question with sunpak

[sumozebra]

Does anyone know if the Sunpak flashes are compatible with 580EX / 580EXII wireless? i.e. ratios, Flash exposure compensation, etc? and ETTL via wireless sync?

[nadtz]

Which sunpak's? The dedicated units might be, but I dont recall seeing any of them being canon wireless compatible.

[DC Fan]

Depends on the model.

Some are said to be compatible with Canon's mysterious flash system. (http://www.tocad.com/sunpak/flashunits.html) Others, such as the 383, are old-fashioned shoe-mount flashes that can be adjusted for power output. Canon's flash system is so inconsistent with DSLR's that many users prefer the 383.

Does anyone know if the Sunpak flashes are compatible with 580EX / 580EXII wireless? i.e. ratios, Flash exposure compensation, etc? and ETTL via wireless sync?

[Strayz]

and for the price of a 580EX II you can get 3 maybe 4 of the sunpacks and have all sorts of fun. ( also get some skyports or Pocket wizards and go nuts shooting off the camera flash, you will thank yourself later).

[nadtz]

But if you are in a situation where you want/need ETTL a manual flash doesn't do you much good. Suit the tool to the job and all!

The flashes on the page DC Fan linked all appear to be TTL compatible (dedicated) but I don't see anything that makes me think they are compatible with canon's or Nikon's wireless.

[sumozebra]

Thanks. The speedlite series uses the pre-flash pulse to transfer the ETTL information for those of you who were confused on the "mysterious canon wireless flash" it's not IR based.

I use 580EX setups, using 3 at the moment for my jobs, was just considering the alternatives, but if I can't get ETTL wireless, then i guess i'm stuck with the canon speedlites...

Thanks for the help.