off-camera/external flash
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- transmission
a friend is looking to buy a flash for her digital camera and she was looking at a used flash for $65. the store clerk said that the flash was for a film camera and that a used flash for digital starts at $200. Is there really a difference between film and digital flash?
- slappy0
Yeh there is. I mean the flash will work but no metering (yes the flash does the metering).
If she shoots manual and sets the flash on manual and uses a light meter then it would produce decent shots, if the flash is decent.
ETTL might be worth paying for.
- +1
On manual or as a slave it may be fine.pylon - What I said isnt exactly true, on digital a pre flash fires, the camera looks at it through the lens (TTL) and then decides the amount of flash and then the flash fires a second time exposing the shot.slappy
- amount of flash and then the flash fires a second time exposing the shotslappy
- +1
- ribit0
Often you need a specific flash made for the camera, if you want all the auto features (including the flash zooming with the camera lens, being able to step-down the amount of flash using the in-camera menus etc). There should be a compatibility list in the manual or on the product website?
- brothernoah0
Yes. Actually there is. Digital flashes have a different way of working with white balance I believe. Depending on what camera she is using she needs to make sure the voltage on the flash is compatible. You can mess up your camera if there wrong.
- Morning_star0
Yes.
What make of camera does she use?
- Morning_star0
If it is a Canon it's worth keeping an eye on the link below. I bought a 430ex for £89 or about $100.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Canon-O…
Just checked. There's one of them on there now.
- adev0
check www.keh,com for great used deals on camera equipment.
a 550ex (make sure you get EX not EZ flashes) can go for around $200 used.. the 420EX (lowest model with bounce/swivel/title head) for $100-$150. I wouldn't go any lower than the 420ex...
Then you may want to consider than only the 430, 550 and 580 have manual control. The 420 does not.
- And the 550/580 can wirelessly control a 420/430 for multiple flash shots.adev
- jimbojones0
if you by external you mean fired with (radio or optical) slaves, and not CLS or something, it absolutely doesn't matter
- vaxorcist0
Yes, almost any old used flash will work with a Canon digital camera, with ONE POSSIBLE ISSUE: some old flashes put out too much kick-back voltage and can FRY YOUR CAMERA.
Check the used flash at:
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/st…If your Canon is a Rebel, and you're planning to wire it to your flash and/or you plan to shoot with the flash on top of the camera.
Otherwise, if you're using Pocket Wizards, CyberSyncs or Elinchrom Skyports to trigger your flashes wirelessly for true off-camera flash, then any flash should work. You will need to get some cables at www.flashzebra.com to hook your flash up to your wireless trigger.
Yes, there's a difference between film and digital flash IF you like to shoot in automatic TTL modes. If you shoot manual, no problem.
Much of the current dramatic lighting look is done with 2 or 3 manual external flashes, pocket wizards and light modifiers.
Note that Canon's official E-TTL-II wireless system is flaky outdoors and in non line-of-sight usage, and often backlight is what you want for a certain trendy look. One expensive system to deal with this is made by radiopopper.com
Note that off-camera flash has a learning curve, but can look amazing if you have talent, time and train your brain....