580ex II off camera flash

[Inspired]

Okay...so i have had my 580ex II for a little while now and having fun with it! (although i think it is faulty as it doesn't always fire (on camera) i can fire 3 shots and the flash fire once and sometimes not at all...but i have been told to try it on another camera to see if there is something wrong there so will try that) Anyway thats not my question.
Once i have that sorted..i would like to experiment with off camera flash.

I have heard alot of people mention pocket wizards? Can somone please explain to me is that what i would get? adn where can i buy one? I looked on a few website where i have bought lenses etc but can't seem to fins anything that's called that.?
I'm assuming that they are like a wirless trigger are they? so it still goes off when you fire a shot? or is it a bit more complicated than that>? are they hard/simple to use? Also I have been looking at the different diffuser's etc that you can get but really not sure which way to go? Any links to where i can purchase these things and what i should get would be a real help.

I mainly want to experiment with portraits...different lighting angles etc..and i've seen how people take photo;s when its quite like but looks dark and uses the flash to light them up and stopping down. so yeh basically i just want to experient! hehe

Thank you for your help and advice!

[MarkChap]

Firstly Nicole,
When you say you fire 3 shots and the flash only fire once, are we talking 3 rapid shots ?
If so your flash hasn't had time to recharge between shots, particularly if using a high amount of flash output for the shot.

Pocket Wizards are a radio transceiver for using off camera flash - Pocket Wizards
There are however many varied and different brands of mainly chinese made versions that will cost you a lot less

[Inspired]

Firstly Nicole,
When you say you fire 3 shots and the flash only fire once, are we talking 3 rapid shots ?
If so your flash hasn't had time to recharge between shots, particularly if using a high amount of flash output for the shot.

Pocket Wizards are a radio transceiver for using off camera flash - Pocket Wizards
There are however many varied and different brands of mainly chinese made versions that will cost you a lot less

Hey MarkChap
No even when not on rapid shots it still doesn't always fire. Say i take one shot and than wait 15 secs and fire again, flash still wont go off, i wait even longer sometimes and it still doens't fire - its like its thinking all the time if that makes sense?

Thanks very much for the link in regards to the pockets wizards too

[mercho]

Hey MarkChap
No even when not on rapid shots it still doesn't always fire. Say i take one shot and than wait 15 secs and fire again, flash still wont go off, i wait even longer sometimes and it still doens't fire - its like its thinking all the time if that makes sense?

Thanks very much for the link in regards to the pockets wizards too

I have some cheap chinese branded ebay ones and they work well with my 430ex! The only thing is you loose e-ttl...

Re the problem with your flash firing, try cleaning the point where it connects to the camera, and maybe try a different set of batteries? Maybe a decent rechargable set?

[buc2]

Hi, I had the same problem with my 580EXII when I purchased it, After some mucking around I tried some decent batteries and have never had a problem since. What annoyed me was the retailer that I purchased the flash from never alerted me to a possable problem when I purchased the first lot of batteries with the flash (in the same transaction), but was full of advice when I purchased the better ones.

[Inspired]

Okay this may sound like a dumb question but what would be considered as good batteries..i had put in some heavy duty duracell i think they are in them and tried new ones etc but didn't help - maybe there still not strong enough?

with the pocket wizards are they complicated to use? i'm guessing they come with a nice instruction book for beginners like me? hehe

[Omytion]

Pocket Wizards are pretty easy to use and you won't look back! For my flashes I use rechargable batteries that are high mAH - mine are 2500 I think. They recycle faster than standard batteries meaning you can shoot faster and they'll soon pay for themselves many times over.

As for techniques there are a multitude of sites with examples of off-camera flash. A very popular and informative one is strobist.com. If you want to see how NOT to do it then I might humbly direct you to my blog which mostly details my own clumsy attempts at getting to grips with the concepts.

Have fun!

[Brodie]

There are plenty of cheaper radio trigger options than pocket wizards, such as Yongnuo RF-602's.

The past year I have gone bonkers with speedlights, using anywhere form 1 to 7 on shoots. So I go through a lot of batteries.

I swear by these batteries...



You can buy a 2 hour recharger for them, and it has a cigarette lighter connection to charge in your car as well!


Also I have used these extensively and are very good:

[Wayne]

In my speedlights I use Imedion, and eneloops and they are excellent too.

[Jules]

I have the Energizers Brodie shows above and they've worked well in both my speedlights. Eneloops are supposed to be very good too, although I've not used them personally.

[maccaroneski]

I have a bunch of Eneloops and love them. Buy one more set than you need, and you have a neverending supply.

Definitely the batteries. I sold a flash recently, and was in Woolies the night before. As the flash was being hand delivered to a meet, I thought I would buy some batteries to get the buyer started (and prove that the flash worked). Loaded them up - and nothing. Slightly embarrassing til I realised that I had another flash in the car and took the Eneloops out and tried those - not a problem.

