank"> www.printroom.com</a>

for two years now and it has worked great, many options for the pro such as

selling photopasses you can hand out at events and excellent printing. 

Feel free to email me with more questions.  The main difference is that

printroom is a photolab, they quality inspect your order themselves and are not

a third party portal like smugmug.  Also they pay monthly with no minimum

unlike smugmug where you have to have something like $500 in profit to get a

check.  I am sure smugmug does well but IMO they just have a storefront

that looks like they are a lab that supports pro studios but when it comes down

to it they use a 3rd party lab.  I have had zero issues with printroom and

am very satisfied. They do all the things you asked for</p>

I use volume 2 the most. big time savers and I couldn't have made the actions myself even with my above average PS skills. Worth every penny. I like the LOTR series and there are several B&W actions that you can modify to suit your taste.

I use the printroom photopasses as well, saves alot of energy wasted on printing and not on shooting. Works like a charm and gives you an opportunity to hand out your business card to a whole lot of interested folks.

TM

Pam, thanks for the hyperdrive link, I haven't seen that one yet and it looks like what I need - definitely better than the others I have looked at. I thought having a screen could help verify images were transferred but the HD80 has data verification and is not slow and powerhungry like the others I have looked at. I am shooting more outdoors/events and don't like lugging the laptop around and am at the point to either buy more memory or buy one of these drives and for the price of a good CF I can now get 100GB of data storage. Still think the best deal would be for someone to make a powered CF card reader for the iPOD with Canon RAW viewing ability on the screen ;)

I had the Olympus E1 system before I converted to Canon - what seems like a lifetime ago (also had a good ol' E-10). I was very satisfied with the quality Olympus offered but as I looked to future product roadmaps I decided to switch to Canon to have more options and I thought all the new lens choices would save me lots of money (but I still buy L lenses new so that never happened haha). This was all before the evolt stuff came out. Now the quality of my images are still as good as I am but the technology is IMO much more flexible and does offer more choices today and more choices down the road. I have never second guessed my decision to move to Canon from Olympus and I don't miss the 4/3rds that much, but it was nice. If I were you, I would switch now while you can get out cheap.

Anyone using a standalone CF reader harddrive/viewer that works with RAW?

(Like the Nikon Coolwalker) Any recommendations of ones you like and are they

reliable enough that you would save your RAW files from a CF to it and then

format your CF to keep shooting or would you just buy more memory? My

searches haven't pulled up much so if there is a thread out there please re-

post for me if you don't mind.

Thanks!

Todd

I haven't used shutterfly pro as they dont have all the products and services I would want. I use www.printroom.com - there you have a storefront you can use with you own logo and can incorporate that into your own website once you get that up. If you sign up you will have your own url you can put in the flyer. Email me at todd at yourimagemasters dot com if you have more questions and I can tell you more.

sodium and mercury lights are hard to balance, even with gels. We have a notorious church in our area with mercury vapor and most of us have resorted to a 900w/s mono that we blast at the high ceiling and light the whole place up to overtake the mercury lights by about 2 stops. I guess next time either try gels or just rent a gun and create your own light ;)

I have/had the same issue, glad I'm not alone. Mine was a bit gummy from who knows what. I applied pressure from back to front and stuck my fingernail in the crack to pull up with gentle force while I pushed the flash button. I used some lens cleaner and toothpicks to clean the latch and it hasn't done it in a while.

this has been threaded to death, search "raw vs jpeg" and read until your eyes pop out.

 

If you aren't familiar with working with raw and converting to jpeg then I would either recommend taking a crash course on RAW or just shooting jpeg. Shooting RAW+jpeg is used for some situations but doesn't sound like this is one. You should note that when you say "pro level" you are talking RAW - because you have much more image information available over the compressed jpeg version of the image. With either a RAW or JPEG the 30D will make excellent prints far larger than what any cook book will require. Borrow a laptop to transfer images to or borrow cards. 1000 pics sounds like alot of pics, the most I ever took at a large convention was around 500 and that was overkill.