chad_hoelzel1
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Posts posted by chad_hoelzel1
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<p>I'm wanting to use it mainly for shoot through. Is the light going to have enough room to spread out that far at such a close distance to the flash even if I set the flash at 24mm or use the wide angle defuser?</p>
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<p>Thanks for the input all. This is a sort of learn and upgrade undertaking. I`ve been laid off for a few months so figured I`d slowly work my way into making some extra money to upgrade my gear. In the near future I would like to continue doing this part time along with the odd wedding I`ve been picking up each year. It`s nice to start understanding how to control light in a controlled environment. My next upgrades wikl be wireless slaves for my two 550EX, 580EX II and metz 45 CL4 flashes. I already have battery packs for all my Canon speedlites so recycle time is fast and I`m not having to change batteries all the time. </p>
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<p>I was just looking at ordering some 30"ish umbrellas online (local store is outrageously expensive for everything) for a strobist setup I'm making with my Speedlites when I noticed more options then I anticipated. I'm wanting to shoot through of course so thought white was what I was looking for. Looks like there are more options. Now there is white, satin white, and translucent (white?). So what's what. I'm guessing white and satin white are the same? Translucent lets through more light then white I'm guessing? What would you suggest for a small home setup for 1-4 people (head and shoulder)? Thanks for your help, Chad</p>
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<p>Since your trying to fight the sun (even in shade) for light output to get rid of shadows or make the strobe the primary light source possibly I wouldn't go to weak.<br /> Maybe something like this..... http://www.alienbees.com/flash.html<br /> With this to power it.... http://www.alienbees.com/VIIsystem.html</p>
<p>They have good packages.... I'd also consider wireless to the system so your not tripping on wires<br /> http://www.alienbees.com/remotes.html</p>
<p>Unfortunately simple and inexpensive are a little more difficult.... Depending on the size of your group you might want to look at just regular flashes from whatever camera brand you have and take those wireless.</p>
<p> </p>
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<p>Thanks for the feedback Nadine... That's exactly what I was wanting to hear... I use my flashes mainly for my two DSLR bodies so haven't used them lots off camera. I'm finding single flash usage to be reasonably consistent but I guess the more complication you add to ETTL the more a small problem can increase to a larger one (Canon's metering inconsistencies). </p>
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<p>With Radio Poppers you just adjust things on the on camera flash through (ratios) and that sends the info to the others (TTL). Maybe I need to try using my flashes a bit more to see whether TTL is really effective with more then one flash in regards to control and accuracy before I try going with a wireless TTL system. I've been sort of avoiding it because of the lack of effective range outdoors and having to rotate them around to get line of sight. It sort of hinders creativity so that's why I'm wanting to go Radio wireless.</p>
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<p>I am having to make some decisions as to what direction I want to take my photography in regards to lighting. Currently I do some locational portraiture and some weddings (not large scale). My current lights are 2X 550 EX's, one 580 EX II and a Metz 45 CL4 (don't have a large battery pack so I don't use it). I have two Canon battery packs and BVS Pulsar filled with C cells. I also own a Sekonic L-358 I also own enough tripods and a light stands to hold 2 of the Canons and keep one on camera.<br /> What I nead help with is real field experience advice as to what works and what doesn't. I want a system that is fairly easy to use so that I don't need to have to do lots of adjusting.<br /> <br /> <strong>Phase One Purchase (next year or two):</strong> <br /> Radio slaves for current Canon flashes<br /> Option One: One Radio Popper PX Transmitter for on camera flash.... Two Radio Popper PX Receivers for speedlites..... One Radio Popper JrX transmitter for Sekonic meter attached via PC cord.<br /> Option Two: One CyberSync CST attached to camera with PC sync cord and mounted to camera mounted flash (one option)..... Two CyperSync CSR B for speedlites (or a third if I mount the Cybersync CST to hotshoe)...... Once Cybersync CST mounted to Sekonic meter via PC cord</p>
<p><strong>Phase Two Purchase (two years plus from now):</strong> <br /> This will show why the CyberSync Option<br /> Two Einstein 640 Strobes.....two CSXCV Transmitters..... One CyberSync Commander.... One Vagabond II Battery pack system</p>
<p>With the Phase one Option One system I would get the best of both worlds... TTL when I just use the Speedlites by themselves and Manual Flash when using them with the Einstein strobes. The Radio Popper system would have to get attached to the CyberSync system with the Radio Popper JrX transmitter. Then the a Cybersync Commanders Flash meter could replace the Sekonic meter.</p>
