One more new 40D threat wont hurt... :)

Coming in at just under $3K I have come to the conclusion that I made the right decision on the 40D. Going to a couple of events this weekend and will really put the gear through its paces. Forgive the lighting, I'm still trying to figure out off camera flash with this camera. It seems I cannot use the Cactus remotes while in Live View and must set the flash sync to 1/250 vs Auto for all the flashes to fire and only then while in Manual Mode (but shutter speed + aperture are still adjustable). Anyone that would like to explain why this happens would be great.

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The highest flash sync the camera can do is 1/250 s. Although that's not completely true, but Hi Sync only works with the 580EX's if you fire them through their own system (i.e. you can have a ST-E2 or a 580EX as a master). So you have to suffer with smaller apertures while using off camera flash with studio light or your SpeedLites hooked up with radio transmitters.

According to the Manual you're supposed to be able to use the SpeedLites while using Live View, but I guess that's because of the E-TTL system, and as you opt against that with radio transmitters, it causes problems with the exposure, etc. So it sounds like a natural thing that you can only use M mode, as you then tell the camera how to expose the scene.

Nice little setup you have there!

CyberPet wrote in post #4447506
The highest flash sync the camera can do is 1/250 s. Although that's not completely true, but Hi Sync only works with the 580EX's if you fire them through their own system (i.e. you can have a ST-E2 or a 580EX as a master). So you have to suffer with smaller apertures while using off camera flash with studio light or your SpeedLites hooked up with radio transmitters.

According to the Manual you're supposed to be able to use the SpeedLites while using Live View, but I guess that's because of the E-TTL system, and as you opt against that with radio transmitters, it causes problems with the exposure, etc. So it sounds like a natural thing that you can only use M mode, as you then tell the camera how to expose the scene.

Nice little setup you have there!

Yep, I knew that – it was just that I didn't have to change the Cn for the Cactus to work on my X T. However, you did give me an idea and thank you for that! I had been having a lot of misfires on the radio remotes with the XT – like 1 every 10 shots. And now I know why. I left the flash to Auto and it must have been triggering the flashes (pre-flash). Just spit balling, but it makes sense now. I'm using the sync mode at 1/250 with the 40D but since I'm using remotes I can set them how I wish and while in M I dial in my own settings on the camera. I'm also using the flash port vs the hotshoe. With the 40D I haven't had a misfire after 100 shots. My only question now is, does setting the sync mode to 250 have any perceivable effect on the images taken?


And thank you.

I'm Swedish, so I'm not sure what you mean with "perceivable effect". But I guess the answer is no, unless you want a very short DOF and you might end up overexposing due to the flash not being able to fire "less" light. I know I've had a hard time with too strong studio light, as they can't be stepped down in power to give me the short DOF I want.

Not sure that's what you meant... but oh well.

sharp photo .

CyberPet wrote in post #4447693
I'm Swedish, so I'm not sure what you mean with "perceivable effect". But I guess the answer is no, unless you want a very short DOF and you might end up overexposing due to the flash not being able to fire "less" light. I know I've had a hard time with too strong studio light, as they can't be stepped down in power to give me the short DOF I want.

Not sure that's what you meant... but oh well.

I should have been more clear

What I meant was that I'm firing 3 flashes in that picture (all set to manual btw); 1 on the dolls left at 1/16 power, 1 over my left shoulder at 1/2 and 1 above at 1/8. The camera reports 1/2 sec, F8, 200ISO with no flash fired – remote was connected via external flash port. The remote trigger (Cactus attached via external flash port – not hot shoe) will not trigger flashes unless I manually set the custom function “Flash Sync Speed” to 1/250 vs Auto. What I'm curious about is if this matters since everything is in manual mode.

Disabling silent shooting lets the flash go off during live view. I havent read the thread so im not sure if thats been answered yet

MaxxuM, still not sure about what you're asking about, as you say you shoot this at 1/2 sec, when the camera's flash sync is 1/250 sec.

The problem (for me) is when there's so much light that I can't get the camera to shoot under 1/250 sec (for instance with 1/500 second, it's not going to work). In your case it looks like you could shoot at 1/250 seconds, lower the ISO and raise the amount of your flashes to output a bit more power.