I own two 430 EX II flashes and have $49.43 in Ebay Bucks. What do I do with it?

As the title suggests, I only own two 430 EX II flashes. I have no stands, triggers, or umbrellas, which is obviously a problem.

With $49.43 in free cash, where should I allocate my funds? Any suggestions? I have 13 hours from the time of this post...

(Note: I'm willing to spend more than $49.43, but I'd like to keep things under $100 if possible. Also: I own a 60D, which means I can use optical triggering...)

Radio triggers
Flash Bracket
Set of gels
Light stand
Softbox
Memory
Light meter
Nifty Fifty
Grip

Just some of what I would look for or already have....

You're right, the wireless pop-up control on the 60D works very well at the distances Canon specifies. Therefore, the obvious things are light stands and softboxes. the Lumiquest Softbox III does a fairly good job and is around $45. The Cheetah Qbox 16x16 is about $90 but a good investment. My light stands were under $30 each for 7' height. Quite adequate for my 430EXs with softbox attached.

Light stands and umbrella brackets and an inexpensive umbrella. Probably a reflector or maybe a softbox next.

What do you guys think of this? I've got under 2 hours left...

http://www.ebay.com …ain_0&hash=item​20c6d99d95

Wouldn't a softbox interfere with the whole line of sight thing?

I went for a 50mm 1.8 Mark II lens for a grand total of $50 shipped.

I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to keep it or sell it for profit, but either way, I thought that was a better option than rushing into a lighting kit decision with absolutely NO knowledge whatsoever on brand quality, umbrella styles, etc.

That being said, I should probably be doing some research now so I don't have to "waste" my Ebay bucks ever again.

SMP_Homer wrote in post #14807597
Wouldn't a softbox interfere with the whole line of sight thing?

No. All you have to do is rotate the flash body relative to the head so that the flash is pointed into the softbox and the sensor on the body is pointed toward the pop-up or towards a reflective surface that will bounce the pop-up signal. Works great.

Adorama sells on ebay. They have several strobist kits under $100. I just bought the two umbrella flashpoint kit...just a suggestion...

SMP_Homer wrote in post #14807597
Wouldn't a softbox interfere with the whole line of sight thing?

Not really. I use the Canon optical triggering system with an Ezybox and it works fine.