Remote and flash triggers for 20D

[c_robinson]

Having been endlessly confused by the various remotes and flash triggers available for the canon market, can someone advise which remote shutter release would be suitable for my 20d (and my coming 40d (it'd be ideal not to have to have 2)) and which cables/bits i need to fire my EX 430II off camera :bonk::bonk:

All help very appreciated!

Regards
Charlie

 

[neil_g]

remotes you can get away with using the generic £6 ones off ebay, after all theyre just a button on a wire. look for the ones with the lock on the button for long exposures.

re remote flash - depends how deep your pockets are. you could spend £20 up to £250.

personally ive had no issues using these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4CH-Wireless-...ash-Trigger-PT04-AR02_W0QQitemZ280404475266QQ

however some people slate them for being cheap and nasty. but i find for occasional use they work fine. i will add though i would not trust the weight of the flash on the receiver, use a sync cord and solid mount.

 

[Chappers]

Charlie

I have a set of cactus triggers that I use for my non Canon flashes, although I have used them on my 430. They do work, but watch the shutter speeds that you use as I have found that you can get bad syncs at faster shutter speeds of1/100th sec at times. The clamps are a bit pants with a flash gun of the 430's weight ( not particularly heavy) so I used an external hot shoe and sync lead.

Now these triggers just fire the flash so there is no feed back to the camera. So it can be a bit fiddly getting the exposure correct, and does involve adjusting the flash manually, if you don't have a flash meter. If you only want the flash off the camera by a metre or so look at one dedicated flash leads that give full ETTL compatibility. They vary in price and you do get what you pay for. Having said that the cheaper ones do work but lack the "weather sealing" of the Canon one.

After that life gets expensive. The ST-E2 is about £160 and then you start heading into Pocket Wizard territory

 

[HoppyUK]

If you want full E-TTL auto exposure control with wireless remote flash, you'll need a master unit - either a 580EX flash or ST-E2 as Chappers suggests.

But working in manual is easy with an RF-602 transmitter and receiver - £32 from Flash In The Pan here, post #2 http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=157807

These seems to be the ones most people are using ATM and they have a good rep. I'm gonna be getting a set or two myself shortly.

You can get an extra cord for a couple of quid to fire the camera remotely - Canon 20D and 40D have a common terminal fitting.