Idiot-proof flash for my old 10D?

fiatsurf

Hi--

I have pretty much no experience with flashes other than the little pop-up one that came with my trusty 10D. I've been contacted by a local band in my area to do some photos at a small indoor venue (restaurant/night club) and possibly shoot a large charity event they're doing in September. They know I've not shot with flashes before and are willing to give me a chance to learn/experiment along the way.

Any suggestions for a reasonably inexpensive 'idiot-proof' flash that I can slap on top of my camera and start snapping shots with? I'm saving my money to buy a new Canon in the near future (seeing if September brings any 40D news) so don't want to break the bank on a flash when I mostly do outdoors, daylight surf photos.

Thanks,

Toby

canderson

I would like to hear the sugestions as well since I also have a 10d.

pathfinder

Toby, I would rec you start with a EOS 430ex. That will give plenty of light for indoor shots with a 10D. If you want the better choice, the 580ex II is the pick of the litter.

Put the 10D in Manual Mode ( not the green beginner zones ) and the flash in ETTL and shoot away. Try an ISO of 400 or 800, and you will have lots of light. Increasing the length of the shutter speed will give more ambient light influence. If you can bounce the flash off a white ceiling or wall or curtain, even better - you will have just created a nice "window light" look to your flash lighting

Do not shoot P or Av modes unless you know why you need those modes with flash. They are both useful, IF you understand completely their intended uses.


The Sigma flashes for Canon will also work, Ziggy will tell you about them, I'm sure.

My sister-in-law ( who is a pilot ) says that as soon as industry builds an idiot proof device, somebody invents a better idiot! To use flash well, takes a bit of homework.

There are countless threads here on dgrin about the Canon flash system. Read several of them - search for Fill Flash or Canon Flash or even "fill flash Pathfinder" and you will find them.

fiatsurf

Pathfinder,

Thanks much for your advice. I was kinda leaning toward the 430ex after reading various comments in Accessories so that pretty much seals the deal.

Toby

pathfinder wrote:

Toby, I would rec you start with a EOS 430ex. That will give plenty of light for indoor shots with a 10D. If you want the better choice, the 580ex II is the pick of the litter.

Put the 10D in Manual Mode ( not the green beginner zones ) and the flash in ETTL and shoot away. Try an ISO of 400 or 800, and you will have lots of light. Increasing the length of the shutter speed will give more ambient light influence. If you can bounce the flash off a white ceiling or wall or curtain, even better - you will have just created a nice "window light" look to your flash lighting

Do not shoot P or Av modes unless you know why you need those modes with flash. They are both useful, IF you understand completely their intended uses.


The Sigma flashes for Canon will also work, Ziggy will tell you about them, I'm sure.

My sister-in-law ( who is a pilot ) says that as soon as industry builds an idiot proof device, somebody invents a better idiot! To use flash well, takes a bit of homework.

There are countless threads here on dgrin about the Canon flash system. Read several of them - search for Fill Flash or Canon Flash or even "fill flash Pathfinder" and you will find them.

ziggy53

pathfinder wrote:

...


The Sigma flashes for Canon will also work, Ziggy will tell you about them, I'm sure.

...

The unfortunate thing about the Canon 10D is that it only supports E-TTL, not the much improved E-TTL II.

Canon's E-TTL mode is similar (in effect) to an "Auto" mode on the flash, with the exception that it reads through the lens, so it does read the same "view" as the lens. (It also does some quantitative measurement against multiple regions of the central portion of the image, but it does not work very well in practice.)

What this means is that it can be fooled by, for instance, the dominance of a white bridal gown, or the reflection of a mirror, or even by the lack of a background like an outdoor night shot in a large open area.

E-TTL II takes into account the distance to subject information (if the lens supplies distance information), and it clamps the light output of the flash to what is required for that distance (more or less). This is very similar to the Nikon i-TTL flash system and Nikon pioneered the technology.

The point is that while E-TTL is better than "Auto" flashes in principal, many users reported that Auto flashes like those produced by Sunpak and Metz produced results equal to the E-TTL technology. So, you might be very well served by a simpler Auto flash unless you plan on upgrading cameras in the very near future.

In particular, the Sigma 500 DG Super flashes do work awfully well (IMHO) with E-TTL II systems, but I do not recommend them for E-TTL systems. The best bets for E-TTL operation are the 420EX, 430EX, 550EX and 580EX. (The 420EX and 550EX are older flashes and no longer in production, but still very nice flashes for the Canon 10D.)

Whatever you get, shoot in RAW for best results and learn to "read the scene" and adjust using the FEC accordingly. (Read the scene with your eyes and your experience, coupled with the histogram as feedback.)

Some links are:

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index3.html

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=33703

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/ex_speedlites.html
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/ettl2.html

fiatsurf

Thanks, Ziggy. Great links! As I probably will be updating to a newer Canon in the semi-near future, I think the 430ex will fit the bill (both use-wise and wallet-wise). I'll shoot some RAW and see how it goes (fix it in post!).

Toby

ziggy53 wrote:

The unfortunate thing about the Canon 10D is that it only supports E-TTL, not the much improved E-TTL II.

Canon's E-TTL mode is similar (in effect) to an "Auto" mode on the flash, with the exception that it reads through the lens, so it does read the same "view" as the lens. (It also does some quantitative measurement against multiple regions of the central portion of the image, but it does not work very well in practice.)

What this means is that it can be fooled by, for instance, the dominance of a white bridal gown, or the reflection of a mirror, or even by the lack of a background like an outdoor night shot in a large open area.

E-TTL II takes into account the distance to subject information (if the lens supplies distance information), and it clamps the light output of the flash to what is required for that distance (more or less). This is very similar to the Nikon i-TTL flash system and Nikon pioneered the technology.

The point is that while E-TTL is better than "Auto" flashes in principal, many users reported that Auto flashes like those produced by Sunpak and Metz produced results equal to the E-TTL technology. So, you might be very well served by a simpler Auto flash unless you plan on upgrading cameras in the very near future.

In particular, the Sigma 500 DG Super flashes do work awfully well (IMHO) with E-TTL II systems, but I do not recommend them for E-TTL systems. The best bets for E-TTL operation are the 420EX, 430EX, 550EX and 580EX. (The 420EX and 550EX are older flashes and no longer in production, but still very nice flashes for the Canon 10D.)

Whatever you get, shoot in RAW for best results and learn to "read the scene" and adjust using the FEC accordingly. (Read the scene with your eyes and your experience, coupled with the histogram as feedback.)

Some links are:

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index2.html
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index3.html

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=33703

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/ex_speedlites.html
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/ettl2.html