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Hello to the forum, hope I can find some advice on a new flash.
I want to get a seperate gun for my 50D, and am undecided between a 430EX II and a Nissin Di866, both of which are similar prices, but the latter is aimed at the 580EX / Nikon SB900. Is the compatibility of the Canon gun a bigger advantage over the power advantage / head flexibility of the Nissin? Both get great reviews...Help!
430EX II
Where do you find great reviews of the Nissin? I never hear of them, let alone read great reviews.
As they say in Ghostbusters, "Who ya gonna call?" if your Nissin flash doesn't work well? None of us will know what to tell you.
Also, head rotation appears to be the same for the 430 and the Nissin: 270 degrees. You want the full rotation of the 580, so I'd save up for that. Why? Rotate your camera for a vertical orientation, shoot a subject that's close to you but perhaps 1' shorter than you. If you have a ceiling any higher than 2' above your head, your primary bounce is behind your subject; you can never bounce off the ceiling directly above you if your camera is vertically oriented but pointed down.
Thanks for replies. I read about the Nissin in some Canon DSLR magazine, which prmpted me to search the net, which turned up some pretty favourable comments. I am defaulting to a Canon for obvious reasons, but before I part with my cash I wanted to check that there aren't better value alternatives.
One other question - I know the 430 can only be used off camera with the wireless trigger, i.e. the on board flash wont fire the 430 as a slave. Is this also true for the 580? Or will I need to get the infra red trigger for this too? The cost of the wirless trigger isw somewhat outrageous, given Nikon and Olympus manage to build it into the bod...possibly my only grip about the XXD bodies.
The 50D onboard flash will not trigger any remote flashes. You can trigger Canon remote flashes with the 580EX or 550EX series of flashes, or by the ST-E2 trigger.
Also with the new 7D's built-in flash. Hopefully we will see this feature on all new Canons.Quote:
Originally Posted by peety3
OK thanks, thought that was the case. OK if I use the ST-E2 wireless trigger, clearly I cannot se the on board flash as fill in, unless the hot shoe cable will still fit with the flash up. Presumably the 430 cannot act as a master to another 430?
The on-board flash cannot be used with something in the hot shoe.
The 430 cannot be a master flash.*
*It can be a quasi-master when used with Pocket Wizard ControlTL units.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peety3
Just to complete the list, the macro-specific flashes (MR-14EX or MT-24EX) can also act as masters in a Canon wireless flash system.
OK the next dilemma is:
1. 430EXII + ST-E" triiger
2. 580EXII
I am not going to do weddings, only perhaps some portaits / still life for microstock. I will use a lot on camera at informal gatherings etc but not for commercial purposes. I like the idea of the flexibility that off camera can give, especially with a simple stand and reflector set up, but maybe the extra power of the 580 would be useful. I am leaning twards the 430/st-E2 combination as the next investment. Any advice?
Thanks
Steve
I have the 430EX and ST-E2 but rarely use the flash off camera. It works fine though. If I was making the choice again, I'd go for the 580EX purely for the extra power. I only ever use the flash off camera for macro work and an off camera shoe cord is sufficient. I seldom do any portrait shooting so I can't really advise you on your specific needs.Two things to be aware of is that 1) the ST-E2 uses expensive non-rechargeable batteries and 2) while slaved to the ST-E2 the 430EX flash emits 1 per second pulses from the infra red AF assist lamp which you and your subjects might find distracting/irritating.
I started out with 430EX and ST-E2 on my 40D. I had a shoot through and later added a 28" Wescott softbox. It worked really well. The flashing red pulse is hardly annoying if it is bothersome, you can rotate the head separate from the body to position it away from your subject. Regardless of what you'll hear a lot, the ST-E2 works very well indoors most of the time you don't even need it in light of sight. I've been able to get mine to fire lights in separate rooms. The infrared bounces around really well. I works outside reasonably well the range is reduced and line of site becomes a little more important.
I'm going to pick up a Dynalite power-pack and Strobes in a month or two and I'm pretty excited that the pack has a IR sensor built into it. I can use the ST-E2 to fire it and still use my 580EXII's for fills and edge lights. It has optical slave to but I like the idea of the IR.
Do consider a 430 or 580, plus a PocketWizard Mini/Flex or Flex/Flex combo. I know it's expensive, but the apparent power gains and the flexibility of second curtain/normal/hypersync/high-speed sync without pushing any buttons are well worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith B
Fair warning: if your ST-E2 fires the pack, it will fire it on the test flash; the Dynalite will be happily recharging while the shutter is open. If you want to use any sort of light-based triggering, everything has to be on the same system: your trigger has to be dumb, and firing only when the flashlight is expected, or it has to be smart and all of your slaves have to be smart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peety3
So you are saying the focus assist beam will set off the pack? Or are you talking about when in TTL? I rarely use TTL.
I'm going to use the built-in pocket wizard most of the time. But at first I was only planning on getting one head so I figured go with the IR until I get more.
Thanks for the heads up.