Flash Units & Autofocus, help

futureal33

futureal33

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Hi all,

I have a very basic question that I just require a very basic answer to!

Currently I am using a Canon 40D with pop up flash unit, although I dont use flash very often, when I do, I am always pretty embarassed to use the standard flash. When autofocusing in low light, it flickers to light up the subject to help AF - and more often than not, the subject "thinks" this is the photo being taken, and then begins to walk away/move etc - however I then have to explain that it wasnt the actual picture etc etc....

Do flash units such as the Canon 430EX ii and the Nissin Di622 Mk2 have infra-red focusing? Ie, so when you focus in low light it doesnt flicker to illuminate the subject?

I dont really need any kind of slave mode, wireless triggering or anything like that, I am simply after a hot-she mount flash which is a) better and less harsh than the standard one and b) that doesnt flicker to AF assist

Thanks for any help :)
 
futureal33 said:
Do flash units such as the Canon 430EX ii and the Nissin Di622 Mk2 have infra-red focusing? Ie, so when you focus in low light it doesnt flicker to illuminate the subject?
Click to expand...
My 580EXII projects a series of red stripes with (presumably) an LED.
 
Yes the 430EX II and 580EX II have separate autofocus assist lamps; the main strobe does not fire to assist focussing. They're not infrared though, they're just red, meaning you can see them.
 
On my Nikon in the memory you can turn off the pre flash focus thingy, maybe there something similar for your camera. your user manual should say if you can or not.

My particular choice is to either have a flashgun mounted on the camera or use the popup flash to trigger the flashguns remotely. I find the popup flash isn't alway strong enough.

Realspeed
 
futureal33 said:
Does anyone know if the Nissin Di622 does this? As its a lot cheaper than the 430ex ii!

Cheers for the replies
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They pretty much all do. If there's a red plastic window on the front, that's the AF assist light. If there is also another darker window, and that's the IR sensor.

Nissin is good, but doesn't do high speed sync which I find to be almost essential for fill-in flash in daylight. In fact I think the only one of the cheaper third party 430-equivalent guns that does do HSS is the Metz 50 AF-1, which isn't so cheap!
 
futureal33 said:
Is the 550EX fully compatible with modern day DSLRs such as the 40D?

Sorry for the basic question, but if I was using my camera on AV Mode, and wanted flash to fire - would the 550EX automatically select its settings (brightness of flash, flash timing etc)?

Thanks
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All EX series flashes have full compatibility with Canon digital SLRs. The 550EX is no different in this regard to the current flashes.

The flash metering works in different ways in the different exposure modes. The flashgun will try to automatically flash at the correct brightness, but exactly how it works out what is the correct brightness depends on the ambient light and what exposure mode you are using.

The timing of the flash (i.e. whether it is synched to the first or second curtain) is set manually.
 
550EX is a good gun. Powerful, and does the lot, including mastering of remote guns in full E-TTL mode, which most others don't.

Fully compatible with 40D.
 
This is probably another very basic question, sorry..

If I bought a 550EX - and used it as hotshoe flash 99% of the time, ie for portraits etc. The camera on AV Mode - the flash on auto mode (ETTL) - as I changed the settings on the camera such as apertue, shutter etc - would the flash update its settings to match?

And

If I was feeling particuarly artistic, and bought a 2nd slave flash (something cheap in this instance, such as the Nissin Di622 ii) what other accessories would I need to enable the 550 to act as master flash (but without firing) and trigger the Nissin remotely? Also, what is the operating range of the remote firing?

Sorry for all the q's!
 
futureal33 said:
This is probably another very basic question, sorry..

If I bought a 550EX - and used it as hotshoe flash 99% of the time, ie for portraits etc. The camera on AV Mode - the flash on auto mode (ETTL) - as I changed the settings on the camera such as apertue, shutter etc - would the flash update its settings to match?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Using the flash on the hot shoe is fine, but rather than fire it direct, bounce it of any nearby light toned surface - ceilings are particularly good, but so are walls from behind you. If you get a colour cast, you can get rid of that with a custom white balance, or correct it in post processing. Or try using the pull-out hilight panel, or get one of the many diffuser accessories available (my favourite is the Lumiquest Quik Bounce - excellent device, does loads of things :thumbs:).

On Av, the default is that the camera will balance the ambient light with the flash (by dropping the shutter speed). For social situations, this is usually good. But if you want just the light from the flash, the easiest way is to shoot on manual at 1/250sec.

And

If I was feeling particuarly artistic, and bought a 2nd slave flash (something cheap in this instance, such as the Nissin Di622 ii) what other accessories would I need to enable the 550 to act as master flash (but without firing) and trigger the Nissin remotely? Also, what is the operating range of the remote firing?

Sorry for all the q's!
Click to expand...

Yes, 550EX will master the remote gun. You need nothing else. But note my earlier comment about lack of high speed sync with that Nissin ;)
 
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