Flash for on and off Camera
Ok so as most know the Canon XTi has built in flash. Well I want to get a flash to add to my camera but being that I am not financially blessed I have been watching ebay to see if anyone has a speedlite that would fit my camera cheap. Well the pricing on the flashes are the same pretty much as if I was buying them new. Then I came across one for $40.00 and yes I know you get what you pay for but I was wondering if anyone had any experience or knows anyone with experience of the following slave flash?
I know you don't have to buy the same brand as your camera but I don't want to waste my money either. According to the description it will fit almost any camera and you attach it to the bottom of your camera and I am just not to sure about that.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Tigue on -
Pass on it.
Go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/ and research off camera flash in the discussion forums. There are any number of off camera knock off flash brands that will work and they are all extensively discussed on that site, including pros and cons and compatibility issues.
The Yngnuo brands tend to get bought a lot because they are cheap and still manage to work. I use a Sigma 530 Flash with a Canon 40D and love it, but its still a little pricey. You can also go by Chuck's and pick up used Vivtar flashes, but they are full manual and you need to make sure the voltage is compatible with your camera.
And you might want to PM John Adkins as well if he doesn't respond to this thread.
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Permalink Reply by Shane E. on -
Any brand that you can't find the manufacturer's website with a simple Google search is probably total crap. If you Google Nikon, Canon, Vivitar, Tamron, etc., you find the manufacturer's site and more than Amazon and eBay links. Some degree of value is important in terms of reliability. I wouldn't stick a $40 turd on my camera.
The image you posted frightens me. Firing that thing 5-inches to the right or left isn't going to change your life much. Yeah, less red-eye or whatever, but mostly direct-ish flash is not much better than direct flash.
Are you wanting a flash you can fire off-camera? Or, are you wanting a speedlite you can mount on your camera and bounce?
Off-camera, just about anything will work that has a slave-mode and then you can just trigger it with your powered-down popup flash (or just block your popup from the subject and deflect it at your off-camera light).
On-camera, you probably want something with some version of working TTL and one that definitely can swivel. On-camera must swivel, as I am a long-time supporter of punching myself in the face really hard rather than shooting direct flash. I would just get an older Canon flash model, but that will be hard to do in the $40 price range. You could probably get a decent one for $140, though.
As Michael said, you could try Chuck's for some ancient Vivitar that still kicks ass. But shooting manual on-camera flash is stressful and can lead to constipation or diarrhea.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Tigue on
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Sage advice from Man who holds lightning in hand.
Incidentally, I never thought I'd really care about ETTL capability on a flash as I thought I'd always use it off camera in manual mode. Wrong. I use ETTL a lot because it's quick and with a sync cord I can can still get off-camera far enough that I avoid the desire to punch myself in the face (or, at least far enough that when I swing, I miss).
Shane E. said:Any brand that you can't find the manufacturer's website with a simple Google search is probably total crap. If you Google Nikon, Canon, Vivitar, Tamron, etc., you find the manufacturer's site and more than Amazon and eBay links. Some degree of value is important in terms of reliability. I wouldn't stick a $40 turd on my camera.
The image you posted frightens me. Firing that thing 5-inches to the right or left isn't going to change your life much. Yeah, less red-eye or whatever, but mostly direct-ish flash is not much better than direct flash.
Are you wanting a flash you can fire off-camera? Or, are you wanting a speedlite you can mount on your camera and bounce?
Off-camera, just about anything will work that has a slave-mode and then you can just trigger it with your powered-down popup flash (or just block your popup from the subject and deflect it at your off-camera light).
On-camera, you probably want something with some version of working TTL and one that definitely can swivel. On-camera must swivel, as I am a long-time supporter of punching myself in the face really hard rather than shooting direct flash. I would just get an older Canon flash model, but that will be hard to do in the $40 price range. You could probably get a decent one for $140, though.
As Michael said, you could try Chuck's for some ancient Vivitar that still kicks ass. But shooting manual on-camera flash is stressful and can lead to constipation or diarrhea.
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Permalink Reply by John Adkins on -
I have to agree with Shane on this one. You can pick up some cheap flashes and find a method for triggering them, however, by buying something really cheap (i.e. <$100), you're going to be upset with it fairly soon.
The best, cheapest, off-brand flash I know is the LumoPro LP160. It has a quadruple syncing method including a digital optical sensor, so that it can be used with TTL systems and not get tripped up by the TTL pre-flashes. These are cheap in relation to the name brands, but not $40 cheap. You can pick these up through Midwest Photo Exchange for about $160...
http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,14648.html
If you want to really learn about lighting on the cheap cheap, pick yourself up a couple of clip lights from Home Depot, and just experiment with those to learn things like position and distance. I started with a pair of flood lights long ago, in a galaxy not far, far away.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Tigue on
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John,
Have you formed an opinion about the yngnuo flashes? You seem high on the Lumopro unit.
I'm on the fence between the two and trying to decide what second flash to pick up.
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Permalink Reply by John Adkins on
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Hey Michael,
Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to use any of the Yongnuo flashes or even know anyone who has (at least first hand). I have used the LumoPro LP120, a predecessor to the LP160 and it was awesome and priced right. I'm personally going to pick up the LumoPro LP160 just because of its new digital optical syncing, and the fact that in terms of power, its close to the Nikon SB-900 and the Canon 580 EXII.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Tigue on
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John,
Do I understand this right. If it has digital optical syncing that basically means I can use the 530 Sigma on a sync cord in ETTL and the LP160's optical trigger won't fire until its supposed to. I short, the LP 160 won't fire as a result of reading the Sigma's pre-flash it uses to make the ETTL meter?
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Permalink Reply by John Adkins on
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I believe that is it. I haven't tried it yet, but that's the whole point behind it. I think its an interesting concept and if it works well, it could seriously cause the big dawgs to re-think their current speedlights. You can read more up on it here...
http://www.lumopro.com/product.php?id=25
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Permalink Reply by Trina Jaggers on -
Thanks for all the input. I have an umbrella kit and I have used a clip light before on a friends photo shoot but I want something that I can attach to my camera and bounce light with. I recently took some photos of a friend at a water fall at Papa Johns Headquarters and they have this little spot that you actually have to get up in the trees so to speak to get a close up of anyone in front of the waterfall without all the distraction or worry about anyone else getting in the background. Unfortunately I haven't masterd photoshop yet and probably never will.
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