Canon 430ex wireless

[YolkyPalky]

Hello,

My Canon Rebel T1i seems to not recognize that a flash is turned on (and therefore adjust some of its 'auto' settings) when using a Cactus Wireless Trigger V4. My flash is a Speedlite 420EX. Is this normal? Does using the Cactus Wireless Trigger V4 require you to go "full manual" (ISO, exposure, aperture)? Or am I not setting it up right perhaps?

[inkista]

Originally Posted by YolkyPalky

My Canon Rebel T1i seems to not recognize that a flash is turned on (and therefore adjust some of its 'auto' settings) when using a Cactus Wireless Trigger V4. My flash is a Speedlite 420EX. Is this normal?

Yes. With the Cactus V4s, the only communication between the camera hotshoe and the flash hotshoe is the "fire" signal. You do not have eTTL of any kind.

Worse news. Your 420EX only accepts eTTL signalling when it comes to setting the power level on the flash. Basically, you are screwed. The 420EX sucks for off-camera work. Even a cheap Yongnuo or Lumopro flash would be better because you can manually dial in a power level on the flash. The 420EX does not have this capability. The 430EX does.

As David Hobby says on the Strobist, to do off-camera flash you need your flash must have two things: a way to trigger the flash, and a way to control its power levels.

Does using the Cactus Wireless Trigger V4 require you to go "full manual" (ISO, exposure, aperture)?

No, you don't have to. But with flash, it's always better to shoot with the camera in full Manual anyway, to control ambient/flash balancing. But when you hear Stobists/flash geeks talking about "shooting with manual flash" what they mean is that the flash is in full Manual mode, and you can dial in the power level as full (1), 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 or 1/128 power (if you're lucky and have a 580EX).

As I said above, the 420EX simply doesn't give you this control. And the power level on a flash is very much like aperture, shutter speed, and iso in terms of controlling exposure with flash photography.