Best flash for wildlife?

Hi,
I have not used flash in my wildlife/bird photography but am planning to start doing so. I shoot mostly with a 7D and 100-400. I have an old Canon 420EX.
As with wildlife lenses, I assume the more power/range a flash has, the better.
What would be the best flash for wildlife? Some of the specs of the Canon 600EX-RT seem to suggest it would be the best choice, but it is expensive and I don't know how much difference it would make in the real world.
I'm assuming I'd want a Better Beamer as well.
Thanks for all advice!

Heya,

So, it really comes down to what you're shooting and what features you want. If you think you're going to use HSS, I would say you might as well stop there and not do that, as you'll find that shooting wildlife with a long lens at F5.6 to F8 and 1/1000s or faster will result in very low powered flash output from HSS to the point where you may or may not even notice it working even as minor fill, dependent on how far you are from the subject. So I wouldn't get a flash with HSS for this. You'll end up just throwing money away.

You can use TTL or just manual mostly for this and use your synch speed and shoot in TV or manual or whatever floats your boat. This means you can use a lot more variety of flashes and instead just look for output for the money. In which case the Yongnuo 565 EX II is a really good deal because it's so inexpensive and nearly the same as the Canon equivalent. Attach a better beamer and you're good to go with TTL beamer flashing. Ideal for early morning and late evening lower light moments on stationary things. Not so great for mid-day super bright sun shots of birds in flight, which, well, you might find doesn't work well as there's too much ambient light and your shutter is going to be low (1/200s) resulting in blur.

Very best,

What kind of wildlife are you shooting that you need a flash?

Moose Peterson uses flash for low light shots for his back-yard setup

Thanks for the comments.

Re drewhh - I shoot mostly birds, but other wildlife as well, ranging from zoos to Yellowstone. I'm interested in trying flash because I've read that many wildlife/bird photographers use it to good advantage.

Im not going to tell you what to do but would encourage you to think about it before using flashes on wildlife. I know a lot of people do. I don't allow them on any of my bear viewing trips. I've had bears startled startled by inadvertent flashes.
I try to think of it from the subject's perspective. I don't like getting flashed. Would they?
Just my two cents...do with it what you will.

I use a better beamer with a 430EX. Why? Because 430EX was the first flash I bought and only flash I owned when I ordered the beamer.

I rarely go on bird / wildlife shoots without it.
Obvious statement: You don't have to use it but if you don't have it you have no option to use it.

I find most animals and birds don't react to flash, but some do. No bears to worry about for me.
I use it on manual and start at 1/4 power. I'll use more either after chimping or if subject heavily shaded or long distance.

Sometimes you can't get the shot without flash.

I know someone who gets terrific results from a Canon 580 (the newer version of it). He typically uses it at very low power - like, 1/64th power or 1/128th power; at least that is what he says he uses it at, and I have no reason not to believe him. When he is using flash the subjects are usually rather far away.

He is not using it to illuminate an otherwise dark subject; rather, he uses it to give a better quality of light on the subject, so that the colors in the subject's coat/plumage will be more aesthetically pleasing. A lot of his images find their way onto magazine covers, advertisements, etc, so he is certainly doing it properly.

When I've been shooting with him and he's using a flash, I have observed no effect upon the subjects whatsoever - they do not react in any way to the fact that a flash just went off.

The flash photos that this guy takes are of subjects that are pretty much standing/sitting still, a fact that leads me to believe that flashes have significant shortcomings. How would a flash help me when I am firing off 10 FPS bursts? Does it only go off on the first frame, and then have to take a "time out" to recharge? What about using a flash when shooting birds in rapid flight, or animals running swiftly, when I want to freeze motion blur? Doesn't "sync speed" keep one from using flash at the appropriate shutter speeds? Thru experience I have found that for most duck species in full flight, one needs to shoot at 1/3000th of a second in order to completely freeze motion blur in the wing feathers. How would a flash possibly help with that if it forces you to shoot at a ridiculously slow "sync speed".

Tom,
You can use HSS (high speed sync) on the flash to get speeds above 1/250th second.

The flashes do need recharge time, but not much if your batteries are pretty fresh. I can get a couple flashes off a second but nowhere near 8 like my 7d will shoot.

I use my flash at low power as you have described. 1/32nd or so. Works well.
As with every tool, they have limitations. But you have to understand the limitations before you use it.

