Canon Speedlite books

[mikev63]

Are there any books out there that focus on the Canon speedlites?

[Curtis N]

I don't know of anything specific to Canon Speedlites, perhaps someone else does.

I think the most important things to realize are
1) The physics involved in light and lighting never change. To get the most out of a flash unit, you need to understand how light works. For this I recommend
Strobist (http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/) (blog) Checkout the Lighting 101 series. Lighting 102 is ongoing, and will undoubtedly prove valuable.
Light: Science and Magic (http://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-8833166-7135625?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183388471&sr=8-1) (book)

2) Today's flash units have different capabilities but mostly they just do what the camera tells them. Understanding the camera's flash metering system is the important part. For the best, most comprehensive info on Canon's E-TTL systems, The EOS Flash Bible (http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/) is required reading.

[bwolford]

Canon Speedlite Digital Field Guide (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Speedlite-System-Digital-Field/dp/0470045280/ref=sr_1_1/002-4505323-4864817?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183389087&sr=1-1)

Just glanced at this weekend at Borders. Not a band book, but certainly not an encyclopedia. It won't make you a lighting expert, but you will have a good feel for the mechanics how to use these flashes.

Brice

[Rudy M.]

The Bue Crane DVD is pretty good. I covers every aspect of the flash. About half of the video is for remote lighting and master/slave that I really didn't under stand all that much, and I only have one flash, so I didn't really pay that close attention to it. But it does give you some good ideas on lighting options. This DVD, the manual, stuff on this site, and the huge 3 part Canon flash history is about all you need. Best thing to do is put the fash on the camera, choose a static subject with constant ambient light, and see what the flash does with different settings on it and the camera. Do one thing at a time and take notes, and you may not be able to see what each change does on the camera LCD--you will likely need to look at your shots on a computer. Shoot each shot with the histogram active and you will see right away what +/- FEC does.

[Citex]

Canon Speedlite Digital Field Guide (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Speedlite-System-Digital-Field/dp/0470045280/ref=sr_1_1/002-4505323-4864817?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183389087&sr=1-1)

Just glanced at this weekend at Borders. Not a band book, but certainly not an encyclopedia. It won't make you a lighting expert, but you will have a good feel for the mechanics how to use these flashes.

Brice

I have that book and it helped me out quite a bit for my 430ex and 580ex II, even goes into how to light stuff with examples etc.. +1