Promaster flash with a T3i?

[Rusty Cage]

Would a Promaster 7500EDF communicate wirelessly with a Canon T3i? I have looked around quite a bit and I can't seem to figure this out. Thanks for any advice!

[inkista]

Doesn't sound good: Flickr: Discussing ProMaster 7500 EDF / Canon mis-synch in Strobist.com

[Rusty Cage]

After reading a few hundred tech posts on here I was pretty sure the answer would come from you! I have no experience with off camera flashes so my questions might seem simple but.... I assume a Canon 320EX would be seamless with a T3i? The Promaster has many more features than the 320EX at the same price so I figured it would be too good to be true. The T3i and 320EX would work wireless?

[inkista]

It'll work. But.

No manual controls. This means, if you want to use it as an off-camera flash, you have to do it through the Canon proprietary wireless system (the protocol the T3i's pop-up flash speaks). The main strengths of this system are that you retain nearly all hotshoe communications: you can do high-speed sync, you can do remote setting of the power-level of the flash, and you have eTTL to automatically adjust the power of the flash for you based on camera metering (ttl: through-the-lens metering). But it's a light-signal based system.

The pop-up flash on the T3i will be sending light pulses to the remote flash, like Morse code. The sensor on the remote flash sees this signalling, and then the flash responds.

Outside, and in bright sunlight, the visibility of this signalling can be tougher, especially without walls to bounce off (inside, the system rocks). Range and reliability can become compromised. This is why a lot of us who do the Strobist thing go to radio triggers at some point. You lose eTTL, remote commanding, and high-speed sync, but you can pop the flashes without having to worry about line-of-sight or range most of the time. They're more reliable.

Because the 320EX has no manual mode, though, if you were to try and use it with radio triggers, you wouldn't have any way to set the flash's power output level, because it can only do this via the Canon wireless system or on a Canon hotshoe. If this matters to you, then a used 430EX or a 430EX II might be more worth it to you.

If however you covet the 320EX for the video LED panel, then get it--no other flash in the Canon lineup does that.

If you want to get into off-camera flash work at a low-low bargain price, I'd actually recommend girding up your loins and going all-manual and skipping the Canon system. A Yongnuo YN-560 costs $65 on Amazon; a Lumopro LP-160 is $160. Two Cactus V5 radio trigger transceivers is $60. Now, an all-manual flash is going to suck considerably for on-camera use, particularly in a run'n'gun situation where eTTL considerably reduces the pain. But for posed portraiture and studio setups, the Strobist cheapass way of doing things can save you a considerably amount of cash.

If you want it all: eTTL and full Manual and all that jazz, I'd actually recommend saving up your pennies and going for a used 430EX or a 430EX II if you can.

[Rusty Cage]

I did a bunch more digging and you confirmed what I was finding. I'm going with the 430EX II. Thanks for your input and advice.