canon wireless flash setup question

Hi everyone,

I own a canon 10D and a 420ex flash. I'm trying to come up with setup
for taking portrait type pictures of hockey players on the ice. Not
action shots, but the typical posed 'hockey stance' pictures.

I've been doing this with the 10D and the 420ex unit, but I'd like to
add more lighting, closer and on an angle.

I already bought a stroboframe flash bracket but I haven't picked up
the off-camera shoe cord yet. (you'll see why this matters below).

I see two solutions and I'm not sure which is best.

Solution #1, add:
- 550EX (it can control my 420EX as a slave)
- off-camera shoe cord (for the stroboframe bracket)

Solution #2, add:
- ST-E2 wireless transmitter (to control both 420ex's)
- another 420EX


Both solutions allow me to use two light sources, but with solution #1
one of the light sources is limited to being on the camera, so
straight on. With solution #2 I could place the 420EX's on different
angles and control them with the ST-E2 transmitter. BTW, both options
end up costing about the same $$.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this, or even alternate solutions.

Thanks,
Chris

On 9 Feb 2005 06:20:59 -0800, (Chris) wrote:

Hi everyone,

I own a canon 10D and a 420ex flash. I'm trying to come up with setup
for taking portrait type pictures of hockey players on the ice. Not
action shots, but the typical posed 'hockey stance' pictures.

I've been doing this with the 10D and the 420ex unit, but I'd like to
add more lighting, closer and on an angle.

I already bought a stroboframe flash bracket but I haven't picked up
the off-camera shoe cord yet. (you'll see why this matters below).

I see two solutions and I'm not sure which is best.

Solution #1, add:
- 550EX (it can control my 420EX as a slave)
- off-camera shoe cord (for the stroboframe bracket)

Solution #2, add:
- ST-E2 wireless transmitter (to control both 420ex's)
- another 420EX


Both solutions allow me to use two light sources, but with solution #1
one of the light sources is limited to being on the camera, so
straight on. With solution #2 I could place the 420EX's on different
angles and control them with the ST-E2 transmitter. BTW, both options
end up costing about the same $$.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this, or even alternate solutions.

Thanks,
Chris

How about #1, no bracket and the 550EX bounced off a reflector?

In message -
(Chris)9 Feb 2005 06:20:59 -0800 writes:
:
:Hi everyone,
:
:I own a canon 10D and a 420ex flash. I'm trying to come up with setup
:for taking portrait type pictures of hockey players on the ice. Not
:action shots, but the typical posed 'hockey stance' pictures.
:
:I've been doing this with the 10D and the 420ex unit, but I'd like to
:add more lighting, closer and on an angle.
:
:I already bought a stroboframe flash bracket but I haven't picked up
:the off-camera shoe cord yet. (you'll see why this matters below).
:
:I see two solutions and I'm not sure which is best.
:
:Solution #1, add:
:- 550EX (it can control my 420EX as a slave)
:- off-camera shoe cord (for the stroboframe bracket)
:
:Solution #2, add:
:- ST-E2 wireless transmitter (to control both 420ex's)
:- another 420EX
:
:
:Both solutions allow me to use two light sources, but with solution #1
:one of the light sources is limited to being on the camera, so
:straight on. With solution #2 I could place the 420EX's on different
:angles and control them with the ST-E2 transmitter. BTW, both options
:end up costing about the same $$.
:
:I would appreciate any thoughts on this, or even alternate solutions.
:
:Thanks,
:Chris

Hi Chris

I went through the same thought processes about a year ago (with an Elan 7e
instead of your 10D). I ended up purchasing a ST-E2 and 550ex to use with my
420ex. I almost bought another 420ex (instead of the 550ex), but thought the
extra flash power might be handy when using the flash by itself (I'm glad I
did).

It's funny.... My first 2 solutions were the same as yours, even down the
"same money" part. Then I came up with option #3, ST-E2 & 550ex.

I've been very happy with the results.

Hope this helps

Rob
www.rcp.ca

Hi Chris

I went through the same thought processes about a year ago (with an
Elan 7e
instead of your 10D). I ended up purchasing a ST-E2 and 550ex to use
with my
420ex. I almost bought another 420ex (instead of the 550ex), but
thought the
extra flash power might be handy when using the flash by itself (I'm
glad I
did).

It's funny.... My first 2 solutions were the same as yours, even
down the
"same money" part. Then I came up with option #3, ST-E2 & 550ex.

I've been very happy with the results.

Hope this helps

Rob
www.rcp.ca

Hi Rob,

First of all, what superb photos you have on your website. Just
beautiful. I love the dynamic range you capture. And I can't believe
you have a DOF chart there, I was just looking for that!

So, do you find the ST-E2 has an acceptable range? I read that the
550ex can control the salve flash units at a much greater distance.
Having said that, I don't think I'll ever need to be that far away from
the slave units.

Thanks,
Chris

On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 06:20:59 -0800, Chris wrote:

Hi everyone,

I own a canon 10D and a 420ex flash. I'm trying to come up with setup
for taking portrait type pictures of hockey players on the ice. Not
action shots, but the typical posed 'hockey stance' pictures.

I've been doing this with the 10D and the 420ex unit, but I'd like to
add more lighting, closer and on an angle.

I already bought a stroboframe flash bracket but I haven't picked up the
off-camera shoe cord yet. (you'll see why this matters below).

I see two solutions and I'm not sure which is best.

