Wireless Slave Flash Options...

*whew*
Ok, first off I've read and read and searched a TON of info on the Studio Lighting forum. VERY helpful and I've come away with a bunch of tips and a very slick cheat sheet.

but...
:o

I need some more info or advice. I'd like to set up quick n dirty portable lighting via wireless using my 580EX on camera, and the other wireless flash on a stand shooting into (or sometimes through) and umbrella. I've pieced together the stand and flash/umbrella bracket and umbrella for relatively cheap so now the last thing is the wireless slave.

There seems to be some arguements on whether anything but Canon EX series would work well in this situation. Some say Sigma works great, some say not, others bring other brands into the equation.

I'm not afraid of third party flashes, I've got experience in manual flash mode, all I'm worried about is the slave flash working.

Is a used 420EX a good bet? Or is there a Sigma/Vivatar/Sunpack equivalent?

Budget? Try to be at 150 or less.

Thanks all.

Mr. Clean wrote in post #3768525
*whew*
Ok, first off I've read and read and searched a TON of info on the Studio Lighting forum. VERY helpful and I've come away with a bunch of tips and a very slick cheat sheet.

but...
:o

I need some more info or advice. I'd like to set up quick n dirty portable lighting via wireless using my 580EX on camera, and the other wireless flash on a stand shooting into (or sometimes through) and umbrella. I've pieced together the stand and flash/umbrella bracket and umbrella for relatively cheap so now the last thing is the wireless slave.

There seems to be some arguements on whether anything but Canon EX series would work well in this situation. Some say Sigma works great, some say not, others bring other brands into the equation.

I'm not afraid of third party flashes, I've got experience in manual flash mode, all I'm worried about is the slave flash working.

Is a used 420EX a good bet? Or is there a Sigma/Vivatar/Sunpack equivalent?

Budget? Try to be at 150 or less.

Thanks all.

There are two ways you can set your wireless (non-RF) flash exposures, automatically using ETTL and manually with optical triggering. If you want ETTL, then your slave will need to be ETTL compatible and work as a slave. Besides the Canon EX flashes (other than the 220EX and the 380EX which do not support wireless remote), the Sigma EF 500DG Super, the Metz 58AF-1C, QFlash + QNexus and a few others are flashes that meet these requirement. Wireless compatibilty, especially when dealing with ratios, may or may not be an issue, though. But with a budget of $150, there's not many to pick from here unless you can find a really cheap used 420EX unit.

If you don't need ETTL and can work with all the flashes in manual mode, there are more flashes to choose from, as long as they can be triggered optically with a built-in sensor or attached to an optical slave triggering unit.

PacAce wrote in post #3768687
There are two ways you can set your wireless (non-RF) flash exposures, automatically using ETTL and manually with optical triggering. If you want ETTL, then your slave will need to be ETTL compatible and work as a slave. Besides the Canon EX flashes (other than the 220EX and the 380EX which do not support wireless remote), the Sigma EF 500DG Super, the Metz 58AF-1C, QFlash + QNexus and a few others are flashes that meet these requirement. Wireless compatibilty, especially when dealing with ratios, may or may not be an issue, though. But with a budget of $150, there's not many to pick from here unless you can find a really cheap used 420EX unit.

If you don't need ETTL and can work with all the flashes in manual mode, there are more flashes to choose from, as long as they can be triggered optically with a built-in sensor or attached to an optical slave triggering unit.

I appreciate the info PacAce - I suppose that's what all the searching was adding up to.

I would rather use wireless however it would be true that I could get a more powerful flash for cheaper if I used an optical slave unit correct? At that point, I could pretty much use ANY flash?

At that point, would there be any benfit going with the 420EX vs an optically triggered unit?

If you have any inclination for off camera manual flash, do not get the Canon 420EX. It has no manual power settings.

You can get it to fire at full, but that is it.

If you will be content with ETTL, the 420EX will make a nice flash.

Also, starting with a long cord is a very good idea. When eventually you gravitate to some sort of wireless setup, you can relegate the cord to be the "last stand" backup in case the more complicated wireless setups fail.

Enjoy! Lon

I currently use this setup and am very content with it:
http://www.denisreggie​.net/bracket_instr.htm​l

It is wireless, compact and portable, and even powerful. I use two 430EX's with it instead of the two 580EX's, which saved me some money. The only drawback to that is that I cannot now use the compact battery packs for my slave flash units.

The system can use an umbrella bracket with a single flash shoe and only one 430EX if you so desire, but you get decreased power and more risk that no flash will fire.

I found this 430EX on Adorama refirbushed for $210:
http://www.adorama.com …html?sid=118779​4438101968
It's not that much more than $150, and you get the option of using either E-TTL or manual mode.

I ended up getting the Sunpack 383 from B&H and all the proper adapters, optical slave units, cords and umbrella/flash adapter from http://flashzebra.com/ Most helpful, very quick, great service and great prices!

On a sidenote, he's got a replacement shoe for the 580EX's so you can have a mini jack port on your 580 without you going through the hacking/risking! Slick slick.