It is a pain when you set your exposure and then the flash doesnt fire so its underexposed now.
I don't typically use them for flight shots though so its not an issue for me. I use it for owls at night and
for birds under the canopy or in harsh,direct light to reduce contrasty shadows.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17541544
What about using a flash when shooting birds in rapid flight, or animals running swiftly, when I want to freeze motion blur? Doesn't "sync speed" keep one from using flash at the appropriate shutter speeds? Thru experience I have found that for most duck species in full flight, one needs to shoot at 1/3000th of a second in order to completely freeze motion blur in the wing feathers. How would a flash possibly help with that if it forces you to shoot at a ridiculously slow "sync speed".

Heya,

You can freeze the motion of a flying bird with flash at slow 1/200s synch speed quite effectively, if the flash is the exposure. If it's acting as fill (like what your friend is doing, just gentle fill to get micro-contrast on feathers, soften light, etc, but not be the source of overall exposure) then without enough shutter speed, it will certainly blur on a bird in rapid flight or just rapid motion in general. But if you're shooting in darker light, and at 1/200, F8, ISO whatever you would normally get a very dark underexposed photo, and flash becomes your exposure, you can stop motion because the exposure time will more be based on the time of the flash (which is of course extremely fast, so it will stop motion).

Kind of like how we stop the motion of super fast beating wings on bugs (bees and the like) in macro, since shutters cannot even stop that at 1/8000s, but a simple flash can do it with any shutter speed you care to use.

Very best,

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17541544
I know someone who gets terrific results from a Canon 580 (the newer version of it). He typically uses it at very low power - like, 1/64th power or 1/128th power; at least that is what he says he uses it at, and I have no reason not to believe him. When he is using flash the subjects are usually rather far away.

He is not using it to illuminate an otherwise dark subject; rather, he uses it to give a better quality of light on the subject, so that the colors in the subject's coat/plumage will be more aesthetically pleasing. A lot of his images find their way onto magazine covers, advertisements, etc, so he is certainly doing it properly.

When I've been shooting with him and he's using a flash, I have observed no effect upon the subjects whatsoever - they do not react in any way to the fact that a flash just went off.

The flash photos that this guy takes are of subjects that are pretty much standing/sitting still, a fact that leads me to believe that flashes have significant shortcomings. How would a flash help me when I am firing off 10 FPS bursts? Does it only go off on the first frame, and then have to take a "time out" to recharge? What about using a flash when shooting birds in rapid flight, or animals running swiftly, when I want to freeze motion blur? Doesn't "sync speed" keep one from using flash at the appropriate shutter speeds? Thru experience I have found that for most duck species in full flight, one needs to shoot at 1/3000th of a second in order to completely freeze motion blur in the wing feathers. How would a flash possibly help with that if it forces you to shoot at a ridiculously slow "sync speed".

Did you notice my comment?
Obvious statement: You don't have to use it but if you don't have it you have no option to use it.

ie, use the flash when you decide it will be a benefit. It's quite simple to flick power switch on or off.

Choderboy wrote in post #17542736
Did you notice my comment?
Obvious statement: You don't have to use it but if you don't have it you have no option to use it.

ie, use the flash when you decide it will be a benefit. It's quite simple to flick power switch on or off.

Yes, of course - that is obvious, and was understood.

One thing that hasn't been discussed here is the use of a flash "bracket" that can cut down on the "flashes" in the eyes...check out this post by CyberDyneSystems:

https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=17531547

Indeed, best use of flash for wildlife will include a flash bracket like the one that most super telephoto shooters use made by Wimberly, and off camera shoe cord, and a flash extender like the better beamer.

In Tom's post, the first three paragraphs can be reduced down to one term of two words, "Fill flash" which is how most wildlife photographers use flash in most cases.

In the rest of the post, most of the questions raised by Tom can be answered just as we would with questions for any other photography tool we use, ie: no one size fits all, no tool that is the perfect solution for every shot.
"What do i do when I need a wide angle shot and I have a 500mm lens mounted?"
IMHO same kind of dilemma as those posted regarding flash.

I much prefer to shoot without flash, and prefer to have the right kind of light, however using flash as fill light in poor lighting will give you better results than just trying to "fix it in post" and in some cases, as in Choderboys excellent example, you can use flash as the "Main light" and get shots that would otherwise be completely impossible regardless of post processing time.

Back in the days when our DSLRs got really noisy @ 800ISO I used flash a lot more, and never once had a bird react to it.

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IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p150760014/​e3077e50e

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17652975
Indeed, best use of flash for wildlife will include a flash bracket like the one that most super telephoto shooters use made by Wimberly, and off camera shoe cord, and a flash extender like the better beamer.

How would a flash bracket help, other than enable camera rotation for vertical framing? I cant' see how moving the flash a few inches in front of the hot shoe will light the subject any better?