Canon flashes

[Snoweagle]

Sigma flashes burnt out easily. I have seen 3 sets burnt out amongst my friends.

Cheers,

Wah...burnt out in what way?

 

[mtunlinn]

Another option is to get 430 ex($499 @P) and St E2 ($265@ CP) if guide no 43 is enough for u.. You will get more creativity at the price of 580EX. for 580 alone u can only mount it on the camera.. ( unless u buy the remote cord around 80++).

Correct me if i m wrong. I own 430 ex and st E2..

 

[henkee]

Sigma flashes burnt out easily. I have seen 3 sets burnt out amongst my friends. Cheers,

i tought sigma speedlite is not bad... friend of mine been using it almost 2 years n still
in good shape.. was aiming for it.. but later i got 430ex instead... i think u can't go wrong
with oem speedlite...:dunno: ??

Another option is to get 430 ex($499 @P) and St E2 ($265@ CP) if guide no 43 is enough for u.. You will get more creativity at the price of 580EX. for 580 alone u can only mount it on the camera.. ( unless u buy the remote cord around 80++).

Correct me if i m wrong. I own 430 ex and st E2..

how good is the st E2???. can it trigger the flash like behind a desk?? or does it have to be
"see able" with the St E2?? planing to buy one too..

 

[Snoweagle]

430EX is $485.

 

[unseen]

well unseen, not sure if you got a good one or i had the bad one. but even the 420EX gives more accurate consistant flashes than the 500 Super DG. i own the 500 super DG..but hey ! im not complaining. haha good flash output power at cheaper price. no money for 580EX

Have not used a 430ex or 420ex before. Accuracy, I'm not talking about slightly off, 1/3 stop off etc. With photoshop around, I don't nit pick on such trivial issues. Especially since I shoot raw most of the times.
Let me tell u the circumstances 1st though. I take quite a few portraits of people in full black or full white attires (gothic attires, etc). The 580ex-s that I've tried before most of the time scr-ws up such shots. Badly. Even with FEL. At times, I have had to retake enough times to make me puke blood. Note: I won't aim for perfect shots with the 580ex, just to get the histogram into range then I adjust in the raw converter. Else the model might have died by the time I give up on auto and switch to manual.

My Sigma is accurate enough that usually 1 shot is enough.
That is what I mean by accuracy. Given tricky shots, 580ex screws it up more often than not.

Sigma flashes burnt out easily. I have seen 3 sets burnt out amongst my friends.
Cheers,

I've seen 2 metz flash burn out before (to date). Thus, Metz flashes also burn out easily?

 

[n0d3]

Considering that you made the earlier comments, it's perhaps best if you NOT validate other people's comments. It simply feels odd. As it is, +evenstar's comments don't really need validation?

He does this all the time. :bsmilie:

 

[+evenstar]

He does this all the time. :bsmilie:

maybe to cheong post count...Longevity is less than yours and mine and yet post count is fast catching up with mine..;p

 

[Snoweagle]

Haha...i dun really care about longevity, neither post counts.

 

[jlchong]

Must start with a disclaimer: NOT trying to start a canon vs nikon war.

I have been a canon user all my life. However, as my company provides nikon cameras, i have to use it during work. I find that nikon flash system are more consistent and gives more accurate exposure, especially during the more difficult settings, as described by unseen above. Such as when the people are all dressed in black or white clothing.

For personal usage, i use the 10D with 580EX. As the 10D is using only E-TTL technology, i wonder if the bodies with E-TTL2 technology corrects the inaccurate flash problem.

This whole flash thing has been bothering me quite a bit. Actually thinking of changing system coz of the flash.

Wonder if anyone faces the same problem out there?

 

[+evenstar]

Must start with a disclaimer: NOT trying to start a canon vs nikon war.

I have been a canon user all my life. However, as my company provides nikon cameras, i have to use it during work. I find that nikon flash system are more consistent and gives more accurate exposure, especially during the more difficult settings, as described by unseen above. Such as when the people are all dressed in black or white clothing.

For personal usage, i use the 10D with 580EX. As the 10D is using only E-TTL technology, i wonder if the bodies with E-TTL2 technology corrects the inaccurate flash problem.

This whole flash thing has been bothering me quite a bit. Actually thinking of changing system coz of the flash.

Wonder if anyone faces the same problem out there?

well, most of us know tt nikon is better at flash technology.

no point changing system unless you know how your flash works. my 580EX works well on my body

 

[mtunlinn]

i tought sigma speedlite is not bad... friend of mine been using it almost 2 years n still
in good shape.. was aiming for it.. but later i got 430ex instead... i think u can't go wrong
with oem speedlite...:dunno: ??




how good is the st E2???. can it trigger the flash like behind a desk?? or does it have to be
"see able" with the St E2?? planing to buy one too..

