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hpatlik
28th of March 2004 (Sun), 22:25
I'm looking at buying an external flash for the G3. Are there any good inexpensive non-canon flash units that provide the same features as a Canon 220ex, 380ex or 420ex?

Any suggestions :?:
4walls
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 01:20
I looked at the Sigma flash on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3806268664&category=15 221), but wasn't convinced it would do everything the EX series would do as far as E-TTL, second curtain sync, etc. So I ended up buying the 380EX online for a pretty good price (http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3805885240&category=48 549).

The feature that I would like is the swivel function so I could bounce the flash when I am shooting in the portrait orientation. I almost always use the bounce with this flash and the results are outstanding.

I think you will pay about as much for the Sigma as the 420EX, so I wouldn't waste time and money, just go with the 420, you will not be sorry.
yallcome
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 02:45
No - go with the 420EX.

I'm looking at buying an external flash for the G3. Are there any good inexpensive non-canon flash units that provide the same features as a Canon 220ex, 380ex or 420ex?
s00pcan
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 06:13
sunpak pz40x works with them.
Sailare
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 08:37
I'm looking at buying an external flash for the G3. Are there any good inexpensive non-canon flash units that provide the same features as a Canon 220ex, 380ex or 420ex?

Any suggestions :?:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home;jsessionid=AoljNAPkg6!709823487?ci=1&sb=ps&pn =1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=SearchBar&A=search& Q=*&shs=420EX&image.x=10&image.y=10

B & H photo - $ 169 - 420EX -- Don't even think about something else. Initially the Sunpak ($ 149) looks good, but since Canon does not publish al the E-ttl algoriths, you are taking a chance. Initially you will probably be happy, but as you get deeper into flash photography the differences will make you sorry you went that way.
mookiemeister
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 11:57
I use 420EX with my G3. It's a pretty good flash. But you need to realize that some of the features on 420EX is not available when used with G3. Like the infra-red focus.
s00pcan
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 14:38
Initially the Sunpak ($ 149) looks good, but since Canon does not publish al the E-ttl algoriths, you are taking a chance. Initially you will probably be happy, but as you get deeper into flash photography the differences will make you sorry you went that way.

Like what..? As long as e-ttl works, I don't care, I want that flash so I can use the manual mode, whereas I couldn't with the 420ex. Plus it's smaller and cheaper.
Sailare
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 15:57
Like what..? As long as e-ttl works, I don't care, I want that flash so I can use the manual mode, whereas I couldn't with the 420ex. Plus it's smaller and cheaper.[/quote]


As long as it works {THE SAME} I wouldn't care either. You can not assume that. Since you are convinced, buy one and let us know how it goes.
Bruce Watson
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 17:17
The Sigma 500 DG Super works flawlessly with my G2, 10D and 300D.

Liked it so much I bought a second and will probably pick up a third to give me a portable lighting kit.

I also have the 380EX (for years) which is a nice flash but lacks the swiveling head, manual controls and E-TTL slave functions.

It generally lives on my G2 for general work stuff, while the other kit is used for situations requiring more control.

YMMV.
johnson
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 20:00
I just got my Sunpak 383 Super in the mail today for my G2. 10x better than onboard flash and I snagged it off eBay for only $28 shipped. It has a swivel and rotating head (180*), plenty of auto settings and full manual settings. For the price I got it for, im not complaining. Even for the pricetag of $70, a lot of people rate this flash very highly.
s00pcan
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 20:20
How well does the flash work with the camera on auto?
johnson
29th of March 2004 (Mon), 21:04
How well does the flash work with the camera on auto?

Doesnt work in Auto. If I try and use it in P mode for indoor shots, it wants to set the shutter to 1/4 second or more which results in blurry pics. Havent tried to shoot with it outdoor yet for fill flash.

The flash has 4 settings; Manual, Maximum Distance, Intermediate Distance, and Close Distance. You get to choose what ISO value youre using (25, 50, 100, 200, 400, or 1000) and it gives you the aperture youre supposed to use.

Here it is set on ISO100. It tells me to set the aperture on the camera to f8 and the picture will be properly exposed from 2ft to 15ft.
http://home.comcast.net/~johnson_n/383s1.jpg

In this pic, I switched to the intermediate distance setting. Now, its telling me to set the camera aperture to f4 and the picture will be properly exposed from 4ft to 30ft.
http://home.comcast.net/~johnson_n/383s2.jpg

Here is it set for maximum distance. f2 for 8ft to 60ft.
http://home.comcast.net/~johnson_n/383s3.jpg

I changed the ISO value to 50 in the intermediate setting and its telling me to change the aperture to f2.8 instead of f4.
http://home.comcast.net/~johnson_n/383s4.jpg

The 1/2, 1/4, etc bar on the bottom has to do with manual mode but I havent used it yet. Im still a newbie to this so I hope I explained it well.
http://home.comcast.net/~johnson_n/383s5.jpg