External flashes

[Lachesis00]

I am buying a second hand, used Speedlight 550ex flash tomorrow. Does anyone own one? Any pointers/tips you can give for an external flash?
The guy has a 420ex too but I think the 550ex will be more suited for my needs right now. He gave me a break on the price too.

I need to learn how to bounce the flash and such. A whole new ballgame for me!

 

[jann1033]

just subscribing...don't know how much you are paying but KEH.com had few flashes for a good price( under 100 including a sigma super 5??( i hate numbers) which is comparable to the canon 580( again with the numbers) i always see the good deals when the pockets are empty

 

[Cheeky in TN]

http://www.kjsl.com/~dave/speedlites.html

I recently went flash shopping and came accross this page, it may help you also. the big thing I found (which is not on this page and next to impossible to find anywhere) is the flash recovery time. My understanding is the 430ex and 580ex have much faster recovery times than previous generations.

 

[jann1033]

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
another article on flash..not sure what kind of camera you have but i assume the basic stuff would apply

 

[Spinning]

My new camera has this feature..not sure what it is .....of course I am still reading the novel, I mean manual for it...

edit...I meant the slow flash?

 

[jann1033]

since you changed the question i deleted my answer

 

[extreme8]

Slow flash, or "slow synch flash" is a way of using your flash to illuminate part of your scene (usually the subject in the foreground) while allowing the ambient light in the background to be recorded as well.
It basically gives a quick flash to illuminate the foreground, then keeps the shutter open long enough to get a good exposure for the background.
If you choose slow synch and rear curtain flash at the same time the flash will fire at the end of the exposure instead of the beginning.

For example, if you wanted to take a night time picture of someone on the balcony at the CR with the MK in the background you would use slow synch so you would be able to see the park behind them.
If you just used a regular flash setting you would have a nicely exposed picture of a person standing against a railing with a completly black background.
Be sure to use a tripod because some of those types of shot can keep the shutter open for a long time.

On a P&S this mode is usually called "night portrait" or something similar.

 

[Master Mason]

beat to the punch... and by a better answer

 

[boBQuincy]

Here is a short explanation of slow-sync on a Canon website:

http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/flashwork/ettl2/slow/index.html

By using Av mode to change the aperture it also changes the shutter speed to give different effects, such as blur. Second-curtain flash sync usually works best for these.

 

[TomPokNY]

What confuses me is that Slow Synchro Flash sounds a lot like the Night Scene and the (Special Scene) Night Snapshot shooting modes. I've convinced myself that Slow Synchro Flash is there so that you can use it in the Creative Zones, but I'm still not clear on the difference between Night Scene and Night Snapshot (and I haven't had a chance to experiment with them yet). Any ideas?

 

[wdwpluto]

What confuses me is that Slow Synchro Flash sounds a lot like the Night Scene and the (Special Scene) Night Snapshot shooting modes. I've convinced myself that Slow Synchro Flash is there so that you can use it in the Creative Zones, but I'm still not clear on the difference between Night Scene and Night Snapshot (and I haven't had a chance to experiment with them yet). Any ideas?

I think Night Scene may be for night landscapes w/o people, whereas Night Snapshot might be for a portrait of someone at night.

 

[jann1033]

well snikeys i bought the wrong flash...
got a good deal but hehe lot of good it will do me...
i got a 430 ez instead of 430 ex. so according to my rebel xt manual i can use it but not in ttl or attl..not even sure if this has a manual mode on the flash... so anyone know anything about any of the above that can help me decide if i should sell it and get the other one..so very ticked.
will any of the compensation, zoom etc features work...oh i am so mad at myself

swooh the seller canceled it and is going to refund my money...although i would have made the same mistake with keh since that was also a ez....but spend twice the amount to do it guess it pays to read stuff

 

[tinksdad]

Bummer! Canon does make it confusing don't they???
















Sorry, I couldn't resist!

