Beginner flash Question

[Rima]

Well I just got my 20D yesterday and I am going to be taking alot of pics indoor in my basement mostly of my son and friends children.
So my question is,the Sigma DG super, can this be shot throgh a softbox and do i need to connect it to my camera with a wire or something or is it wireless:o -'I really have no clue about these things so i thought what better place to ask than here.

[tim]

Yes, it can be, but you have to work out if there's enough light for it to be worthwhile. Diffusers all waste light, and portable strobes don't have much power.

Instead consider getting a single studio light from somewhere like http://www.alienbees.com , they're not much more expensive than a portable strobe, and they're a LOT more powerful.

[m3elmo]

good advice from tim. If you get the DG super or the 580EX, in order to fire them off wirelessly, you'll wan the ST-EG??? i forget the part number, but it's a wireless transmitter that sits in the flash shoehorn. That again costs another few bucks too.

[robertwgross]

There are only a few ways you can do flash photography with a Canon system, or with a Sigma unit if it is compatible.

1. You can put the flash unit on the camera hot shoe. This is easiest, but it limits your light placement.
2. You can put the flash unit on the 2-foot-long off camera shoe cord 2. That is still limiting.
3. You can run PC cords to all flash units. That is limiting because you don't get E-TTL or E-TTLII, so you go Manual.
4. You can use the Canon wireless flash system.

If you chose #4, then you have options:
A. Put one wireless master on the hot shoe or on the off camera shoe cord 2. Then put wireless slaves with a few meters. You must have one wireless master and any number of wireless slaves.
B. To get one wireless master, you must use either Canon 580EX, 550EX, STE2, or anything non-Canon that is completely compatible.
C. To get one wireless slave, you must use either Canon 580EX, 550EX, 420EX, or anything non-Canon that is completely compatible.

Note that the camera's built-in flash is not a wireless anything.

There are variations on this, and there are all sorts of ways to do parts of this using radio units and other foolishness, but you want to keep it simple.

---Bob Gross---