I need a basic external auto- flash

[BudMan]

Hello Kind Folks,
I am a digital & SLR newbee. A g2 is a hell of a starter unit I know. I am a tech head and will get with the program I'm sure. But for now I need help choosing a basic external flash for my G2 that will automatically adjust in auto mode and such. I have read some posts here and I am still a bit confused. All this stuff about blocking contacts and such is not helping me in my choice. Reliability and practicality is the scope. It dosent have to be Canon if it is as good or better for the job. What is the best bang for my BUCK?

I have been known to reward kind folks on other subject matter forums with Anheuser-Busch Golf and T-Shirts. If I have success with a suggestion It will happen.

[ltdedorc]

I have a G2 and use one of the two recommended dedicated E-TTL Canon flashes, the 420EX, with it. As far as I know, there are only two flashes that will work "automatically" with the G2. Altho not all of the features of the 420EX flash will work with the G2, enough of them do and gives me the most desired functions I want.

The talk you're reading about in other threads are G2 owner dissatisfaction over the camera's focus assist lite and their desire to jury-rig something to use the flash's focus assist lite instead. For myself I've tested the camera's focus assist lamp out to 22 feet in very subdued lite and it works for me.

If you decide on the dedicated 420EX, think about getting a omnibounce of some kind to diffuse the lite. The 420EX is very powerful and can temporarily blind people when taking close in pics. Plus the Stofen, in my case, softens the harshness of the direct flash and can also be used even when the 420EX is say bounced off the ceiling or a wall using the flash's swivel head feature. In fact I used wall bounce this past weekend when the low overhead really restricted / prevented my using an overhead bounce.

Good luck...Harvey

[Harv]

Just like any camera, it's very easy to use a non-dedicated auto flash. Plus you have that handy LCD screen for instant feedback on exposure.

Not sure what level of photo experience you have, but here's a start.

If you just set the camera to manual mode and use a generalized exposure of 1/60th at f4 or 5.6, with a non-dedicated auto strobe at the same f-stop, you'll find that this works amazingly well.

Learning how to use manual exposure with auto flash may be just as easy to learn as a using a dedicated flash, with the added bonus of being able to figure out bad exposures much more easily. A non dedicated flash will give you a number of power setting options, while a dedicated flash may not give you any manual flexibility at all.


The best bang for the buck right now is the Sunpak 383, which you can get from B&H for 70 bucks. This is a smallish unit with a tilt and swivel head (most excellent), plus three auto settings and manual power settings from full to 1/16 power.

I use this combination weekly with a Lumiquest 80:20 diffuser and I love it.

I was unimpressed with the Canon units, lack of manual override and the price tags in general are out of whack with reality. TTL metering is nice, but it is not crucial by any stretch.

I can give you more detailed info if you like, feel free to drop me a message, or post here, I'm sure others will have opinions too.

harv@toycamera.com