Samples of Canon only flash systems

Hi all;

I'm going to invest in some radio slaves for my legacy 430 EX-IIs to be used along with my 600 EX-RT II. Since I don't have it yet, I'm interested to see some samples of people using this kind of setup (or similar firing solutions). I have Alien Bees and have seen threads on here for those (and other traditional lighting setups), but would love to see samples with this smaller mobile solution using just Canon Speedlites...if there's already a thread, just point me too it and I'll be on my way

All the best and thanks to all who contribute so people like myself can learn more

There is a Speedlite thread that will help you achieve your goals. Canon speedlites don't produce any different light than any other brand.

Thanks Gonzo...I'll take a look....

I'm sure you are totally right as many of the posts are by people who have gotten fairly good at the mechanics of lower powered lights (where to use, how to use it, etc.), but yeah I know, at the end of the day, light is light. But I found with the Alien Bees when I learned how to use them (still am learning), it seems to be a little easier as the soft-boxes are very large and provided almost "can't lose" light. I feel like the smaller speedlites might be a little more challenging to get it right, but I look forward to finding out!

All the best!

The difference I find between strobe and speedlight is power settings... my modifiers behave pretty much the same with either since I switched to using a S bracket holder system with the speedlights.. that is so much better it isn't funny. Sometimes there is a color temp difference, but I custom white balance all the time so that isn't much of an issue.

Photo from ksbal's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (849027)

what type of photos are you looking to see? Weddings, Events, Studio, Outdoor Portrait, etc?

Thanks again ksbal,

What soft boxes do you use when you use the smaller flashes. I've seen some packages online (One from Westcott that cost $149 or so) that come with brackets, etc. But the photo you posted kind of alludes to being able to mount to any soft box? I would think some soft boxes are just to large to light up properly with a speedlite (or rather becomes too diffuse)

identical bracket as shown by ksbal with a cheetah QBox 24 attached

Canon 430EXIIIRT in QBox24 above. Reflector below. Canon 430EXIIIRT gelled behind the apple box for the background. Triggered with Canon ST-E3-RT.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/H8M1​bj

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/24eq​fjS

Thanks Kmilo,

OK so this is a generic bracket, but don't most of these soft boxes have their own brackets that are either stitched in, etc? I guess what I'm asking is

1. Is there a list of soft boxes that would work with that bracket? Or a generic way to make it work with anything?

2. What other soft boxes that come with the speed-lite bracket do people recommend? Some of them seem pretty expensive for their size.

3. Anything else? What I mean is what would be your recommendation for soft boxes for speedlites. I have the stands, just need the soft box and necessary brackets. I have very large PCB soft-boxes, but those are for my Alien Bee units and wouldn't make sense for a portable, quickly moving around solution.

Thanks for all the help!

It's kind of a mixed bag.

Weddings:
We shoot weddings, but mostly that's shoot and run, so that doesn't come into play too much, but I would like to use these for the portraits, or even possibly have an "assistant/intern" hold the softbox for shots while on the move.

Portrait:
This is where I'd use this a lot, probably near 100% of the time, unless I'm outside and it's impromptu with the kids or whatever.

Studio:
I don't use a dedicated studio, so this would be "on location" where I would want these, hence the need for quick movement and setup for various rooms (living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, whatever).

Outdoor:
Definitely this would help make my current photos better when natural light is either not very adequate or just crappy where reflectors can't mitigate the problem.

tfitz wrote in post #18591019
Is there a list of soft boxes that would work with that bracket? Or a generic way to make it work with anything?

I bought my bracket from cheetah stand so I knew it would fit the QBox (same company), but it has a "Bowens Mount" on the front, which is the notch out you see in the photo. Any bowens mount diffuser should fit on it (although I don't have any).

edit: just looked, maybe I didn't get it (the bracket) from cheetah stand as it's not on the website

OK thanks,

Can you point me to this bracket, I would like to know how this works. I want to see if it's "universal" OR are there certain pre-requisites that have to exist before this bracket will fix. The reason I'm asking is if the bracket + soft-box price are comparable to the turnkey solutions that say the Westcott Rapid Octobox is, it might worth using the Westcott.

However @ksbal mentioned that it's better than any other bracket? In what way? The lighting is contained better??

EDIT:

So all in all, what would be the recommendations for sizes similar to the 26" Westcott Octobox, the 10x24 Strip Westcott with Strip inserts, those things cost abotu $400 all together which seems really high.

tfitz wrote in post #18591053
Can you point me to this bracket, I would like to know how this works.

I figured it out. Cheetah Stand used to sell this item, but they no longer do, so I can't point you to the exact one that I have, but this one looks the same (link to amazon): http://a.co/dlwdJWG

so far, with the zoom in a proper position, (like 24mm) my flashes behave very much like my strobes, at comparable powers. I use to have problems with uneven light and hot spots with the flashes until I went with this mount. I have no issues using a flash in a bounce position with a 5 foot umbrella - I'm sure shooting thru an umbrella has issues, but bouncing seems to reduce unevenish light. 24x36 soft box that is double diffused? again, I haven't done head to head testing, (others have) but I don't see a difference other than light output (and so where I'm at for iso... speed lights higher, strobes, I can do whatever I desire)

If you need a deep depth of field, you need strobes anyways, for enough power.

The bracket above comes with a center umbrella holder and then the outside rim is a bowens mount. I've got 5 of them, so far, no issues after a year of use, and I use both umbrellas and softboxes with the flashes.

The strobes already have the same mount (bowens or s-type they are the same thing) so I only use the bracket with the flashes.

strip box example

Sample of 60 inch umbrella I use

This is an off brand, but it works... seems like mine are off brand strip boxes as well. $49 a piece, seems like I got my two for 60-70 bucks in a 2x pack.

The bracket is Bowens mount... anything with that term or S-type mount should work in the S-type bracket that I showed a picture of.

Alien bees have a different mount... so do some other brands, but anything that says 'bowens mount' is compatible with that bracket.

Bowens mounting is one of the most common types of modifier connections, many will offer several mounts for their modifiers, and bowens is often one of them.

Hi ksbal,


Thanks for the quick tip on that. I also have Alien Bees, but since I'm sticking with the RT system via Yongnuo transmitter and received (for now it seemed like the best option so I didn't have to bu 2 additional recievers and the transmitter + 2 recievers only came out to about $150).

I will probably have to 1) get more Yongnuo receivers and trigger via sync cord, or use optical on the Alien Bees I have. I do have the CyberCommander but I find it clunky, overly complicated and it's screen is not super reliable for my Alien Bees. Paul C Buff makes some converters, but I'd have to research that.