Bracket + 580ex + STE2?

urbanaries

I need a bracket to get the speedlite off camera. Could I kill 2 birds and get an ST-E2 transmitter instead of an off-camera cord? If so, what brackets do you recommend and any considerations I should, er, consider? THX

lynne

andymillson

The cost of the ST-E2 is quite a bit steeper than the off camera cord.

The manual for the ST-E2 shows a recommended arc in which to operate the flashes within. I am unsure as to whether or not the ST-E2 can communicate with the 580EX when on a bracket. When I get home tonight I will test and se e if it will work.

Unless someone else posts a response to this I will post my findings later tonight

Andy

urbanaries

andymillson wrote:

The cost of the ST-E2 is quite a bit steeper than the off camera cord.

The manual for the ST-E2 shows a recommended arc in which to operate the flashes within. I am unsure as to whether or not the ST-E2 can communicate with the 580EX when on a bracket. When I get home tonight I will test and se e if it will work.

Unless someone else posts a response to this I will post my findings later tonight

Andy

thanks, much apprecaited! The ST-E2 is on my wish list besides this use, to trigger the 580 and replace my hot lights when I do studio-type work. That's why I didn't want to spend an extra $60 on the cord if the transmitter could do the job....thanks!

LiquidAir

I have the ST-E2 and the flash can often see bouced light from the transmitter so I would expect with the flash on a bracket you would have no trouble because the IR signal will bounce off your subject back to the flash.

I am also considering getting a bracket and would like to hear about experiences with them One concern I have is getting one with sufficient clearance for the ST-E2 on camera.

pathfinder

I really like the brackets from www.reallyrightstuff.com.



They are strong enough and mount secure enough that I feel completely safe using them as a handle to carry my camera, 180mm macro lens, and Speedlite around when wandering through the garden looking for shots.

As I said, they are very well made. They are not cheap, but they are not cheaply made either. They probably will outlast your camera with care.

An ST-E2 will almost certainly work with them, but an OFF Camera cord is easy to use, reliable, and relatively inexpensive when considered in the big picture. B&H lists the cord at $49.95

Scott_Quier

Thought I would throw my $.02 in as well. I have the Newton Bracket (the Di100CR Camera Rotator) and really, really like.

Since PF did it, I thought I would do this...

andymillson

Woohoo!
OK well I tested out the ST-E2/580EX/Bracketsombination this morning and it worked like a charm.
I have to admit to being surprised it worked so well, The bracket I am using (the Stroboframe VH2000 http://www.tiffen.com/displayproduct.html?tablename=stroboframe&itemnum=300-100) mounts the flash forward of the ST-E2, so I was worried it's signal might get shaowed by the bracket, but that did not prove to be the case

If I had even thought of this solution before I could have saved some money on the cable as well, Still the cable will work should the ST-E2 battery dies on me (yeah thats right, redundancy....always a good justification to spenf more money.......'Honey, I REALLY do need that 2nd 5D and lenses after all '

It has shown that I probably need a new bracket tho, this one does not seen as stable with the 580 on it as it was when I used it on my old Minolta equipment

Hope this helps

Andy

LiquidAir

With the bracket does the flash block the focus assist light from the ST-E2?

pathfinder

Probably.

With the Off camera cord, the 580 will do the focus assisting I believe.

andymillson

LiquidAir wrote:

With the bracket does the flash block the focus assist light from the ST-E2?

I was testing where I did not need the focus assist, but I would bet with the bracket I have it might.

A taller bracket would clear the ST-E2 easily, so there would be no problems with the focus assist

Andy

LuckyBob

pathfinder wrote:

Probably.

With the Off camera cord, the 580 will do the focus assisting I believe.

I can confirm that the 550EX does, and I can't see a reason why the 580 wouldn't either, since the camera and flash still think they're directly connected.