remote flash ?

[njdonna]

I have a Canon Rebel xsi, and I bought a 430 x speedlite. I read an article that said I could use my pop up flash as the commander and the speedlite as the remote flash. I can not however set my pop up flash to be anything. Does anyone know how I could do this without buying a second speedlite?

[jerryph]

I am very comfortable with off camera flash, however I am a Nikon person, not Canon. One of the first things I would suggest you do is look through your XSi's user manual, if your camera can be a remote flash commander, it would tell you there, and also how to do it.

Second place I would suggest is www.strobist.com not for telling you how to set up your equpment (though there are likely people that could tell you), but to learn about all the intricacies of off camera flash. Look specifically for lighting 101 and 102.

[spot]

I thinkk you will find that the built in flash is just that. To use your 430 you will need either a 550 or 580 flashgun to act as a master or a ST-E2 transmitter. The 430 cannot be used as a master unit only a slave. the 550 or 580 can be used as both. The other option may be to use an off shoe cord but you are limited by the length normally about just a couple of feet max

[jaydi]

I am in the process of buying a flash gun for my cannon 400D. Should I go for the Canon or a compatible one and if so which?????

[spot]

Personally i would stick with canon. If you can afford it go for the 580Ex which you can use as a master unit with another 580 or 430 as a slave unit for remote work. The built in flash has a guide number of approx 13 wheras the ones above are 58 and 43. You get more flash for more money if that makes sense.Hope this helps.

[jerryph]

The good news is that you know that you should stick to Canon speedlights (and I agree), the bad news is that the higher end models (the 580EX and EX II's) are pretty expensive, but so much better than any other light on the market. As a matter of fact, for what you want to do there are only 2 ways to remotely trigger an off camera flash...

eTTL... meaning a Canon flash while on camera sends important info to a Canon off camera flash and can auto adjust on the fly for proper exposures

manual... a couple of options. You could use the same method as above, and manually set all power settings or the second way is to use an aftermarket wireless trigger and receivers and then you could use pretty much almost any aftermarket flash (careful, I said almost all... some will be incompatible) and trigger them wirelessly.

The advantage to the 2nd method is that you could mix and match brands and it works. Disadvantage is that you will be forced to set the power levels of the lights manually.

The advantage is that you will be forced to set the power levels of the lights manually. No thats not a typo...lol All TTL implementations have limitations that are easily overcome by going full manual, but there is additional effort and knowledge needed.

To get tons more info, I would suggest that you saunter over to the www.strobist.com website and start reading as much as you can take in. Look specifically for Lighting 101 and 102.

[jaydi]

Thank you to the both of you......You have confirmed what my heart was telling me to go for.

Have been reading up on the 580x and also the mark 2 but the difference in price is vast so really have to think long and hard about which to buy for my purpose.

I am doing a friend wedding in June so would really need to get the skates on.

Thanks again :D

[jerryph]

In photography, the thought process is that cameras improve so much that one will consider upgrading several times over their photography lifetime, but that there are only 2 places where we should purchase only once and only the best... that is lighting and lenses. In either case, good lenses and lighting are good now and in 20 years from now still be quality units. Mediocre ones are mediocre forever.

My personal mantra, especially when it comes to lenses is that I would rather do without, work hard and save longer... than settle for #2.

This mentality, while more challenging and difficult, offers one consistently superior results and never will you experience buyer's remorse.

[jaydi]

Thanks Matey,

Its gr8 being able to have kind knowledgable people on hand to answer my queries even when they are kinda obvious.

Sometimes when I go to shops to ask these questions you can feel a little inaddequete.

Thanks again
Cathy