Best all purpose flash?

[holycow57]

I have just started using the Canon 300D aka DRebel...Any suggestions on a great all-purpose flash...Generally, close ups that needs bounce and yet will provide good illumination with distance of up to 50 yards?

Thanks :rolleyes:

[Eric DeCastro]

550ex/sigma 500 super/sunpak pz5000af/ promaster dx7500/ metz (can't remember the model number)

[Jim Larson]

50 YARDS?

Like, as in half a football field?

Most rent-all places can supply the lighting needs you are specifying. But industrial light rentals don't include the diesel fuel for the generators.

[Eric DeCastro]

holy crap, i thought it said like 50 feet and thought that was a stretch.

[robertwgross]

Yes, 50 yards is an awful stretch. Then, 50 feet is still quite a throw.

Take your guide numbers, do the math for your best lens, and see what you get. Although a great deal is possible, anything beyond 30-40 feet will cause wonderment to any photographer.

For example, if I took a 550EX (max GN 55), and if I took my 50mm f/1.8 lens, that suggests a maximum range of about 23 feet for ISO 100, or double that range for ISO 400. So, range ends up being a function of how high you can crank up your ISO.

---Bob Gross---

[tim]

What are you trying to take flash photos of at that distance?

[nosquare2003]

Yes, 50 yards is a very long distance.

- Anyway, you may also consider this stuff:
http://www.birdsasart.com/accs.html#BEAMER

- Can you put the flash off your camera?

[dr.bear]

at 50 yards try the sun

[Jon]

Yes, 50 yards is an awful stretch. Then, 50 feet is still quite a throw.

Take your guide numbers, do the math for your best lens, and see what you get. Although a great deal is possible, anything beyond 30-40 feet will cause wonderment to any photographer.

For example, if I took a 550EX (max GN 55), and if I took my 50mm f/1.8 lens, that suggests a maximum range of about 23 feet for ISO 100, or double that range for ISO 400. So, range ends up being a function of how high you can crank up your ISO.

---Bob Gross---

It's a little better than that - GN 55 is in meters at 105 mm. It's about 138 in feet with the 50 mm, so 75 ft with the 50 f/1.8. Bounce would cut that down significantly, but it's not clear from the original question whether he expects bounce at 50 yards (I hope not - that'd be one heck of a high ceiling!).

[robertwgross]

It's about 138 in feet with the 50 mm, so 75 ft with the 50 f/1.8.

Yes, I made the requisite meters to feet omission. So, 23 meters is what I intended, which is roughly your 75 feet.

---Bob Gross---

[Mike Panic]

580ex

[CyberDyneSystems]

50 yards?

I have two of these that would do the trick;

http://www.lycian.com/Assets/Images/Full%20View%20Products/1290.gif
http://www.lycian.com/Assets/specs/1290_specs.gif


Of course.. they are no good for distances below 45 feet... at which point the subject is close enough that the light would likely cause ignition... :rolleyes:

[Dark Weider]

http://www.lycian.com/Assets/Images/Full%20View%20Products/1290.gif
Oh yes... I remember...

I used one of those in my Nikon days for astrophotography. Tends to overexpose a bit though...

[holycow57]

DAMN! I meant 50 feet....not yards...what was I thinking...I wasn't:o:o.

So the the 25-50 FEET parameters just what would be best flash?

Hey, how much do those spotlights cost? Do they have a portable power source? Ha!

[Jon]

25-50 ft, I'd go along with the general consensus of the 580EX (GN 190 (ft) ISO 100 and 105 mm zoom). Canon gives the 550 100 ft at f/1.4 ISO 100; you lose almost a stop with an f/1.8, but pick up a tad with the higher GN of the 580, so it'd give you some breathing room.