It is better to be "see able".. but it works in the room most of the time. i.e u can put the flash behind a person to lit the background.. other than that i m not experienced. i think it won't work in outdoors if the flash it out of sight by st e2..

Not a bad one.. I like it...

 

[+evenstar]

how good is the st E2???. can it trigger the flash like behind a desk?? or does it have to be
"see able" with the St E2?? planing to buy one too..

Like I said earlier, Canon flashes work via IR. Cover the IR transmitter of the master flash and the slave flashes can't trigger

 

[n0d3]

I have experimented with an ST-E2 with a 550EX/420EX as the slaves. The IR does bounce off some surfaces so you might be able to trigger the flash behind a desk, depends on the actual setup.

 

[hazmee]

I have experimented with an ST-E2 with a 550EX/420EX as the slaves. The IR does bounce off some surfaces so you might be able to trigger the flash behind a desk, depends on the actual setup.

The ST-E2 is really a nifty tool for me. I can place my 580EX to almost wherever I want it to be and get interesting results with limitations of course. I am only not too keen on the pricing though.

 

[littledigitalartist]

can the sigma flash behave in any master/slave setup??

 

[Ah Pao]

can the sigma flash behave in any master/slave setup??

Apparently the Sigma EF-500 DG Super is compatible with Canon's wireless E-TTL flash system. It's able to be a master (i.e. trigger slaves) or be a slave itself. However, I didn't have the chance to play long enough with a wireless setup to test its compatibility with Canon Speedlites.

One very useful function of the Sigma is that it has an optical slave mode, meaning it can be triggered with any flash. A few experiments shows that the Sigma can be triggered as a slave with the built-in flash of my 350D, and the result is quite good. However, you'll lose any E-TTL flash metering and hence everything must be set manually.

 

[n0d3]

The ST-E2 is really a nifty tool for me. I can place my 580EX to almost wherever I want it to be and get interesting results with limitations of course. I am only not too keen on the pricing though.

Yup its one expensive toy, haha.

 

[unseen]

can the sigma flash behave in any master/slave setup??

lol yeah.. last time played with haze, jediforece4ever and drumma's flashes.. (2x 580 + 1x 430 IIRC)
haha the sigma can control all and can be controlled. No difference at all. dun even need to face the flashes.. at least, when i placed the flashes in around me, i still can trigger all the flashes. Perhaps the slaves communicate with each other too?

jlchong => No. It's just plain bad. cannot handle at all.
Anyway solution to your flash problem: Try a Sigma flash. Will still **** up sometimes, but definitely less than 580ex. Like I said, I've not tried 430ex and/or 420ex.. maybe they're better. :dunno:
Shut your thoughts of changing system away ba.. :bsmilie: for me being able to shoot at iso1600 without a thought outstrips having a more accurate flash system. Dun end up later like a Deetooaxe user here who commented "Why my shots so grainy ah.." :bsmilie:

Haha...i dun really care about longevity, neither post counts.

Hmmm well then, given the above/earlier situation, I'm sure none of us would have assumed that you're incapable of posting if you didn't "validate" any of +evenstar's posts. It's just like normally, if you don't speak, people won't assume you to be mute.

 

[Discreet]

Have not used a 430ex or 420ex before. Accuracy, I'm not talking about slightly off, 1/3 stop off etc. With photoshop around, I don't nit pick on such trivial issues. Especially since I shoot raw most of the times.
Let me tell u the circumstances 1st though. I take quite a few portraits of people in full black or full white attires (gothic attires, etc). The 580ex-s that I've tried before most of the time scr-ws up such shots. Badly. Even with FEL. At times, I have had to retake enough times to make me puke blood. Note: I won't aim for perfect shots with the 580ex, just to get the histogram into range then I adjust in the raw converter. Else the model might have died by the time I give up on auto and switch to manual.

My Sigma is accurate enough that usually 1 shot is enough.
That is what I mean by accuracy. Given tricky shots, 580ex screws it up more often than not.

I've seen 2 metz flash burn out before (to date). Thus, Metz flashes also burn out easily?

Question for you.... do you use FEL function? For tricky situation as you mentioned, i will switch to spot or center weight, take a FEL meter reading off the face and fire a preflash to lock the flash output. Then i recompose and AF without metering again... of course i am also shooting in flash and by taking another meter reading of the background, i roughly know how bright the background is going to be.

In such a situation, ETTL-2 has never failed me. You just have to understand and work around its limitations...

 

[drumma]

hah! anyone tried triggering the sigma flash with ur inbuilt flash?! it can be done! that's something that i'm impressed with the sigma over the canon's.

oh ya. we were on 1X580ex and 2X550ex if that helps.