remote flash?

[kfrab]

I have a canon rebel xs and I was thinking about buying a flash that I can work with remotely. I dont know anything about flash, and am not sure what to look for, or even how it works... Help?

[inkista]

My personal warning for anybody about to start taking on flash: If you are not yet comfortable shooting in full Manual and swapping stops among iso, aperture, and shutter speed, wait until you are. Because if available light photography is like juggling three balls (iso, aperture, shutter speed), then flash (whether on or off camera) is more like juggling three balls in one hand and two (flash power, flash distance) in the other. You can leap straight into it, but it's easier and faster to suss out what's going on if you've got the basics down first.

Short answer on the gear to get (my opinion): if you never plan on putting the flash on camera and you're on a budget, get a LumoPro LP120, and a set of yongnuo RF-602s (or Cactus V4s). If you do plan on using the flash on-camera as well, get a 580EXII or a 430EXII instead of the LumoPro.

You will also probably want a light stand, an umbrella swivel, and possibly an umbrella as well to get started with off-camera flash. See this Youtube video for a basic breakdown of the gear.

To learn to use a flash off-camera, go to the Strobist.

You may find you need to back up and learn to use the flash on-camera, first. For that, you go to Neil van Niekerk's Tangents.

There are a lot of different ways to get your flash off your camera, but the four basic ones are:

1. synch cord (cord to connect the flash to the camera), may require a hotshoe adapter for a digital rebel). If connects via sync ports, rather than hotshoes, no eTTL. May require both camera and flash hotshoes to need sync adapters.
   
   
2. optical triggers light-sensitive triggers that relay a fire signal when they see a flash of light (problematic with Canon gear, but cheap-cheap if it works. No eTTL).
   
   
3. Canon's IR-based signalling system Like TV remote signalling--can communicate lots of signals between the flash and camera in addition to the fire signal (expensive--you need two Canon EX flashes to get one off the hotshoe, and limited by line-of-sight, range, and reliability. You have eTTL)
   
   
4. radio triggers Relays signals over a radio channel--requires a transmitter on the camera and a receiver on the flash (larger range, most reliable, no line of sight needed, on camera master no required for non-eTTL setups, but may require the flash's power be manually set from the flash back and pc connectors on the flashes. Price varies from cheap Manual-only to very expensive units that support eTTL).

Which way you choose will determine what flash you want to buy, because some systems are capable of eTTL, and some are not. If you don' t have eTTL, then buying a flash that does have eTTL capability only to use it with a triggering system that can't support it can be a huge waste of money--if you only plan on using the flash off the hotshoe. If you plan on using the flash on the hotshoe as well, then it's not a waste.

[kfrab]

Hey thanks for all your help! I am familiar with shooting Manual, iso... eh a little iffy. I don't really change it that much. But lately my photo's have gotten really boring, so I was looking for something new to play around with. This all seems pretty complex so far, but I'm gonna keep learning about it and maybe i'll try it out. Thanks again.

[GadgetRick]

Insksta is right. I'm comfortable with manual shooting and have recently undertaken learning more about flash photography (off-camera). It's quite confusing at first but it starts to come together once you start practicing. Reading things (many times) about off-camera flash often times makes no sense. When you try it, however, it makes perfect sense.