Off Camera Flash Kit

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Hi there,

I’m looking to take my speed light off camera. I have been reading through the Strobist website and will probably need to read it a few more times yet before I fully understand what’s going off. In the mean time I have a few simple questions that are holding me up regarding which kit I need.

I have a canon 450D and a speed light 430 Ex II. As I understand it this combination makes use of E-TTL ii, which automates a lot of the flash power settings.

Now if I want to get this off camera I will need either a set of radio triggers or a hotshoe/pc cable combination.

Q1, Taking the flash off camera, will I lose the E-TTL ii function?

I don’t think I can afford radio triggers just yet so am looking at the hotshoe/cable set up. As I understand it I require a hotshoe adaptor for the camera to supply a pc cable socket.

Q2, Using a hotshoe adaptor/pc cable to take the flash off camera, am I still able to put a speedlight on top of the hotshoe so that two flashes are being fired? One being on camera and one being off the camera? Again, how will this affect the E-TTL ii, will both flashes make independent power changes?

So to get my flash off camera and retain E-TTL ii what equipment do I require? Recommendations welcomed.

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
The simplest way to take your flash of-camera and retain TTL functions is using a sync cable. You can get them for about £25 for a 1.5m cable that will allow you some flexibility of movement. Longer cables are available - I think 10m cables are available - and basically, because they transmit TTL info, all you have to do is shoot as you normally do with the flash and just move the flash around.

To take your flash totally off-camera so you can move around freely and aren't inhibited by any range/distance issues, then triggers are the best way. Yongnuo, Cactus and Phottix seem to be the market leaders at the budget end, with Elinchrom and Pocketwizard offering midd-to-high end products at a much higher price.

I've just moved from Skyports to Phottix Stratos triggers, which are excellent in terms of range, build, and features. A Tx/Rx set is about £75 with additional receivers being about £35. I bought direct from the Phottix store online and the good arrived in three days from Hong Kong. I went for the Stratos because the Tx unit also has a TTL pass-through hotshoe on it so you can have a flash on the camera using TTL (as a fill flash) and fire the external flashes in manual mode.

TBH, the RF-602 triggers are a very good way to start; I paid about £40 for a trigger and 2x receiver kit and although I didn't use it (it was bought as a back-up) they're regarded as the best of the really, really cheap triggers. To be fair, they represent a much better investment in reality than a single cable, even without the TTL functionality.

If you want to retain full TTL functionality with mukltiple flashes wirelessly then I think that Pocketwizard are your best route, with the Flex system. That's designed to work int he same way as having a master flash on the camera to send TTL info around a group of flashes through wireless frequency. There are other systems that the Yanks seem to like (Cybersyncs etc) but I'm not sure if these are available in the UK in either shops or by mail-order. You're looking at £250+ (??) just for the trigger system, plus the cost of extra flashes.
 
Manual all the way. Once you learn you'll never go back. Cables are fine for one light, but what do you do when you need more? They're Useful for hss, but just get in the way otherwise.
 
Blasted said:
What is this?
Click to expand...
High Speed Sync. It's better to google for an explanation that suits you rather than me try and explain it here.
 
A second-hand Canon ST-E2 will give you off-camera TTL for a much lower cost than pocket wizards. Having said that, a cheapo wireless trigger (I've been very happy with Cactus) with the flash set to manual is the way to go.
 
Blasted said:
Ahh, Im aware of high speed synch, I just didnt relate it to getting kit for off camera flash.:thinking:
Click to expand...
You can't do HSS off camera unless you have a cable or something expensive like the ST-E2 or pocket wizards
 
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