Flash & transmitter both on-camera?

[formulaJP]

To slowly get into the hobby i'm going to pick up a flash stand w/ umbrella and use a sunpack or vivitar as a slave and i'd like to use my 550ex on camera still.

Who makes transmitters that i can mount on a camera while still being able to retain using the hotshoe mount for the 550ex. If that makes sense.

Simple question.

Thanks.

[tim]

Just connect the transmitter via the PC socket, any transmitter will work. I do that with Skyports (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/505381-REG/Elinchrom_EL_19360_EL_Skyport_Universal_Radio_Slav e.html/BI/2312/KBID/3114).

[PacAce]

To slowly get into the hobby i'm going to pick up a flash stand w/ umbrella and use a sunpack or vivitar as a slave and i'd like to use my 550ex on camera still.

Who makes transmitters that i can mount on a camera while still being able to retain using the hotshoe mount for the 550ex. If that makes sense.

Simple question.

Thanks.
The transmitter can be connected to the PC port of the camera (but with the unit dangling instead of physically being mounted in the hotshoe) as Tim suggested but if you have a DRebel series camera which doesn't come provided with a PC port, you'll need to get a hotshoe adapter which comes with both a PC port and a hotshoe. The only catch with these adapters is that you'll lose ETTL capability so the flash will need to be operated in manual mode.

[Titus213]

If you are shooting indoors you might want to consider an optical slave trigger. They are a lot less than radio units and should work fine with the Sunpak or Vivitar units.

You would have to shoot the 550EX in manual mode to trigger them properly.

[formulaJP]

excellent.

as far as the pc socket goes, i thought mine has one first and second my 550 has some sort of port on the side of it, thought that may be a possibility...

[tim]

as far as the pc socket goes, i thought mine has one first and second my 550 has some sort of port on the side of it, thought that may be a possibility...

That sentence makes no sense.

The port on the side of the 550EX is a high voltage input port, the only thing you can plug in there is a CP-E4 battery pack, which work well for what they do, which is nothing like what you're trying to do.

[formulaJP]

sorry, trying to type too fast during class lol

i thought the port could be used with a transmitter.

is it possible to use another canon flash as the master then ON camera with the 550 on a stand as the slave AND still retain ETTL??

[PacAce]

sorry, trying to type too fast during class lol

i thought the port could be used with a transmitter.

is it possible to use another canon flash as the master then ON camera with the 550 on a stand as the slave AND still retain ETTL??

Yes. Get another 550EX or one of the other EX flashes that support wireless ETTL like the 420EX and 430EX, both of which can be used as a slaves to the 550EX as the master, or the 580EX and the 580EX II which can be used as either.