 

[jann1033]

i have never bought a flash, just usually use available light but the time has come to break out of my mold...
i have tried to do research and so am now am of course totally confused...i have a rebel xt, read a flash article on shoot smarter and it kept using ttl auto and manual ...i thought i have ettl 11? so would that be ttl? they recommended promaster 7500 for ttl, lower level canon. i was considering the 430ex ( read the 580 not good with entry level cameras) but can't seem to find if it has the things i want, sigma 500 super ( or 550 what ever it's called, have to look up the numbers again) a metz 54 if they are cheap enough or the promaster...any suggestions .
i know i want to be able to:bounce , have high synch, fill flash, second curtain synch( do most have that?).
the promaster has modeling but not sure what that would be for
i think i am just going to have to get something and play around with it but don't really want to buy the wrong thing.
any help would be very much appreciated but i'm just saying up front i need short easy words cause i am lost.
i would like to stay in the $200 or so range. and since it's my first flash i know i need basic stuff but wouldn't mind being able to use it for a while so if i can get something easy to use but good that might allow some growth.
all that and a cheap price....no doubt you are thinking anything else she wants ?????
thanks

 

[jann1033]

well they could change more than one letter in the name to help us more dense types out.....

 

[handicap18]

While I do not use Canon I will give you my thought process when I got the flash for my Nikon D50.

I was looking at 3rd party flashes, mostly the 2 Sigma versionsf (don't know the model numbers off hand). Reviews were that they were just as good as the Nikon ones and were much less in price. I never was able to find a review or post or anything to really convince me that I should definately get the Sigma flash over the Nikon flash.

In the end, I decided that I went and spent enough money on the camera body and because of the lack of convincing reviews (unlike a lot of lenses) I went with the SB-600 Speedlight. Of the 2 big flashes for Nikon, this was the lesser expensive of the 2. It had the swivel head for bounce capablility and I didn't need all the other bells and whistles of the next model up. It has more than all the cabailities I need.

I don't know as much about Canon's flashes, but I would think that the 430EX should be more than enough for you. Looking at some reviews over at amazon it's definately going to be a good fit for those getting into flash photography like yourself.

Good luck.

 

[fairestoneofall]

I am new to the Canon camera family (just recently bought a 30D). I do have a Nikon D70. I bought a flash for the Nikon to have for birthdays, Christmas and other indoor events that required I use artificial lighting. I went with the SB-600 and liked it (until it broke within the month and had to be sent to Nikon for repairs).

Anyway, for my 30D, I purchased the 580. However, I needed the capability to use it off the camera. Also, with the double rebates, it gave me extra money off my camera body too.

Now, I am not an expert, but I would think the 430 would be fine for what you want it for. As long as you can swivel it around and adjust it vertically, you'll be set.

Just don't buy a Quantaray (I had to get one for my DS's birthday party when the Nikon flash died two days before ). It was slower than a turtle and a big PITB when we were at WDW. It would fire sometimes, basically when it felt like it. That thing drove me nuts!

 

[mabas9395]

Get the 430ex. It has all the things you really need without paying more for the extra stuff that the 580ex has but you won't ever use.

And don't forget the rechargable batteries. It takes 4 of them so get the 4 plus 4 more for a spare set.

But after you get your flash, you'll next be looking at diffusers. It just never ends.

 

[jann1033]

the 3 things the promaster and metz had that the 430 didn't have were an additonal light for fill( so 2 lights), a modeling light ( which i found out lets you know where shadows will fall with out having to take the photo) and a strob feature which i just thought might be kind of fun. i 'd get the metz if i weren't 100 more than all the others. i can't seem to find if the 430 has high synch flash or not. it does have second curtain synch which i also wanted.
a site i read, smart shooter recommended the promaster but not the 580 for the rebel xt and metz recommended the 54mz for the rebel...

so nobody has used the promaster huh?

 

[gruZ]

I was all set to buy the 580, but the local camera store guy talked me out of it and into the 430. He said exactly what was said above, they're very similiar and you most likely don't need the few additional features of the 580 and will save quite a bit of $$.

I've had the 430 for about 4 months now and have not found it lacking in any respect.