Off camera (Canon 350D)flash system,advice, gear recommendations.

Graeme Edwards

Graeme Edwards

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Graeme
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Hi all, just some advice if you can.....

I have a 350D with a jessops flash unit.

My question is.....

What equipment will I need to have remote/camera triggered flash? i.e. radio, infrared,cables etc.

I have no clue as to what equipment I should even consider...
Im not loaded, so nothing to crazy...
I dont have many ports on the camera its self, so its a hot shoe option for me.

Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to TP :)

Do you want to fire both the camera and flash remotely?

There's a guy called Flash In The Pan who sells stuff on here in the For Sale section. See here http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=157807

To fire a remote camera, you could do worse than get his Wireless Remote for £16 in post #5, connected to the port on the side of the camera. Then fit his RF-602 (£32) transmitter to the hot shoe and the receiver to the flash.

I've not tried it but this should work. Just check with him that they both work together and there's no interference between the two transmitters.
 
Thanks for the reply Hoppy...

A remote control would be handy but that is not what I was getting at.

What I will be doing is having the camera in my hands or on the tripod and my flash or multiple flashes set up over my subject or around rooms etc.

So I would like to know what equipment I would need to do this. Do I need specific hot shoe triggers? If so, what an I looking for? And how do I trigger the flash/flashes.

What it comes down to is, I dont know what is compatible with my camera, and wouldn't know what details of the gear im looking at to make sure they will go together.

Im sorry. This is really an area that I have no clue on how to tell if im looking at the right things.

Thanks.
 
If you are going to get serious, then looking at the Speedlite 580 manual might be worthwhile. This is not perfectly compatible with your camera, the camera can trigger the flash, but the settings must be made on the flash, rather than in the LCD of the camera. On the higher cameras, the settings can be made with the LCD of the camera too. (there was a video for the 7d which demonstrated this, I believe the XXd range is capable too).
This can act as a master controller, and control multiple sub-sets of flashes using IR. Each sub-group can have a different flash time, and power assigned to it. The 580 would need to act as a master I believe, then the 430's can be used as slaves.

Otherwise, if it is a simple, you want the other flashes to trigger, with manual settings, then the RF triggers will work OK from FITP.
 
Hmm I think I get what your saying. But im not sure if my 350D can trigger flashes on its own. I would need a hot shoe trigger wouldn't I?

I like the idea of triggering two or more flashes at different times.

In a nut shell, I want to be able to trigger one or more flash units where ever I put them, from my camera with as little fuss and cost as possible.

Does my 350D have a hot shoe code/fitting name to match up any gear I want to fit to it?

What fittings am I looking for?

I really am think arnt I :bang:

Sorry folks, I appreciate your patience.

Cheers.
 
The speedlite 580 would be doing the trigering in this scenario.

(if that is meant to be 'thick' maybe :) )

There are two options really.

You could get cheapo wireless triggers from ebay. Or flash in the pan for some which are likely to work for a bit longer. They are pretty much standard connectors for the hot-shoes. This would mean that each flash would have to be set manually, for their output. When you press the trigger, a short voltage will be applied to the transmitter on the hotshoe, which will transmit via RF to the receivers, which then short out the flashes, which fire. This option can be used with a mixture of flash manufacturers, and will work through walls

Second option, is you attach a 580 to the hotshoe. This then receives the voltage from the camera, and transmits via IR to the slave units. This is only likely to work with Canons, and is line-of-sight only.

A cheaper alternative to using the 580 on the top of the camera, is something like:
http://www.porters.com/shorturl_pcs.mvc?p=170095
but I think that this then looses the ability to control groups of slaves (becomes more like the first option)
 
Graeme Edwards said:
Thanks for the reply Hoppy...

A remote control would be handy but that is not what I was getting at.

What I will be doing is having the camera in my hands or on the tripod and my flash or multiple flashes set up over my subject or around rooms etc.

So I would like to know what equipment I would need to do this. Do I need specific hot shoe triggers? If so, what an I looking for? And how do I trigger the flash/flashes.
What it comes down to is, I dont know what is compatible with my camera, and wouldn't know what details of the gear im looking at to make sure they will go together.

Im sorry. This is really an area that I have no clue on how to tell if im looking at the right things.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

This sounds quite simple to me - basically take what I said in post #2, and delete the remote camera trigger.

In other words, an RF-602 transmitter in the hot shoe, and receivers for each flash. Job done.

This will fire everything in sync, with good range and around corners, but you must control exposure manually by adjusting the output of each flash and/or moving them closer/further from the subject. Shouldn't be a problem from what you've said - most strobist set ups are configured manually as the auto-exposure alternatives are complex and very costly.
 
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