Suggestions for good book on lighting and strobes

[Black_Dog]

Also, if you haven't already, read Bob Atkins' Guide to Canon EOS Speedlite System over at Photo.net before you invest in any flash equipment for the first time. This includes a pretty good overview of how flashes work as well as detailed explanations of TTL, A-TTL, E-TTL, and E-TTL II. Understanding this will help you decide whether you want to go Canon or 3rd party, and which 3rd party flashes you might want to get.

[ChadS]

I've read some of the above material now have gained just enough knowledge to get really confused.

Even my camera (a T2i) supports 'Hi-Speed' flash sync. I'm guessing that's what's referred to as FP sync in Atkin's overview. As the Rebels are not exactly top-of-the-line cameras I'm guessing almost all Canon's DSLRs support this feature. However, nowhere in the reviews of any of the flashes is this mentioned. I'm assuming the 580 supports it and likely the 430. How about the 320 or 270? I'm assuming the all-manual LumoPro flash referenced above does not support this. As someone who shoots mostly sports I could see the usefulness of this - especially at hockey matches where one can be a few feet from the players.

Also, there's no mention that any of the Canon Speedlites can be set to an optical trigger (to flash when hit with light). Is this the case? Obviously this could be overcome with a shoe adapter but this is disappointing. I guess Canon wants you to buy into the IR-based Speedlite communication.

[Black_Dog]

The 320 and 270 both feature FP for high speed synch. The limiting factor here would be their power output. HSS cuts the effective distance of your flash quite significantly so these weaker flashes would only be good for HSS at much shorter distances than the 580 or 430. If you are trying to use HSS to shoot sports more than a few feet away it is not going to work well for you, especially with the less powerful flashes.

None of Canon's current flashes have built-in optical slave triggers. This is because Canon's A-TTL, E-TTL, and E-TTL II systems rely on weak (about 30% power) pre-flashe for calculating the flash metering. Additionally, Canon's IR and built-in wireless triggers (on the T3i, 60D and 7D) use pre-flash pulses to communicate to send instructions to slave flashes. These pre-flash bursts trigger would trigger optical slaves to fire before the camera's shutter is open, so they are unusable with Canon's modern cameras*.

All of that said, let me add my concurrence to what bob williams and neuroanatomist wrote: start with a good Canon Speedlite before you branch out into 3rd party brands or specialty flashes. I've never known anyone to have been unhappy with a 430EX II, even if it didn't have as much power as they ultimately felt they needed. It has excellent power (for not being the top of the line offering), tilts and swivels, is well constructed (though not as bomb proof as the 580), and is 100% compatible with all of your camera's automated systems. If you have money to spare, then by all means get the 580. If you are just shooting around the house and have no creative ambitions, then maybe the 320 or 270 would be okay for you. Otherwise, I'd advise anyone in your position to get the 430.



(*This statement is mostly true. )

[ChadS]

Thanks all,

I think I'm going to go for the 580 as the starter then add some no-name flashes for manual off-camera work (some on Amazon claiming the same light output for $50 - $75 even). Until they kick me out of the rink I'm going to use the 580 on its max telephoto setting for shooting ice hockey. The lighting in those rinks is horrid. The last time I shot a game it was 1/1600 f/4 @ 3200 ISO and I still had to push 2 stops out of PS.

I'm assuming the Canon Speedlites work just fine with a radio trigger? At least the 580 also has a PC connector.

[bigblue1ca]

Chad, I know for the NHL they shoot in the 1/1000-1/1600 range to stop the fastest of the fastest. But, just a suggestion depending on the age and skill level of the players you are shooting, you might want to lower your shutter speed down so you don't have to push in post as much. I shoot 1/500, 2.8, 3200 and have no problem stopping motion, however, I only shoot 12 and under right now. But, even then I still have to push most of my images about 1/2 a stop. If I could shoot at 6400 or 12800 it would be great, but that will have to wait until I save enough pennies to buy the 1DX for next fall (or maybe the 5DIII if it is released and has good AF, decent FPS, and good low light ISO, which I'm skeptical of).

[ChadS]

@bigblue My nephews are in their teens so they're young enough I can get right on the glass and old enough they can move pretty quickly. I tried some slower exposures (and those had interest - especially the blur-tracking shots) but I was trying to catch the boys in the act of shooting. Even at 1/1600 the sticks were a blur (which isn't the end of the world).