<p>I would probably not combine both speedlites and strobes all the time but I would like the option to (ie. locational hair light or light hidden behind veil for wedding formals). If I go with Phase One Option two it would be less integrating when I combine systems but I`d lose TTL.</p>
<p>For those using Speedlites in manual on location how are you finding your work flow. Which would be less of a headache having one radio system while using the speedlites manually or TTL now and having to integrate systems later.</p>
<p> </p>
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<p><strong>I own neither system</strong> but am saving up for a wireless system. No offense to pocket wizard owners but I think the fix SUCKS. A person spends all that money on a system and then they have to put a sock over their flashes....what's up with that...RECALL and fix. Why would I want the rear display of my flash covered up so I can't see what's happening or change settings easily. It's using a band aid to fix a system that should have been properly designed from the beginning. All this add on stuff to make it work would probably interfere with various diffusers a person might want to put on a flash. <br>
For those wanting to blame Canon for the problem don't. Paul Buff's CyberSync system and Pocket Popper's system all use a higher frequency which doesn't have problems getting close to the distances claimed by the respective manufactures. On a side note I'm also not sure I would want to have to plug my wireless system into a computer every time I want to change setting or check battery level (Like the Mini TT1).</p>
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<p>This is not so much a question but a resource thread for those trying to figure out what to get. If you have the time watch all 8 videos... I found the actual field testing very informative<br>
1 of 8<br>
2 of 8<br>
3 of 8<br>
4 of 8<br>
5 of 8<br>
6 of 8<br>
7 of 8<br>
8 of 8<br>
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<p>Radio Poppers give you all the functionality that your 580 flashes have. They have been field tested (youtube vidio) to well over 500 feet. If you want range and functionality then you are going to have to pay for it. If you can't find reviews on a product then it probably won't do what they say....</p>
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<p>Did I mention the Cyber Commander has a built in light meter....<br>
http://www.white-lightning.com/cybersyncplus.html<br>
http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/cybercommander-instructions.html</p>
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<p>I second the einstein strobes. With the wireless capabilities of the Cyber Commander you are light years ahead of everyone else and it costs a fraction of the cost. There customer service is second to none. A good example of this is if you really need lights before the einstein strobes ship Pual Buff has said to buy the Alien Bees and return them in the 60 day trial period when you get the einsteins shipped to you. WHAT company would tell you to do that to get your business. That and warranty issues aren't dealt with through a chain of people seeing as it's made in USA. I've watched this company develop for the past five years and their inhouse designed technology is taking studio lighting to what people have only dreamed of possible. They also recently opened up a support discussion forum.</p>
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<p>I don't think Canon dumped any problem on PW. I think that PW chose a bad frequency. If you look into radio poppers they have none of these problems because they did their research and choose a better frequency range. You can actually reach the distance that they say unlike PW. I think it was 300Mhz for PW versus 900Mhz for radio popper. Another problem with PW is that when you change channel you aren't really changing frequency but digital encoding. When you change channel with Radio Popper you ARE actually changing the channel (radio frequency).<br>
If you get bored you can watch the showdown... about 8 sets of video clips...starting with this one<br>
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<p>If the EOS 3 is in your price range I'd definitely choose that over the Elan 7 and the A2. It's got the 100% viewfinder, really good metering, and very fast focusing. Plus you get the eye control focus. I really wish Canon hadn't gotten rid of that.</p>
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<p>You know you need a full frame SLR when:</p>
<p>You keep pulling out your 1V HS and a role of film because your 17-40 f4L isn't wide enough</p>
<p>You keep thinking you've gone backwards in camera quality and functionality because you don't have 100% viewfinder coverage</p>
<p>You find the viewfinder to dark in low light situations</p>
<p>All you want is Av, Tv, and M but you've got a tone of other automatic settings to accidentally turn the dial to when your not paying attention</p>
<p>You never use the pop up flash anyway because it casts a shadow with your wide angle making it useless altogether</p>
<p>Really miss the feel of a pro camera</p>
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<p>You'll probably get somewhat better auto focus speed with the elan 7. If you ever plan on using any of the flashes including wireless E-TTL then the Elan 7 would be the way to go. I'd pick it up in the Elan 7e version with eye control. Even with wearing prescription glasses it seems to be effective and fast. If you depend on the in camera metering you will get better results with the elan 7 because it has more metering points to average out. You also have more focusing points to choose from. And lastly no offense to the A2E or A2 owners but the elan 7 looks way better... sort of old boxy BMW look versus new rounded BMW look.</p>
