2 off camera flash units

[davecropp]

I have a 580ex II and an older 420ex flash. Is it possible to set these up cheaply as portable flash units using cables and some form off hotshoe adaptor. I have the canon lead which is about 1.6m long but I want to put the heads on tripods at some distance away. I've looked at the infra red unit but think it is too expensive.

[dawnrogers]

Dave you can use one speedlite as the master on the camera and the second one as a slave off camera if that helps?? If you wnat them both off camera, skyports are pretty good, about £100 for the reciever and transmitter though....

[Curtis N]

This thread should help some.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=308108

[rklepper]

I have a 580EXII and 2 420EX. I set them up wireless with the 580 as master. It is extremely easy, ie nothing to it.

[davecropp]

Thanks Guys.
I'd just got home with 2 KOOD flash slave units. Wished I read the Curtis N's post before hand as it is correct when it says they don't work with EX Flash. Can take them back on monday, but sounded a great option.
I did want to get both flashes off camera but I might be able to go with one on and one off. It's a group photo so I was hoping to have both flashes at about 45 degrees

[FlashZebra]

To get both off camera you could go with what I call "hybrid triggering". Part basic sync, part Canon infrared.

You would need a hotshoe adapter and cord going to the 580EX II (cannot use the built in sync port as it does not support Manual/Master mode). Then have the 580EX II act as a master to the 430EX.

Everything would need to be manual mode and your sync speed will be limited to about 1/100 sec (or so).

Another inexpensive option (not hybrid triggering) would be a hotshoe adapter and cord to the 430EX and an optical slave on the 580EX II (optical slaves will not work on the 430EX). The advantage would be higher possible sync speeds (to your cameras X-sync limit).

Enjoy! Lon

[jrsforums]

Thanks Guys.
I'd just got home with 2 KOOD flash slave units. Wished I read the Curtis N's post before hand as it is correct when it says they don't work with EX Flash. Can take them back on monday, but sounded a great option.
I did want to get both flashes off camera but I might be able to go with one on and one off. It's a group photo so I was hoping to have both flashes at about 45 degrees

Some advice on group photos....
http://super.nova.org/DPR/Groups/PhotographingGroups.pdf

[davecropp]

Thanks again guys
The info from John on group photos looks pretty good.
We'll see how I go on.

[ebann]

To get both off camera you could go with what I call "hybrid triggering". Part basic sync, part Canon infrared.

You would need a hotshoe adapter and cord going to the 580EX II (cannot use the built in sync port as it does not support Manual/Master mode). Then have the 580EX II act as a master to the 430EX.

Everything would need to be manual mode and your sync speed will be limited to about 1/100 sec (or so).

Another inexpensive option (not hybrid triggering) would be a hotshoe adapter and cord to the 430EX and an optical slave on the 580EX II (optical slaves will not work on the 430EX). The advantage would be higher possible sync speeds (to your cameras X-sync limit).

Enjoy! Lon

The OP's flash is a 420EX, no manual mode. I was wondering the same question. From reading a few threads, most pro have the following setup: wireless transmitter (e.g. Pocket Wizard) to the master flash (580EX) which triggers the rest via Canon infrared. But this works only with flash that has manual mode. For the 420EX, we would need E-TTL mode on the master flash, and using wireless, you would lose that. An alternative would be to use a Canon off-shoe cord on the 580EX and set that up on a flash-stand. This way you will be able to use your master in E-TTL mode, which will trigger the 420EX correctly. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm beginning to learn this stuff!

[davecropp]

i have the canon off camera lead but it's only 1.6m long and I was hoping to be a little further away from the flash than that. May have to go that way and see what happens.

[ebann]

Look here for what you want: http://www.michaelbass.blogspot.com/
He sells a hacked version of Canon's Off-Camera Cord with a mini-DIN extension cord in the middle (6ft, 10ft, 15ft, 30ft, 50ft, 100ft)