How to trigger umbrella flash kit

[loriehall]

I have a wedding the first week of December--my first ever! I have been working fast and furious to purchase the right equipment to help light up the church as it is naturally dark. I have a Canon Rebel XTi camera, a Speedlite 430ex, and I just purchased a System Pro Basic 2 Light Studio Lighting Umbrella Kit (after sending back another umbrella kit that did not meed my needs). I received my umbrella kit last night but need to know EXACTLY what I need to purchase in order to get my camera & umbrellas to trigger together, to communicate together. I believe I need to either have a "pc cord" or "hotshoe adaptor" or both--but I don't know exactly what I need and I am running out of time. Can ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME???? I sincerely appreciate any and all help you can give me. Take care and blessings, Lorie :confused:

[Big G]

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[Titus213]

Lorie -
Your camera does not have a PC connection so you will need at minimum a hot shoe adapter (http://www.flashzebra.com/products/0156/index.shtml) and a sync cable (http://www.flashzebra.com/fivemetersync/index.shtml).

I surely hope you understand the strobes will be in manual mode, no E-TTL.

Sync cables will work but will present issues with folks tripping over them, pulling your lights over, etc. Radio triggers would be preferable IMO.

[Benji]

Several things. The XTi does not have a PC outlet so you cannot plug a PC cord into the camera and fire your off camera flash units. I'm not sure about the 430ex but my 580 ex will trigger my off camera flash units via their photocells. If you can do this the 430 will be your fill light and the off camera flash will be your main light.

Benji

[loriehall]

Thank you so very much for your responses. I have tried my camera & flash in manual modes trying to get them to trigger the umbrella flashes with no luck. I have to go back to work, but would greatly appreciate any additional information on setting the camera or flash to trigger the umbrella flashes. If I do need to purchase a radio trigger or other triggering device, could you make a recommendation? Thanks again to everyone who has been kind enough to help me with my question. Blessings, Lorie:confused:

[Car2n]

At a minimum, you'll need a hot shoe adapter for your xti and a adapter for the 430 as well and link them with a pc chord. Your 430 could be off camera or on camera (on the hot shoe adapter). It looks like your strobes have built in slaves so that means that the flash from the 430 would set them off at the same time. Sorry, I'm not sure of the proper name for the adapter needed on the 430.
As said above, your best option is wireless. Ebay type system would probably take too long for shipping before the wedding but the Cybersyncs could be had in a day or two.
I'd also weigh the costs of adapters and cables against the wireless systems.

[scorpio_e]

Do you really want to be working with lighting equipment that you are not 100 % comfortable with? Weddings move fast and they are a bit stressful. You can not have people standing around when you are working with new equipment or things are not working right. Even setting up umbrellas an stands take time. You would be better off getting a camera bracket and getting your flash off the camera hot shoe. Work with what you have.
Having an assistant helps too:)
Good luck to you:)

[Austin.Manny]

Yongnuo Wireless RF-602.

[TMR Design]

I know the Yongnuo gear gets pretty good reviews but honestly, if I were a wedding photographer I'd go with gear that is more reliable, serviceable and rentable in the event that you need more or fast replacements.

The Yongnuo gear does misfire and at times is just DOA for no apparent reason. I guess for the price you can just have an extra set on hand but I wouldn't want to have problems and misfires on the most important day of someone's life.

I'm not a gear snob but event and wedding work places different demands on gear and timing is crucial.

Just my opinion.

[Titus213]

Do you really want to be working with lighting equipment that you are not 100 % comfortable with? Weddings move fast and they are a bit stressful. You can not have people standing around when you are working with new equipment or things are not working right. Even setting up umbrellas an stands take time. You would be better off getting a camera bracket and getting your flash off the camera hot shoe. Work with what you have.
Having an assistant helps too:)
Good luck to you:)

I know the Yongnuo gear gets pretty good reviews but honestly, if I were a wedding photographer I'd go with gear that is more reliable, serviceable and rentable in the event that you need more or fast replacements.

The Yongnuo gear does misfire and at times is just DOA for no apparent reason. I guess for the price you can just have an extra set on hand but I wouldn't want to have problems and misfires on the most important day of someone's life.

I'm not a gear snob but event and wedding work places different demands on gear and timing is crucial.

Just my opinion.

Lorie, I certainly don't want to discourage you but these are my thoughts exactly. If the wedding was December 2010 it might work but not next month unless you have a ton of time to practice. Include in your practice sessions a total failure of your lights and/or your camera and see if you can figure out what you will do next.:confused: My point? Weddings are not the same as portrait shoots.

Manual flash, while not difficult, does have a learning curve.

All of that said, there is nothing you need to do to get the strobes to sync with your camera except to hook the cable to the camera hot shoe and keep your shutter speed below the max sync for the lights you are using. Generally 1/125 or less works. Getting a proper exposure will prove much more difficult I think.

My suggestion - get a camera rotating bracket and a Lumiquest ProMax System for the ceremony and spend the next two weeks practicing with it.

[CliffordPhotography]

www.mpex.com Do a search on cac1005, this will fire one light. If you need more individual receivers can be purchased seperatly.

Reliable and cheap!