canon 580ex notes

Andy · November 9, 2004

charles in this thread asked me to post my thoughts on the new canon 580ex.

i have no basis to compare this to anything, it being my first ever canon flash.

here's my kit:

580ex
off camera shoe cord
lumiquest pocketbouncer
lumiquest softbox
lumiquest snoot

2 x 420ex
2x manfrotto 3330 stands
2x flash/umbrella holders for the stands
2x umbrellas - white inside/black outside

so here's my first thoughts on the 580ex:

indoor, party type shots - works great - i have it on a bracket (cheap sunpak). very good results with the pocket bouncer or softbox. also with just plain bounce. so far, ettl-ii hasn't let em down, great exposures.

studio: well, i'm looking forward to learning and practicing my indoor, studio shots this winter.

this shot, mr. incredible, was a 1/1 shot. i simply aimed the two 420ex's into the white umbrellas, set the 580ex to not fire flash itself but to trigger the 420s. had mr. incredible on a white backtround, and that's it. in post, a minor levels adjustment and done.

my impression is that these units work very well with each other, and that once i get some time to work with real subjects, that i'll be getting good results. overall, i'm pleased with the kit.

cmr164 · November 9, 2004

andy wrote:

charles in this thread asked me to post my thoughts on the new canon 580ex.

i have no basis to compare this to anything, it being my first ever canon flash.

here's my kit:

580ex
off camera shoe cord
lumiquest pocketbouncer
lumiquest softbox
lumiquest snoot

2 x 420ex
2x manfrotto 3330 stands
2x flash/umbrella holders for the stands
2x umbrellas - white inside/black outside

so here's my first thoughts on the 580ex:

indoor, party type shots - works great - i have it on a bracket (cheap sunpak). very good results with the pocket bouncer or softbox. also with just plain bounce. so far, ettl-ii hasn't let em down, great exposures.

studio: well, i'm looking forward to learning and practicing my indoor, studio shots this winter.

this shot, mr. incredible, was a 1/1 shot. i simply aimed the two 420ex's into the white umbrellas, set the 580ex to not fire flash itself but to trigger the 420s. had mr. incredible on a white backtround, and that's it. in post, a minor levels adjustment and done.

my impression is that these units work very well with each other, and that once i get some time to work with real subjects, that i'll be getting good results. overall, i'm pleased with the kit.

Thanks. I have 1 420ex and will buy a 580ex. then I will try to find ways to use them together. Buy a bracket , clip on soft snoot for the 420ex... Lots of room to experiment. Hmmm... and a power pack that can run both at the same time

mercphoto · November 9, 2004

580ex
I used my 580EX on my 20D for the first time this weekend. Relatively new to using flash but I liked the results. Indoor shots of children, flourescent lighting, relatively bright, and a 50mm/1.4 lens.

On P mode I didn't like the 1/60th shutter, so I went to manual mode, 1/100, ISO 400, and set an A value to slightly underexpose, hoping the flash would fill the rest. I was using the camera in portrait orientation, flash head at 45 degrees, bounce shield extended. There was no bounce off a wall, just the shield.

I found I had to dial the flash exposure compensation to -2/3, but after that everything turned out real well, even as I changed distance to subject or orientation. The exposures were nice and consistent.

Shot in RAW, but so far I've converted most photos to JPG without any exposure changes. Sigh... yes, I shot in RAW. What is happening to me?

Stan · November 29, 2004

I have been lent a 550 ex by a friend whose 10D is being fixed, so have the use of it until after Christmas.... First impressions are that it scares the life out of me, the handbook is 127 pages, things have changed abit since my old Olympus T32. I am looking forward to using it for fill flash with long telephoto but we will have to see if I can understand the manual first

mercphoto · November 29, 2004

Flash

Stan wrote:

I have been lent a 550 ex by a friend whose 10D is being fixed, so have the use of it until after Christmas.... First impressions are that it scares the life out of me, the handbook is 127 pages, things have changed abit since my old Olympus T32. I am looking forward to using it for fill flash with long telephoto but we will have to see if I can understand the manual first

Fill-flash for telephoto, I'm assuming you will not be very close to your subject? Start this way. Flash head forward, flash mode on ETTL, camera mode on P. Start taking photos. If you don't like the results, try playing with the camera's flash exposure compensation, to dial in more or less flash. Once you get that down...

... then start asking if P mode is useful or not to you. Do you need control of the aperture? Do you need control of the shutter speed? Av and Tv mode operate differently with respect to flash.