[mercho]

+1 for the energizers, I have 2 sets of them and never had a problem with my 430exII

[Clubmanmc]

i have 7 sets of the Eneloops, for 3 flashes... the good thing about them is that they retain charge when not used up to 80% for up to 2 months, yes they are only 2100 milli amps, but the way they discharge, they have a longer middle section before they drop off, i used the sanyo 2700 milli amp models and they would work very well when freshly charged, but drop off quickly to a level BELOW the eneloops...

the off camera options you have

1 Off camera cable, (about 150 for a Canon) you retain the ETTL (Electronic Thru The Lense metering) but the only down side is that the flash can only go as far as your arm can reach and its hard to balance and hold flash and zoom while trying to take a shot.

2 Wireless Canon Trigger (about 275 for a canon) you retain the ETTL (Electronic Thru The Lense metering) but it dont work well out doors and the flashes need to be in line of sight, the good things are you can vary the power of the flashes (up to 4 i think) from the sender unit.

3 After market radio frequncy (RF) triggers, will work from near by to up to and including 200m (depending on models) beauty is they work with out line of sight but the down side is you lose ETTL so the flashes need to be set up manually and a light meter or a few tests need to be done to get the results you want.

I have all three. Only just purchased the RF triggers, and i paid $77 USD for hong kong Yongnuo triggers (off Ebay) and they work a treat... but i still have my off camera cable... as it works a treat for certain things..

The ST-E2 (wireless canon trigger) is great but for the money i would buy the RF triggers and work with the manual flash... plus my 7D has a ST-E2 built into it...

good luck with which ever you choose... look forward to seeing photos...

M

[Paper_Mache_Man]

Currently in the same boat, I've ordered some cheapie wireless triggers and will see how they go.

The main advantage of pocket wizards as I understand it is to retain ETTL but also allow for remote control of the flash (specifically adjusting power/zoom/ex comp etc settings). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Again I think this all comes down to the specific brand and model of trigger.

If you're using full manual and are happy to change the settings on the flash physically yourself then the cheapies are probably the way to go. It's probably the way you 'should' go too if you're new to flash...crawl before you walk and all that. At least that's my reasoning.

Just a note on the ETTL cable. You can get cheapies from eBay for around $30 which I hear work fine. Personally I'm looking to solder in some cat5 cable so I can make a longer version - I just need to find some easy to solder shoes/sockets.

It's a pretty low priority for me though as I don't see myself using ETTL with wires. If I'm using ETTL it's probably because I'm in a rush in which case I don't want to be messing around with wires/cables.

So at the end of the day I may spring for some wireless form of ETTL before I go down that route.

There are also Cybersync units which apparently have great reliability...not sure about ETTL though - don't think they have it. They're more expensive too so I guess they fit somewhere between cheep ebay triggers (which I hear are fine) and pocket wizards.

Also, on the flash problem. If I'm using continuous shooting I will also skip frames (where the flash wont fire). Just wondering if there's a way to prevent the camera from firing without the flash. It wont fire without an AF lock so why should the flash be any different? If anything I'd rather shoot something slightly out of focus than a black exposure! This is on a 450D by the way. Depending on the flash strength I can get quite a few burst shots off before it needs to 'recharge'.

[jeffde]

Hi
I use the energizers, have 5 sets and 2 chargers.

Another option to the wizards is buy another 580 EX and you use 1 on camera 1 off, or buy a 7D and you get wireless.... depends really what you want to do... (geez maybe i can sell that concept to the Mrs??)

[Brodie]

Currently in the same boat, I've ordered some cheapie wireless triggers and will see how they go.

The main advantage of pocket wizards as I understand it is to retain ETTL but also allow for remote control of the flash (specifically adjusting power/zoom/ex comp etc settings). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Only on the new pocket wizards such as the flex and mini can you retain ETTL. The old pockets wizards you have to go manual.

[jprobertson]

IMHO, you flash problems is definitely your batteries. you want batteries with a high MAh rating, and preferably NiMH or Lithium Ion.

i'll swear by the energizers, so long as you charge them within a few days before you go to use them, you can't go wrong. I've got 7 sets and 2 charger for them myself.

Cybersyncs are fantastic triggers, they're amazingly reliable and the range has been more than adequate for what i need. There's no ETTL, but i like to dial it all in myself.

Plus, Alienbees (and therefore cybersyncs) have a brisbane based store now.

[Jules]

...Plus, Alienbees (and therefore cybersyncs) have a brisbane based store now.

Really? Whereabouts are they Josh? I've been thinking of picking up some Cybersyncs, but the US-only purchase arrangements were a bit off-putting, so a local supplier would be great.

[coolie21]

Really? Whereabouts are they Josh? I've been thinking of picking up some Cybersyncs, but the US-only purchase arrangements were a bit off-putting, so a local supplier would be great.

Here.

But remember you can get 3 RF-602 receivers and a transmitter for less than the price of one cybersync unit.....

[PaulMac]

I find pocket wizards awesome. The Tt5 receiver and TT1 transmitter. Nicole other than basic instructions for use the great thing it that as far as the flash is concerned it works exactly the same as if it were on your camera. The ettl side works great and you will find that I use them a lot when I work. I also swear by energizer rechargables. Eneloops are also great if you don't have the ability to charge the day before as they will hold their charge longer than the Energizers. Hope that helps.