Looking for expertise for PowerShot A570 IS

Hello all.
I hope someone can help me. I have a PowerShot A570 IS. I want to use high-output strobe/flashes for more professional portrait lighting, but I don't know how to use my camera with slave flashes.

I'm not talking about the accessory flash that mounts directly to the camera like an offset handle.

This is an ebay item that shows the sort of arrangement that I'm referring to:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ST​UDIO-FLASH-STROBE-2-LIGHT-160-W-S-LIGHTING-KIT-NEW_W0QQitemZ200224834​452QQihZ010QQcategoryZ​30087QQssPageNameZWDVW​QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Thank you for your time. Kind regards, Butch Penton.

Hi Butch

The kit strobes on ebay might work, depending upon the placement, angle of acceptance, and sensitivity of their slave sensors. They have to "see" well enough that your camera's built-in flash can trigger them. Bear in mind also that the advertised 160ws (watt-seconds) per unit is not exactly going to blind baby seals at 100 yards. Each unit would be roughly comparable to a mid-power shoe mount flash, which is still quite adequate for umbrella-bouncing portraiture.

In a standard 2-strobe setup, you'll be shooting (with or without tripod) from between and slightly behind the light stands. Your A570's built-in flash will provide the pulse to trigger the 2 slave units, but you may want to lower its output somewhat (using flash exposure compensation) to prevent it from influencing the scene too much. This is where you might have to fiddle a bit to achieve a proper threshold that'll still trip the slaves.

Here's how I'd do it in a dim room . . .
Disable camera's "Auto Power Off" feature
Extend zoom lens to roughly 2/3rds of its max telephoto focal length, approximating a medium focal length "portrait" lens
Set program dial to "M"
Set ISO to 100 (initially)
Set shutter speed to 1/60th of a second
Set aperture to f/5.6
Set camera flash to "fill" (aka "always on")
Take several test shots, adjusting the camera's flash output down until it can just trip the slaves reliably.
Take several more test shots with subject, tweaking ISO or increasing/decreasing the distance between strobes and subject until pleasing exposure is obtained.

Don't fret about differential lighting ratios or other "advanced" techniques until you're comfortable with the basics. Just have fun!

Your camera flash probably does a preflash for metering, which will trigger the strobes too early, before the shutter's open. Unless your cameras flash can be operated in manual you might not be able to use strobes. I don't know much about compact cameras so I could be wrong, but make sure you check it out before you spend any money on the strobes.

You may be able to get the 570 to fire its flash without a preflash if you set it to manual mode. This works with my S3 IS. Of course, you must then set aperture and exposure manually as well. This would allow you to use optical triggers on your studio setup.

I'll reply to your PM here asking what would be the best solution to photographing guitars for $400 or so, as I don't really know and others might. I don't know much for $400. I would probably suggest using your existing camera, a tripod, and constant lighting - I think this is the first time i've ever recommended constant lighting! You might need long exposures, or you might not. A window and reflectors would even work with long enough exposures. Or like mortomn says, try your camera in manual mode with someone elses lighting, it may work.