what does this thing do?

[readysetgocapture]

i just got a 430EX II canon flash and it has a plastic w/ bumps on it card thingy that pulls out and sits over the flash....um .....what is this?
i feel like such an idiot for asking this..

ps. the manual calls it a "wide panel" but doesnt seem to say what its actually does...or how to do what it does.

[j-paka]

it is a wide angle flash thingy it makes the zoom go to 14mm

[cdifoto]

wide. panel.

panel for making the beam wide. play with it and see for yourself.

[readysetgocapture]

wide. panel.

panel for making the beam wide. play with it and see for yourself.
oh ok, yes i will do, i was just bieng lazy lol...thanks from casey.

[Brett]

Just make sure you push it all the way back in when you're done. There have been a few threads here where people say "I can't get my flash to zoom, it's stuck at 14mm", and it's always that the wide panel is sticking out slightly.

[Tim S]

wide. panel.

panel for making the beam wide. play with it and see for yourself.
Also called "flash modifier". Similar effect as with a "flash diffuser", it spread the light beam over a greater area.

[Curtis N]

Readyset...

The 430EX will zoom to cover a 24mm lens on a full frame camera (which is the same as a 15mm lens on a 1.6x camera) without deploying the wide panel.

So unless you have a lens shorter than 15mm, or you're using a 1D series or 5D body, you'll probably never need the wide panel.

[agedbriar]

Would it help in getting a uniform white background with just one flash used for that purpose, hidden behind subject?

[readysetgocapture]

Thnkyou all for your responses, has helped me alot :)

[Curtis N]

Would it help in getting a uniform white background with just one flash used for that purpose, hidden behind subject?Using the wide panel for this purpose may or may not be necessary, depending on the distance from flash to background and the area you need to cover.

If you're getting vignetting on the background at 24mm flash zoom setting, then try the wide panel. This may still throw more light in the center than near the edges. It's really hard to overcome the inverse square law with a fresnel lens.

[40Dude6aedyk]

Actually, that little plastic thing doesn't really do much. It's major purpose is to force you to read the manual and to read the manual again when you don't push it all the way back in. So I guess it doesn't do a very good job at what it's supposed to do.

[ejicon]

nice :)

[agedbriar]

Using the wide panel for this purpose may or may not be necessary, depending on the distance from flash to background and the area you need to cover.

If you're getting vignetting on the background at 24mm flash zoom setting, then try the wide panel. This may still throw more light in the center than near the edges. It's really hard to overcome the inverse square law with a fresnel lens.

What we need, then, is an attachment lens that would counteract the inverse square law by directing progressively more light to the further edges of the spread. Or, as a simpler though less effective solution, a ND filter with an appropriate (a bit elaborate) gradient.

David Honl of honlphoto.com might appreciate this suggestion. ;)
Actually, AlienBees took a small step in this direction already.

http://www.alienbees.com/ubr.html

[cdifoto]

What we need, then, is an attachment lens that would counteract the inverse square law by directing progressively more light to the further edges of the spread. Or, as a simpler though less effective solution, a ND filter with an appropriate (a bit elaborate) gradient.

David Honl of honlphoto.com might appreciate this suggestion. ;)
Actually, AlienBees took a small step in this direction already.

http://www.alienbees.com/ubr.html
Dragging the shutter is cheaper. The AlienBees cup isn't for the same purpose.

[agedbriar]

Dragging the shutter is cheaper.

... but not very effective, I'm afraid, in providing a uniformly lit white background by use of a single flash hidden behind the subject (as from post #8 ).

[cdifoto]

You've brought a different application into this thread. That's not why you use the WA panel at all.

[agedbriar]

Yes, perhaps I did. I'm the inventive sort of guy ;)