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<p>on a side note... is there any word as to when the are replacing the 35mm f1.4L? I really want to get the 35mm but would rather wait and get the new one if I knew how long that would be.</p>
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<p>you might want to look into the post processing side to gain more depth of field. There is some good FREE software that will layer multiple pictures and give you more depth of field without loosing image quality. You need to take a few of the same subject and focus front to back (or back to front) as you take the pictures.</p>
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<p>could probably put some electrical tape between the two so the pop up flash still pops up</p>
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<p>If working distance isn't an issue I'd go with the 85mm 1.8. The bokeh is very pleasing. The distance between your subject and background doesn't have to be as far to create a nice soft background bokeh effect. The more telephoto you go the closer your background can be and still have a pleasing out of focus effect. I'd suggest renting a 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8 and 100mm 2.8 macro. You'll like the macro because it'll allow you to do some nice tight head shots due to it's closer focusing ability. It also blurs the background very easily.</p>
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<p><img src="http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a346/MCWedding05/Other/BubblesAndRain0.jpg" alt="" /><br>
Bubbles and Rain... Canmore Alberta, Canada</p>
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<p>If higher ISO quality is what you want here is the info supporting what I read about the 40Ds images looking better.....</p>
<p>http://tech.spotcoolstuff.com/photography/digital-camera/slr-showdown-40d-50d-canon-eos/<br>
http://www.xtremephotography.ca/Canon-40D-50D-ISO-Comparison/Crop/default.htm</p>
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<p>Unless I'm missing a specific feature that you find more useful on the 50D than the 40D doesn't have I'm not sure why you made such a small jump up. If you do some searching you will find that people have been finding the 40D pictures to be better especially at higher ISO than the 50D. In that regard you have actually downgraded by going to the 50D. Remember unless you are printing really big.... it's the lens that will show you better improvement in picture quality then the camera (ie. good primes) at normal picture sizes. You'll get better bokeh, saturation, and contrast.</p>
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<p> I think shooting a wedding like this is a good experience. I'm not a pro but it seems like every time I shoot a wedding I learn something new and build on style and technique. My suggestion is read, try, read, try,.... you have all summer so shoot the heck out of the camera you have. Do you know what your venue is yet? Really analyze that before picking out your lenses. After doing some free photo sessions for family and friends analyze your photos and read your exif files to see what focal lengths you gravitate towards. </p>
<p>I think you really need to nail down your flash phobia. Your going to need flash inside and out. You might somehow have to save up and buy one so you can use it enough to be effective (550 EX or 580EX I or II). As much as this sucks money wise I'd suggest finding some kind of used external battery pack to give you some decent recycle times and so you're not changing batteries all the time. I found a cheap BVS Pulsar battery pack on Ebay for around $50. Don't cheap out on the flash because you will need range to fill flash for outside pictures. Figure out what flash diffusers you are going to use inside to make the light look natural. You can make some of these fairly inexpensively yourself.</p>
<p>Form a game plan. Know ahead of time what settings you will use in what situation. Know what situations your going to want to change your ISO before you start shooting. An example of this for me is that I use Manual (M) for inside photography so that I can control shutter speed for a given lens (focal length) and depth of field for a given photograph and let the flash make up the difference in light required (you have to know flash limitations here). I use Tv for outside photography since lighting changes lots. That way I can ensure that movement/shake is stopped for a given focal length of lens. I then change ISO (which changes aperture) to ensure proper depth of field for that lighting situation and pose. You will only be able to accomplish the most basic of consistency technically if you have a system that works for you.</p>
<p>Lastly I would suggest trying poses and styles that you might not think are you at the moment because you might like them and add them to your current style of photography. Walk around lots for a given pose and see what you can get out of it. For formals I often get 2-3 <strong>different</strong> pictures from the same pose by changing my position or by changing cropping (focal length).</p>
<p>P.S. Go with more small sized memory cards versus one or two larger ones in case they get lost or become defective. 8GB versus 16GB argument.</p>
New 35L Lens coming?
in Canon EOS Mount
Posted