Flash for Canon Digital SLRs

[stuw]

What extra Flash setup do use or reccomend with your Canon Digital?

For weddings, parties, anything...

[Speedy_msd]

Hi Stu
I've been using for a long time a Canon 380EX Speedlite. First bought to use with an EOS film camera but it's been working well too with the 300D.
It's E-TTL compatible but hasn't got the Master/Slave functions of the newer models.
It auto-adjusts for camera zoom (24-105 mm... not sure how that works with the 300D not having a full size sensor but "Ive not had any vignetting)
Guide Number if that is meaningful to you is 21 (at 24mm) to 38 (at 105mm), in Metres at ISO 100 . The builtin 300D flash only has a GN of 13 (m/ISO 100) so you're looking at a lot more power at longer focal lengths.

[kipper]

Personally I'd go for the 550EX or the 580EX. They seem to be the best two that you ca get.

[rjlhughes]

The 420EX works well for me.

[kipper]

But why would you get the 420EX (assuming older model) when you can get the 550EX for the same price, or there abouts.

[rjlhughes]

I don't remember my purchasing decision making - I'm usually pretty frugal though. When did the 550's come out?

[kipper]

Dunno, I just know the 550EX and 580EX is what I'd go if I was buying a Canon rig. Did some price comparisons recently to consider what it'd cost to move over to Canon.

[rjlhughes]

If I get my druthers taking flash, I bounce (using a sto fen) off a circular reflector held out to one side and above the person's face.

It's a nuisance, and needs an extra set of hands, but works well, even with my existing flash.

[petal666]

What extra Flash setup do use or reccomend with your Canon Digital?

For weddings, parties, anything...

You could buy one of my spare 550EX's which I'm selling

[kipper]

Petal, do you know what the difference is between the 550EX and 580EX except the few hundred in price.

[petal666]

The 580EX is slightly smaller than the 550EX and slightly more powerful. It also rotates 180° in both directions (as opposed to 180° and 90°) and has a single button for rotating and tilting. The major advantage is that it is designed to cater for EF-S lenses (i.e. the 1.6x crop) when working out the focus length for the flash. Not that this is all that important as ETT-L works just fine.

[Speedy_msd]

If I get my druthers taking flash, I bounce (using a sto fen) off a circular reflector held out to one side and above the person's face.

I have a nice toy I've used for a long time called a LumiQuest pocket bouncer
This velcros onto the flash head which it it pointed vertically up and gives a bright white bounce surface, obviously with some loss of power but a much more even light spread. It used to be available with gold or silver inserts for flash colour modification. I have no idea if they are still available, but anything to soften the flash is good for close portrait work.
And a quick Google found it here:
http://www.printercartridges.com.au/store/prod1689.htm

[DionM]

For the newer digital bodies, you are best served to get a 580EX or the new 430EX.

They have E-TTL II which is the new and improved version of E-TTL.

I have a 380EX and while it has been great, I am itching to get a 580EX. Though with the 430EX I am debating what to do, as the 430EX isn't as automated as the 380EX or 420EX, and has almost all the manual features of the 580EX (from what I can gather).

[DaveB]

For the newer digital bodies, you are best served to get a 580EX or the new 430EX.

Although the 550EX and 420EX are still nice units.

They have E-TTL II which is the new and improved version of E-TTL.

Actually this is a function of the camera, not the flash. A 420EX (or even a 380EX) on a 20D will have E-TTL II.

All these flashes (except the non-zooming 220EX) can auto-zoom based on your current focal length. Unfortunately this information seems to go straight from the lens to the flash, meaning that on a 50mm lens your flash will be zoomed to 50mm, but if you have a camera with a 1.6x crop factor it could be zoomed to 80mm (adding about a stop of flash power!) without vignetting.
The 580EX and 430EX flashes (when paired with newer cameras such as the 20D and 350D) will detect this and adjust their zoom.

I've had a 420EX for a long time, and the only thing that's been a slight hassle (apart from the above zooming issue) is the inability to manually set a zoom (useful for maximum range when using a telephoto fresnel adaptor). Having a bit more power in situations like weddings where the flash is the main light would be nice too. The head's got plenty of movement (more than the 380), high-speed sync, etc.
I rigged up my own external power pack with dummy batteries for quick recharges, although the 5xx flashes have purpose-built connectors for this.

The 580EX is the best, the 550EX lacks zoom adjustment on non-FF bodies and a tiny bit of power. Both of those will work as masters in multi-flash setups.
The 430EX has less power again and won't act as a master, the 420EX is less flexible. The lack of head-twisting on the 380EX is a big difference from the other models.
Sigma also makes some E-TTL models that work well, with similar features to the 550EX. But if you use flash as fill you'll often find yourself wanting high-speed sync, and the Sigma models disable this when you drop below your sync speed and won't automatically turn it on again when your shutter speed wants to go up: very frustrating!

[petal666]

I find my 550EX drops high speed sync occasionally (might only be after battery change though) where as the 420EX has a slider button for that function as it doesn't change.

[sejanus]

I have bought 2 x 580ex's which seem to work well enough. They feel a bit primitive compared to nikon's sb800's but the end results are ok, which is all that really matters.