Newbie Strobist info required.

[wingnut]

Inspired by shots from Cherryrig and others on here and Flickr, i am going to venture into the that side of photography, have kinda got a basic understanding of what settings etc etc to use, but want some advice on equipment, Am currently running a 40D with Sigma 500 super flash unit, have got a 1m hot shoe cord but have also got a wireless trigger on order from fleabay, the cheapo ones (PT-04 / CF-04), very similar to the cactus ones i think, was going to get a second flash unit but not sure what would be a good addition to the kit. Obviously it has to be cheap, and I'm guessing non compatibility with digital camera ain't going to be a problem, as the settings will have to be dialed in manually on the flash unit anyway.
So was looking on fleabay and there are a few 430ez and 540ez flash units going fairly cheap, plus some sunpak's like Cherryrig uses and a whole heap of Chinese copies. Just not sure what i should be looking for in my second flash unit.
Full manual control, no control or just the ability to adjust the power output??
Plus do you guys diffuse the flash output with a stoffen, or shot through an umbrella, or use nothing at all?

Cheers in advance for any help / advice / guidance anyone is willing to throw my way.

 

[cherryrig]

By the way I don't use Sunpak's I use SB-25's and SB-26 which are Nikon flashes. Loads of people on the Strobist use them as well as the Canon flashes. The main reason being that they have full manual control. Zoom settings and power out put.

If your just starting off with wireless flash get the eBay ones but then you'll wish you had saved the money and got some Skyports (yes I know I said it again but so very good vaule for money)

I also have a Omni-Bounce but I don't really use it that much. I use a white shoot through umbrella, DIY beauty dish I made the other day and a little DIY strip softbox.

Have a look at the 101 on the Strobist site which gives you all the newbie advice

 

[Tyke Tiler]

Hi,

Ive bought all my strobist gear as cheaply as I could, bits from the usa and a few bits and bobs from the UK.
Sunpak, vivitar, nikon and canon units will do you just fine, especially if you have a hot shoe adaptor and a means of triggering them wirelessly.
One thing I will mention is that if you did choose a flash that you can mount on your camera, either another sigma or canon etc, you could set your existing sigma to trigger the second unit via infra red. Not the most reliable method as a direct line of sight is needed from unit to unit, but it can be very quick to set up. I did a workshop where the tutor used a flash on camera to trigger a slave flash that was set up on a stand close to the model, real quick\dirty and the effects were great. Before hand I'd always shunned the idea.
As for buying another flash, if you want to go the second hand route then I advise checking Adorama's used equiptment section as well as UK ebay, Adorama's second hand stuff is fairly priced and despite the VAT and delivery most of the time is still cheaper than ebay auctions, especially if you manage to get involved with the bid fever types. Keep your eye on both to be sure, expect to pay anything from £30 to £45 ish.
Diffusion wise, shoot through brollies are great, but you will need a light stand and an umbrella swivel or hot shoe swivel to attach the flash unit and the umbrella. There are lots of these on ebay, photoskill do good deals on stands for example, umbrella swivels can be ridiculously expensive in my opinion, I got mine from adorama for $16.95 each, manfrotto jobbies are way to expensive!
Stofen's are pretty great too, especially the omnibounce! A bit pricey IMO but good.
My good old papa has kindly agreed to make me a DIY beauty dish! I can't wait to get that in the post! He's the king cheif at making stuff!

Best of luck with it, don't hesitate to ask any questions, I'll be happy to help as I'm sure Matt (Cherryrig) will be too. Matt will most likely give you some excellent points on elinchrom skyports as he is a secret sales agent for them Only kidding Matt!

Damn, you beat me by one minute Matt! Your just too quick mate!
T.

 

[strobemonkey]

If your just starting off with wireless flash get the eBay ones but then you'll wish you had saved the money and got some Skyports (yes I know I said it again but so very good vaule for money)
QUOTE]

LOL! Not in my case mate!
I'm very very happy with my ebay triggers. As well as my friend who has nokin gear. I've never had a "missed fire" (YET) with my V2s. And bear in mind I am using conan gear.

To the OP - look for flashes with manual power and zoom adjustments and your off.

And go to strobist website and read lighting101. Personally I haven't read everything as I always get sleepy

I bought my Lightstands from cameras2u as per recommendation from secret agent cherryrig from previous posts.

I bought my shoot through umbrella + hotshoe swivel/adapters from weebay

Good luck

 

[wingnut]

Cheers for the info and advice so far guys and sorry Cherryrig for suggesting you use Sunpak, when i knew full well you used sb's, And I was going to ask you why you used then not more canon flash's??? Is it that the sb are very good units or??

Thanks for the heads up on the strobist blog site, now spending an spare net time reading his site. The wife is really greatful for that, cheers...

Missed out on a couple of 430ez's on fleabay last night but watching more, my remote triggers have arrived but I can't get it to fire my flash, not sure what's wrong but think the supplied battery might be flat. It just doesn't light the led on the front when switched to on.??

 

[who?]

have you seen the comments about the battery having a thin plastic coating? Have you checked your batteries?

 

[cherryrig]

I think the SB's have a more detailed and layout on the LCD on the back. Quite a lot of people think the same and thats why they use SB's. I think they are a bit more powerful at full power as well

 

[wingnut]

Never read about the plastic coating, but just checked and yes there was a very thin plastic coasting on it, have removed it all is good.. Cheers for the heads up.