Other than Canon Speedlight with Canon Camera

If I don't plan to ever put a speedlight actually on my 5D or sequential Canon cameras, and if I only wish to set the speedlight on a stand with a softbox/etc. and set it manually like a strobe, and use a flash meter for the setup, am I spending too much of the money on something like the 580EXII for nifty things it'll do that I won't be using?

Is there a better way to do that, can I get a light that has even more power or spread and put the money into the power rather than the extra electronics.

I'm completely new to flash other than on my G9

My intention is to have one stand or a pole an assistant holds, on it the light and a softbox in some cases to use as a key or fill depending upon lighting conditions or otherwise with a simple diffuser; be durable as we'll as traveling light but it's got to go together and be durable and a no-brainer to handle for a non photographer person, i.e. an assistant for the moment that I tell what to do (I'll make the settings on the head).

Or is a 580EXII the best way to go?

And like the other person on the other thread, I'm thinking of a softbox like the Lastolite Ezyboxes, they appear in real life to be really well made and durable, both the 15" and the 24" but from another thread on this page it appears that the bracket will have to be modified or replaced to be more durable. For traveling to the ends of the earth I'd probably only take the small Ezybox. I'm looking at it because of the simple way their stuff sets up. I played with one momentarily this weekend, just unfolding it but did not see the quality of light it produces.

Any advice?

How does the Vivitar 275 that Strobist talks about compare guide number wise?

Yours is not an easy question to answer and some of the answers can be quite expensive -- as I'm sure you know or will learn.

I have a Canon 20D with 580EX and a 420EX that can be slaved from the 580EX. This works well and is fairly versatile and simple once you catch on. The flashes also work with my G9.

What I tend to do with my G9 is to play with the cheap wireless remotes and used Nikon SB-24 flashes from eBay. Here's a link to a representative post in my blog but look off to the left hand side of the blog page and click on one of the labels -- especially "flash" for a number of posts about my tinkering with flash and the G9.

Oh, and read Strobist every day.

A Vivitar 285 is about as powerful as a 430EX, iirc... which is plenty powerful for what most situations need. You could start off with a couple of Vivitars and see how you like it - you'll have a much more versatile setup compared to half of the 580EX that money would buy you!

I was using Vivitars but then bought a couple of 580s at a very good price... I really like the ability to change the power settings from the camera and it speeds up the whole process quite a bit. It's a bloody lot more expensive than doing it the cheap manual way, though.

Vivitar/Sunpak is cheaper and just as powerful, but the build quality doesn't touch the Canon flashes, neither does recharge rate. I use Sunpak units, modified, but i'm going to move to more 580EX II units before my next wedding season gets started, mainly for build quality, reliability, and a reasonably priced battery pack (CP-E4).

For a hobbyist 383/Vivitar is fine.

Jannie, early on I got a Vivitar 285HV and it works fine but now I wish I'd just got another used Nikon SB-24 or SB-26. It is very helpful to have all the flashes operate the same way. The build quality of the Nikons is much, much better than the Vivitar. Also, the Nikons are smaller and the flash head of the Vivitar does not lend itself well to attachments such as Stofen, Lumiquest, etc.

Although I know that the guide numbers vary with different flashes, in my opinion this is a minor consideration unless you are comparing a small flash to a much larger one. The Vivitar 285, Nikon SB-24, SB-26, SB-28, Canon 580EX are all roughly the same. The Canon 420EX is slightly less powerful.

Studio flash units (either monolight, or power pack & heads) will provide more light than the 580EX, with the added benefit of being able to utilize a very wide range of light modifiers and to also visualize your light placement results without ever taking any shots and chimping.
At the same time, portable lighting is a whole lot faster to set up, and with fewer things for people to trip over, albeit taking more time for the same precision in lighting placement due to the repetitive shoot and chimping.

Metz makes higher power alternatives for you to consider instead of the 580EX. Other alternative also includes any flash that has Auto with photosensor, rather than the unpredictable ETTL flash control.

Jannie wrote in post #6261167
If I don't plan to ever put a speedlight actually on my 5D or sequential Canon cameras, and if I only wish to set the speedlight on a stand with a softbox/etc. and set it manually like a strobe, and use a flash meter for the setup, am I spending too much of the money on something like the 580EXII for nifty things it'll do that I won't be using?

Yes.

Jannie wrote in post #6261167
Is there a better way to do that, can I get a light that has even more power or spread and put the money into the power rather than the extra electronics.

Yes.

Jannie wrote in post #6261167
Or is a 580EXII the best way to go?

No.

Jannie wrote in post #6261167
How does the Vivitar 275 that Strobist talks about compare guide number wise?

I think you mean Vivitar 285. They're about the same as the 580EX in guide number and therefore max output. I use a set of Vivitar 283s which put out about the same as the 580EX but cost 1/8th the price. I disagree with tim that 580EXs are a better way to go for the battery packs. A 580EX II plus a CP-E4 costs just as much as a Vivitar 285 plus Quantum. The difference is you spend more on the flash in one scenario and more on the battery pack in the other. In addition, when you have lights on stands in locations and/or positions vulnerable to being knocked over, you stand to lose more money if a 580EX II falls over than if a Vivitar 285 falls over. The battery pack is a wash as they don't tend to break...they're both simpler and more robust.

These are really cheap ($25 new) lights I bought 40 years ago, & they work great for what I need them for:
Simple 2 Light Portrait Set-up

My 1-cent flash "meter" in images 5S & 6S.

This is good information, thanks.