Solution #1, add:
- 550EX (it can control my 420EX as a slave) - off-camera shoe cord (for
the stroboframe bracket)

Solution #2, add:
- ST-E2 wireless transmitter (to control both 420ex's) - another 420EX


Both solutions allow me to use two light sources, but with solution #1
one of the light sources is limited to being on the camera, so straight
on. With solution #2 I could place the 420EX's on different angles and
control them with the ST-E2 transmitter. BTW, both options end up
costing about the same $$.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this, or even alternate solutions.

Thanks,
Chris

When I still used Canon EOS equipment I had the same setup (550, 420,
ST-E2) and found it worked okay on my D60, but in all honesty the results
using E-TTL varied quite a lot and were not reliable enough for what I was
doing in portraiture. This may have been a fault of the D60's meter. Who
knows...

IMO the 420EX is a ****ty product from Canon simply because of its limited
modes - well lack of anything other than E-TTL. I wouldn't ever recommend
it to anyone. Your first solution would be better, but it is also limited
in that the slave on the 550EX only works in E-TTL mode.

My advice is to sell the 420 EX and get a couple of manual flashes with a
slave (Vivitar 283's are good). Use one of the flashes on camera and the
other can be placed off-camera with the slave. Get yourself a decent flash
meter and set everything manually.

--
Save photography - shoot a roll of film today!

Roxy d'Urban wrote in message ...
When I still used Canon EOS equipment I had the same setup (550, 420,
ST-E2) and found it worked okay on my D60, but in all honesty the results
using E-TTL varied quite a lot and were not reliable enough for what I was
doing in portraiture. This may have been a fault of the D60's meter. Who
knows...

IMO the 420EX is a ****ty product from Canon simply because of its limited
modes - well lack of anything other than E-TTL. I wouldn't ever recommend
it to anyone. Your first solution would be better, but it is also limited
in that the slave on the 550EX only works in E-TTL mode.

My advice is to sell the 420 EX and get a couple of manual flashes with a
slave (Vivitar 283's are good). Use one of the flashes on camera and the
other can be placed off-camera with the slave. Get yourself a decent flash
meter and set everything manually.

I have some control over the 420ex output by using my camera's onboard
FEC, and I think that will still work in slave mode. However if the
e-ttl results are varied, then that is a problem. I've been reading up
on the vivitar 283 (with slave) and that does look apealing, much less
expensive anyway.

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 15:18:38 -0800, Chris wrote:

Roxy d'Urban wrote in message ...
When I still used Canon EOS equipment I had the same setup (550, 420,
ST-E2) and found it worked okay on my D60, but in all honesty the results
using E-TTL varied quite a lot and were not reliable enough for what I was
doing in portraiture. This may have been a fault of the D60's meter. Who
knows...

IMO the 420EX is a ****ty product from Canon simply because of its limited
modes - well lack of anything other than E-TTL. I wouldn't ever recommend
it to anyone. Your first solution would be better, but it is also limited
in that the slave on the 550EX only works in E-TTL mode.

My advice is to sell the 420 EX and get a couple of manual flashes with a
slave (Vivitar 283's are good). Use one of the flashes on camera and the
other can be placed off-camera with the slave. Get yourself a decent flash
meter and set everything manually.

I have some control over the 420ex output by using my camera's onboard
FEC, and I think that will still work in slave mode. However if the
e-ttl results are varied, then that is a problem. I've been reading up
on the vivitar 283 (with slave) and that does look apealing, much less
expensive anyway.

When I had an EOS system I always only used the wireless E-TTL with the
D60 (previously the D30) and never with film. The results indigital were
quite varied, depending on what I was doing. One area that I had a lot of
problems with using this system was in the white balance area. I
photographed some products for my company brochure and the colours were
way off, regardless of the white balance setting used. Another problem was
exposure. Whilst the majority of the shots were correctly exposed, every
so often I would get a completely flummoxed shot - usually underexposed by
about two or three stops.

I think a lot of this has to do with the way E-TTL works using the
pre-flash system - it's certainly not foolproof. In my view, if you are
happy to use a flash meter with manually fired 283's (or any other flash
in manual mode) your results will be a lot better because you will be in
control of exposure, not the camera.

--
Save photography - shoot a roll of film today!

When I had an EOS system I always only used the wireless E-TTL with the
D60 (previously the D30) and never with film. The results indigital were
quite varied, depending on what I was doing. One area that I had a lot of

I've said this several times before, but, particularly if you have the
latitude afforded by modern film of digicams, a manual flash is the
only way to go. E-TTL doesn't seem to offer any real improvements
over an electric-eye flash, and E-TTL flashes are not only more
expensive, but they are less versatile.

-Joel

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Hi Chris

You're right, the st-e2 does a shorter range than a 550ex but I haven't
found it to be a problem. Although, I'm usually indoors when using
mutiple flashes & st-e2 combo.

Rob
www.rcp.ca

wrote:
Hi Chris

I went through the same thought processes about a year ago (with an
Elan 7e
instead of your 10D). I ended up purchasing a ST-E2 and 550ex to
use
with my
420ex. I almost bought another 420ex (instead of the 550ex), but
thought the
extra flash power might be handy when using the flash by itself
(I'm
glad I
did).

It's funny.... My first 2 solutions were the same as yours, even
down the
"same money" part. Then I came up with option #3, ST-E2 & 550ex.

I've been very happy with the results.

Hope this helps

Rob
www.rcp.ca

Hi Rob,

First of all, what superb photos you have on your website. Just
beautiful. I love the dynamic range you capture. And I can't believe
you have a DOF chart there, I was just looking for that!

So, do you find the ST-E2 has an acceptable range? I read that the
550ex can control the salve flash units at a much greater distance.
Having said that, I don't think I'll ever need to be that far away
from
the slave units.

Thanks,
Chris