Oh, and if you go Tv or M mode at faster than 1/200th simply enable high-speed synch on the flash unit.

I'm very new to flash as well, but I'm not finding it too hard to learn with practice.

Stan · November 29, 2004

mercphoto wrote:

Fill-flash for telephoto, I'm assuming you will not be very close to your subject? Start this way. Flash head forward, flash mode on ETTL, camera mode on P. Start taking photos. If you don't like the results, try playing with the camera's flash exposure compensation, to dial in more or less flash. Once you get that down...

... then start asking if P mode is useful or not to you. Do you need control of the aperture? Do you need control of the shutter speed? Av and Tv mode operate differently with respect to flash.

Oh, and if you go Tv or M mode at faster than 1/200th simply enable high-speed synch on the flash unit.

I'm very new to flash as well, but I'm not finding it too hard to learn with practice.

That's a very good intro into the flash and about where I am at the moment, (before the High speed synch) Thanks for the tips

The beauty of digital is that any mistakes canbe learnt so much faster than with film... I get alot of blank screens when playing

fish · December 6, 2004

the hack POV
Here's another vote for the 580EX. It works like the 550EX should have worked. Together with the 20D, it's an awesome setup. Excellent and consistent exposures, good color (talks to the 20D to help it adjust white balance), and very fast cycle times. It's also got a nifty little white catchlight card built-in.

I guess I'm going to have to get another flash and a couple of stands/umbrellas if I'm going to get serious about indoor portraits. The lighting on your shot is really great, Andy.

Nonetheless, the 580EX is da bomb if you have a 20D or other body that has ETTL II.

ian408 · December 6, 2004

fish wrote:

Here's another vote for the 580EX. It works like the 550EX should have worked. Together with the 20D, ...

Hiya fish!

Did you upgrade?

Ian

fish · December 6, 2004

ian408 wrote:

Hiya fish!

Did you upgrade?

Ian

ian408 · December 6, 2004

fish wrote:

luckyrwe · December 25, 2004

I just sold my 550EX and got the 580EX. I wish there was a god bracket out there, the stroboframe does not lift the flash up very much off the Canon 1D. Any other bracket I can consider?

chuckh · December 30, 2004

Just using what I have in my bag...
Since I don't have a 580EX or a camera with ETTL-2, I assembled my old 10D with my 420EX and grabbed this image of Mr. Incredible and my family last week:

ian408 · December 30, 2004

luckyrwe wrote:

I just sold my 550EX and got the 580EX. I wish there was a god bracket out there, the stroboframe does not lift the flash up very much off the Canon 1D. Any other bracket I can consider?

Pathfinder pointed to a site that has great flash mounts, plates and so forth.
www.reallyrightstuff.com.

Chuck, the 420EX is a really nice flash unit.

Ian

chuckh · December 30, 2004

ian408 wrote:

Chuck, the 420EX is a really nice flash unit.

Thanks Ian. I acknowledge that it was a little off topic, but I hope the Mr. Incredible cast member pix would help connect it into the thread. He was a character and very good picture poser.

And, I can eventually use the 420EX as a slave unit to the 580EX when I eventually upgrade to that system.

Viking · January 27, 2006

which flash should I get. The 480ex or 430ex? Will I get same picture result with both flashes or will 480 give me better exposers? Im not going to use more then one flash. At yhis time.

DanielB · January 27, 2006

Viking wrote:

which flash should I get. The 480ex or 430ex? Will I get same picture result with both flashes or will 480 give me better exposers? Im not going to use more then one flash. At yhis time.

think you meant 580... not 480, anyways. jump for the 580... its a fantastic flahs unit and you can't go wrong with it.

Bodley · January 28, 2006

Viking wrote:

which flash should I get. The 480ex or 430ex? Will I get same picture result with both flashes or will 480 give me better exposers? Im not going to use more then one flash. At yhis time.

I have two 580's and one 550 and have never used any of the 400 series. I can say that the 580's have worked well for me.

The 550 (580's were not out back then) was my first flash and I wanted the ability to control other enabled Canon flashes. The reason I choose the 580's now is the additional power of the flash.

Good Luck,

jvain · February 2, 2006

580ex

luckyrwe wrote:

I just sold my 550EX and got the 580EX. I wish there was a god bracket out there, the stroboframe does not lift the flash up very much off the Canon 1D. Any other bracket I can consider?

Not sure about a bracket ... however, over the weekend I took some engagement photos and the flash performed flawlessly.

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