Canon Speedlite 550EX

[jeff-in]

Hi All,
Been busy with work and trying to work on Lesson 3 panning techniques some. I am currently bidding on a Canon Speedlite 550EX flash for my Canon S5 IS camera. What can you tell me about the 550 EX flash and will it work pretty good with my S5? Right now I am high bidder and the auction ends Saturday.

On a different note I have been working with some Hoya ND filters (ND2, ND4, ND8) which seem to work pretty good. They are the full dark filters and not the graduated half dark and half clear. I also got a Hoya Circular Polarizer and also a Hoya red intensifier filter. I used the red filter a couple weekends ago on leaves shots and I think the colors came out alot brighter with the filter.

[reval8r]

ND and polarizer filters are a must have in my book. When I first started photography, everything was film and you quickly built a nice arsenal of filters. You would have filters for correcting color and for dramatic effects in B&W. I also love to try out special effects filters like star filters for night photography etc. I still take UV filters and turn them into soft focus filters for portraiture. I like the look of filters better than images enhanced with PS.

Jeff, if you have several different lens that require different size filters, look into the Cokin filter system. Cokin makes excellent quality filters and are much more flexible than other filters. The initial cost is a little expensive, but with care they last a long time. I still have Cokin filters I purchased 20 years ago and they still work wonderfully.

[jerryph]

Because the vast majority of my shooting is done not just indoors but indoors under bad shooting conditions, I have no real need for ND filters. I do have CPFs for a couple of my lenses, and I do have UV filters for all my lenses but one (the 50mm F/1.8, where the filter would cost more than the lens... lol).

Personally, I am not a fan of eBay and would not waste my time bidding on anything there. When I want something, I just go to a known reputable good source and purchase. I buy only new when it comes to my equipment so that is also a factor.

As far as if the 550EX and how it will work, if your camera has a built-in hotshoe and supports TTL, I am sure you will be fine.

My dad has a ton of old Cokin filters from his 70's era Nikon F2a shooting day. I love some of the effects he can do, but I have not found a picture that I could not reproduce as well or better in PS, so for me to invest in that feels like I could be putting my money elsewhere.

That's not a better or worse point of view, it's just my opinion. :)

[jeff-in]

reval8r,
I ended up buying the ND filters to help me get the shutter low enough to be able to work on Lesson 3. I had been shooting SCCA racing one day and I could not get the camera lower then 1/125 because of the sun so I started doing the research for filters. With the ND8 filter on I can get down to around a 1/40 shutter before it starts to over expose. I have looked at the cokin filters and I know Dad used them many years ago on his Minolta SLR and I do believe I still have them but just need to find them.

Jerry,
As far as Ebay goes, I cant afford to buy brand new alot for this hobby, so a lot of times Ebay is my opportunity to be able to get the stuff that I am wanting for my camera. I dont understand why flash units are so expensive and even used ones on Ebay are outreagous. I for sure cannot afford 400.00 + for a brand new 580EX II and the one I am getting is right now under 50.00 and I am projecting even it will go for around 100.00 by saturday. My Hoya filtrs all came from Ebay and I got 5 filters for just over 100.00 from the same seller and I am not sure how much they would have cost if I went to amazon or any of the other camera shops and bought them outright.

[reval8r]

Jeff, you might want to consider Sigma or Vivitar brands of flash units. I know these are good products from personal use. The Sigma flash unit and lenses are giving the OEM products a run for the money for about half the price. Adorama is selling the Sigma EF-530 DG ST for $209 and you may find a better price searching online. I have Sigma EF-530 Super for my Pentax and it does are really good job. Also, Vivitar makes really inexpensive flash units for around $100 you may want to check into. I have a Vivitar 283 that is still working after almost 30 years.

You must have really good eyes to shoot racing with an 8x ND filter. I really like ND filters for landscape, but an 8x is so dark I can't see to focus. I use the focusing marks on the camera lens when using ND filters that dark. The split ND filters for Cokin are really great. You can move the horizon line of the filter to where you need it. Regular lens mounted filters you can't do this. If you find your dad's old Cokin filters, you will only need the mounting rings for the sizes of lense you have. I think you will really enjoy when you find them.

[jeff-in]

reval8r,
When I was shooting the racing I hadnt gotten the ND filters yet and the best shutter setting I could get was 1/125 without over exposing real bad. I got the ND filters and played with them a couple weeks ago and was able to go as low as 1/40 on a sunny day using between the ND4 and ND8 filter. I have 3 images in my user gallery that I took using the filters. Greg looked at them and I am able to satisfy the fast shutter speed portion of Lesson 3.

I am going to work on the slower shutter speed portion this weekend as it is supposed to be sunny and I have a big huge parking lot right beside a highway where I can probably discretely get some slower shutter panning shots and not have to worry about getting ran over. May have to explain to the cops what I am doing but other then that shouldnt have to worry.

I am going to try to see if I can find Dad's old cokin filters because I know he had a lot of neat filters like the multi image and center hole and others. As far as the flash goes, I will check the ones you talked about if lose the canon that ends saturday.