erhan

Mark thanks for the help. Upon reading your response I have ordered a new 430ex. What is surprising is that it turned out to be cheaper than a used MR14 ex. I find the mr14 + 580ex setup very practical especially for macro shots. However I believe I can do well with 430ex as well. And for the wide ange shots it will be wiser choice. Thanks again and again.

 

My best,

 

Erhan

Hi dear friends,

 

I am about to make my opinion about making a combination of speedlites. I am going to use it for studio shots,

mainly for small or medium sized objects and macro shots as well as portrait and maybe sometimes outdoors. In

the meantime I have a 580EX II and I had the chance to try the 580EX + MR 14 combination by borrowing one ringlite

from my friend. But I have no idea about the 580 + 430 combination. In my opinion 580 + MR14 works perfectly on

extreme macro shots and product shots. Also there are some advantages like that: MR14 does not need a diffuser

and an extension cable. However I am not so sure about the output power and how would this setup work in distant

wide angle shots and portrait, full sized people shots etc.

 

Now here's the deal. I can buy a new 430ex (But will require an off camera shoe cord) or a second hand MR14 at

nearly the same price. The overall score of MR14 is outstanding according to the reveiws at Fredmiranda. Yet I am

really confused about my decision. So what is your opinion?

 

Thanks in advance for any advices,

 

Erhan

Robin,

Thank you so much for your generous helps. I know a bit about the mt-24 ex and would really love to have one, unfortunately the price is out of my range at the moment. Maybe in 2-3 years time could own one. So I suppose I'll have to make a choice between 430 and mr14 ringlite.

 

Since yesterday I've been making some experiments with the MR14 + 580 combination. The results are bright however I am not sure about the flat feel and the elliptical reflections caused by the ringlite. Yet I achived to have bright and beautiful backgrounds illuminated by the 580 ex as the slave.

 

Thanks all the way for all your help so far now.

Frank,

Thank you so much for the quick response. I have set it up as you suggested and it work perfectly. I didn't know about the A:B channels and tubes relationship, and unfortunately I don't have the manual. That was much of a help to me. Thanks again and again.

 

Robin,

The extra info you have given is something invaluable for me. I want to try some setups for serious flash photography and the one you told about Custom Functions is very usefull. I have been searching for info on flash setups in strobist.com but they generally focus on manual and or radio controlled flash systems. Do you have any suggestions for a site that gives some inf on EOS speedlite setups. And last but not the least, I want to have a wireless setup, for macro and still life works. For a twin flash system which one do you recommend: 580ex II + MR14 EX or 580ex II + 430(420) EX .

 

Thank you very much for your precious help.

Hi friends,

 

I have a 580 ex II strobe and I sometimes use it for studio work. Recently I have

borrowed my friends MR14 EX Ring lite just to try the wireless setup. Now the

problem is that when mr14 is set to master and 580 set to slave the only way to

fire 580 is in M (manual) mode. When set to TTL the 580 would only react to the

pilot signal but not fire when shutter is pressed. I tried everything in E-TTL mode

but it didn't work. Only in manual mode.

 

Is this the way it is? Is this what mr14 is capable of doing? Or am I missing

something?

 

Thanks all the way.

Unfortunately every program, even the Adobe Lightroom and the likes wait for a time to sharpen the thumbnail. I suppose it is about the memory and cpu of the computer system. Maybe a better calculating power could save more time but it is about the money anyway.

Thanks so much Dan. It has been much of a help to me.

Thanks Chris for sharing your thoughts. I have to say that I have been polite so far now and I will always be. What I want was just a word. They could at least have told me the possible delay of the return. And maybe I would have taken my camera back without a repair for the moment (it works fine except for a dirty focusing screen) They didn't even bothered telling me. But you are also right.

Unfortunately you are bloody right Colin. The fact is that I have been really dissappointed with the current situation. What is worse is that they are charging 150$ for the replacement of focusing screen stating that the focusing screen defects are the result of owner misusage. On the other hand my roommate recently got its compact Fuji S5600 camera's ccd replaced with no charge. I think it is the way of tihnking that makes the difference.

Hi friens,

 

I have an irritating problem with my local offical distributor's technical

service. They have been incapable of replacing a defective 'focusing screen'

of my EOS 400d for 30 days. They say that they are waiting for the new

focusing screen wrhich is shipped from JAPAN. They have violated their 5

weekdays repair warranty and I it has been 30 days since I send my camera

still they cannot give me an exact time for the repair. They keep me delaying

and they seem to be completely unconcerned about the term 'customer care'. I

had cancelled many photographic activites so far and it seems I will have to

do so for the next days. I am really bored with them and I want to complaint

about them to any position which may be concerned in such situations. I live

in Turkey. Do you know any global contact information (especially emails) I

can use or what sghould I do in such a case. I used the global canon site but

was unable to find any. Thanks in advance for any help.

Jim I am really grateful for your help. I will try to find out the sync cord voltage and give it a try and if that does not work I will save money for a new speedlite.

Mark, Alistair, Jim,

Thank you all for your help. Mark, the flash is working with my old film camera XE-1 but not with the 400d. I think the hot shoe is not fully compitable though it seems to be.

 

I am going to use it only for extreme macro works. I don't think of using it for the portraits or other stuff. I even get some satisfying results with the internal flash unit by somehow bouncing the light just in front of the lens. But I that is a bit painful :) I need someone to hold the bouncing cards for me.

 

Here a local dealer advised to use very cheap TUMAX manual flash units with an extension cable. He said I should bring my camera and give it a try. I told him about the voltage issues but he seemed to be sure that it would work. He said TUMAX works with an avarage voltage of 330v. So what do you think. Should I take the risk?

Bob thanks a lot for the tips. What you say is very reasonable. It is better to buy an EX series flash. Maybe I can save some money for a new 430 ex. It says in the discription that the 430 ex can work with full functionality even not connected on the hotshoe with an IR system. Can I use it this way with my 400d. I just havent seen this system while working this way and the 400d menu does not have anything special about this function. How is the 430 ex triggered?

Hi everybody. I have a canon eos 400d. I am mainly interested in macro

photography, especially extreme macros beyond 1:1. So far now I have achieved

some satisfying results with external lighting sources but this is not

suitable for more practical work and I need a lot of light. I know the best

combination of flashes is a 430 ex + 550 ex but the problem is I am out of

budget even for one of them at the moment. I own some classic basic flash

units which I used to use on my old film camera Minolta XE-5. They suit on the

EOS hot shoe but they are just not triggered when they are mounted. I just

can't get them work. Is there a possible way.

 

Thanks to anyone who can give any answer and advice.